Heat Pump

[cndamm]

I'm not that up on heat pumps as we always had boilers back in MI. Our HP is going on 17 years old and has needed maintenance each of the last 2 years. I'm getting some quotes this week and I wonder what units to stay away from. The outside unit was replaced when we bought this house in Nov 2015 so I'm sure it was the cheapest unit the owner could find and I've already had a capacitor replaced. Any help will be appreciated.

[Roly]

I'm not that up on heat pumps as we always had boilers back in MI. Our HP is going on 17 years old and has needed maintenance each of the last 2 years. I'm getting some quotes this week and I wonder what units to stay away from. The outside unit was replaced when we bought this house in Nov 2015 so I'm sure it was the cheapest unit the owner could find and I've already had a capacitor replaced. Any help will be appreciated.

Don't condemn the unit because of a capacitor.   There was a lot of bad capacitors several years ago.   Roly

[Wild Turkey]

Like many other things I looked at the dealer more than the brand of unit. 

A reputable dealer will carry (and stand behind) good units.

[R Clark]

I've been having heat pump adventures for several years. 

One thing I've learned:  Going new won't necessarily make the trouble calls stop, even for a quality brand unit.  You can see my other current post about my year-old Lennox heat pump.

If your service call was for a capacitor, I wouldn't give up on the unit, just yet.  Capacitors are relatively inexpensive and easily replaced.

I agree with Roly about finding a good dealer/installer.  Like anything else, there's a fair amount of incompetence out there, so do your research.

[Roly]

If the outside unit was replaced in 2015, it is only 4 years old.   Just the evaporator inside is 17 years old.   All the mechanics of the heat pump are outside, I would not replace the unit yet.   Roly

[Snipe Hunter]

So the condenser/pump unit is only 3+ years old. That's the expensive piece. The evaporator coil and fan are 17 years old, mine is 32 years old. The air handler (evaporator/fan sectio should outlast the condenser unit... by a long shot. If the only issues I had were replacing capacitors, I wouldn't even think about replacing the whole system. I might buy a capacitor and keep it for future use.

A 3 year old condenser unit is still under warranty.

[cndamm]

I just had the 1st company out to check out the system. The previous owner replaced the condenser unit with the cheapest POS he could. It is a R22 unit that can't be serviced after this year so it's worthless. The installation of the air handler is also shoddy. The coil is so rusty I don't know how it even works. Now to decide how comfortable my wife wants to be. 2.5 ton single speed 15 SEER, 2 stage 3 tom 16SEER, or 3 ton variable speed 20 SEER. The last 2 come with a full parts and labor 10 year warranty.

[Snipe Hunter]

I just had the 1st company out to check out the system. The previous owner replaced the condenser unit with the cheapest POS he could. It is a R22 unit that can't be serviced after this year so it's worthless. The installation of the air handler is also shoddy. The coil is so rusty I don't know how it even works. Now to decide how comfortable my wife wants to be. 2.5 ton single speed 15 SEER, 2 stage 3 tom 16SEER, or 3 ton variable speed 20 SEER. The last 2 come with a full parts and labor 10 year warranty.

 

Put in an R-22 system in 2015?
I didn't think they could sell or install them after Jan 2015? Somebody must have given it to the installer. I guess that means the air handler is also R22. IIRC, you can still have them serviced up until Jan 1 2020

[fredhargis]

Many of the companies offer some nice rebates and other discounts this time of the year, so if you're going to replace it now might be the time. In the last 6 years I've bought 2 Carrier systems (2 different houses) and I like them a lot. But as mentioned above I would look at the dealer/installer first (which is what I did). They will be more important than the actual brand. Some of the manufacturers offer their products under more than one name (the Carrier and Bryant brands are identical as I understand it) so I think if you just stay with the more common names and shop for the installer you'll do just fine. Also the warranties do seem to be better, maybe due to competition. I know my current system (installed in 2016) has 10 years parts and labor.

[cndamm]

I was told you can't get R22 after this year.