Diary of a home inspector -Rheem Heat Pump

[fixtureman]

I like how everyone talks about life expectancy.  I was told that the TV that I bought just to get by had a life expectancy of 3 years that was 10 years ago and it is still going strong.  I was hoping that it would die so I could justify buying a new one.  It is on from the time I get up till the time I go to bed even if we are gone.  That is also like saying that a person will only live to 72 but there are many that make it well beyond.

[Robert Adams]

I like how everyone talks about life expectancy.  I was told that the TV that I bought just to get by had a life expectancy of 3 years that was 10 years ago and it is still going strong.  I was hoping that it would die so I could justify buying a new one.  It is on from the time I get up till the time I go to bed even if we are gone.  That is also like saying that a person will only live to 72 but there are many that make it well beyond.

         Yeah I haven't had a name brand TV last more than 2 years lately. However the off brand cheapies just keep going. Got an LG just out of warranty that died from my parents and our Vizio that lasted a few months after the warranty ended. Poor quality components on the boards in both cases and no replacement boards available cause tvs are so cheap to build now. Remember when a small tube tv cost $400... 

       As for HVAC lifespan has so many variables. Up north ac lasts way longer than here where they run 10 months out of the year and at 10 years you are getting ready for replecement these days. Hence why I don't like heat pumps here as running that compressor in the winter is just shortening it's already short life here.

[TheTradesmanChannel]

So I'm going to jump in here - we have Rheem equipment (natural gas furnace and AC) that is 20 years old.  I have been considering replacing everything in an effort to get ahead of the surprise factor - equipment not working when it is needed.  I recently had the annual inspection/tune up for the furnce and I asked the tech for an overall evaluatuion of the equipment.  He indicated that the blower motor is pretty much on its last legs - he was seeing bearing gre3ase stqrtibng to spray out.  He also felt the circuit board discoloration was an indication that it was marginal as well.  He felt the heat exchanger was in good shape.  So when does replacement make sense versus repair.  The tech felt that it would be pushing $2000 to replace motor and circuit board/wiring harness - that is approaching half the cost of new.  

Any thoughts?

If it is just a blower motor and a board the repairs should not come even close to $2,000 unless the board is extremely hard to find.  You can go to most HVAC supply houses or online and find a universal blower motor for under $200, you just need the blower model, voltage, frame and rotation...on the rotation many motors are able to have the rotation changed on them.  As for the color of the board you will find many boards brand new out of the box that have discoloration from the factory soldering job.  A lot of times a tech will give you a real high price in the hopes of making a sale.  For most heating equipment there are a lot of parts that are universal, if your heat exchanger is bad then I could see replacement but the price he shot you for those two parts and labor is crazy.

[TheTradesmanChannel]

         Yup I would love to buy a brand new system built like those old ones. I would much rather have an less efficient unit that will just run and run vs a new efficient unit that will last only 10 to 12 years and require many more repairs. 
           Long term reliability and durability far outweigh a slightly lower operating cost.
    
             I'm interested in the 407c as well. It puts the operating pressures much lower than the 400 psi of 410a. High psi and thin wall coils are a bad combination. 

          If you have seen mini fridges and freezers are starting to use hydrocarbon refrigerants in the us. Europe has been doing that for years but they don't have chemical companies pushing their high priced refrigerants there. 

             Oh and I have heard way too many noisy scroll compressors as well. Lots of them get a harmonic in their application and quieting them down can be pricey with flex pipes mass dampers etc.

407c is a good refrigerant.  I work on a lot of systems with it in them and it runs very close to R-22, the discharge does run a little cooler.  The only thing I do not like about 407c is that you need to change the oil in the system to POE oil if you are converting an old 22 system over to it.  For those old systems some of the drop in replacements are great, we use a lot of MO99 or 422b.  With those two you don't need to worry about the oil, the only thing to remember is that you only need 85-90% of the charge that you would have needed with the 22.  Those also run a cooler discharge.  As for the 410a, a lot of people think that the 410a will blow up on them.  About 320psi is on the high end of normal operating head pressure and will give you a 100*F liquid line temp which is what most expansion valves or metering devices are designed for.  The thing that makes 410 great for heat pumps is that is will still flash off well below 0*F ambient temp, once you get into single digits though you're burning some energy to extract the heat out of the air.  Suction pressure usually runs around 125psi.  I've dealt with 410a for fifteen years now in the field wrenching on units, I've never had a unit blow or come across any dangerous situations with it, I can tell you though that the first time I ever hooked a set of gauges up to it I was quite surprised at the pressures.  Soft copper has a rated working pressure of 757psi, while hard L copper has a working pressure of 1315psi.  I do agree on the noisy scroll compressors though, they suck to listen to. 

[TheTradesmanChannel]

       A blower motor runs 50$ to 100$ and so does a control board for those older units. A new furnace runs $500 to $1500 depending on size, brand  and efficiency. 2k for replacing those parts is way high but they want to make the same profit as they would on a total replacement. Anyone in the trades doesn't want to do the small jobs and they way over price them.
      
           I absolutely hate the ecm motors. They are expensive and have a high failure rate. Many have start up failures as well. They will start to spin then shut down then it will reset and start up again. You can tell when it does this because the furnace will start to move air then the motor stops and vibrates the furnace because it stops so fast then the motor will restart normally. I have been in many houses and commercial and have heard it happen on all brands as they all use the same motors. 

       I will say that more efficient units will typically not lower your energy bills. The reason is that you will keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer because you can now increase your comfort level without it costing more.

Right on all the way, it costs more to repair the new stuff than the old stuff ever thought of.

[Robert Adams]

Just to add to the fun of it... Just got a call from dad saying his rheem heat pump stopped heating... It's set up so emergency heat heat is manual cause when it's below freezing the heat pump is horrible at heating and runs forever(cools great in the summer though)... Seems the heat strips in it died this morning..  So I gotta make a trip to the supply house and hopefully they have them in stock... The unit is almost exactly 10 years old so replacement isn't far away.....