School me on heat pumps

[OneStaple]

If you notice static electricity buildup in the house during the winter, either make sure the old one works or get a new one, IMHO. We have a weather station that measures outdoor and indoor humidity (this was the first winter with the station in place). Outside humidity may have registered 60% or 65% RH outdoors when the temp was 20F, but indoors was 25% to 35% with the humidifier running. Without it, the indoor RH may have dropped to 10% or even less. We had no noticeable static electricity in the house. The sticker next to the humidifier recommends somewhere around 30%.

We don't currently have a whole house humidifier, just a single stand-alone unit for the baby's room. We don't get much static electricity buildup (unless we're using fleece blankets or jackets), but we get really dry skin. I believe humidity falls in the 20%-30% range during the winter. That's why I'd also consider a whole-house humidifier to go with the new heat pump.

If you gave me the equipment and paid me to install it, I still wouldn't have Goodman in my home. There's a new rep in our area and he's been hard selling to all the contractors. I've been to service calls on some of their new stuff. It was still junk the day it left the factory. Sticking a Daiken label on it doesn't change that either.

Fair enough. It sounds like you certainly know your stuff, based on a lot of comments I've seen around here. Do you have favorite/recommended brands then? Snipe Hunter mentioned that Trane and Carrier are common in these parts, but I'm sure I can get others as well.

Thanks,
Tyler

[blackhat]

Trane, Carrier or Lennox. Stay away from super fancy all singing and dancing super doper greatest unless you want a coronary when you see the price of repair parts. Look carefully at the warranties to see what's covered. Ask the installer for references from customers from a few years back.

[Phil Thien]

No experts here ever mention York (a Johnson Controls company I think).

Opinions on York?

[OneStaple]

Trane, Carrier or Lennox. Stay away from super fancy all singing and dancing super doper greatest unless you want a coronary when you see the price of repair parts. Look carefully at the warranties to see what's covered. Ask the installer for references from customers from a few years back.

Thanks! That should give me a few options to chase down. Still trying to figure out if it's worth jumping on right now or waiting until the next low-season in the Fall (but I guess that's on me).

If you are wanting to put some serious coin into your home to reduce the power/gas bill- look at having the roof spray-foamed. You will need a seriously competent spray foam contractor to assess it and apply the correct foam to the correct areas, but I assure you that it will lower the utility bills from here until eternity. Not just 15 years.

Then you can down-size your system (well, most can replace like for like because everything was under-sized from the start) and be more comfortable.

Ohhh, that'd be nice. Worth considering if I'm working on all the heating/cooling stuff for the house. Or, at a minimum, it's probably worth looking into adding extra insulation to the attics. My brother is building a house nearby and just had his new attic spray foamed. I'll have to ask him about pricing. I get the sense I won't be excited about the cost though.

Thanks!
Tyler

[dg152]

You might try one other thing before installing a traditional HVAC system. Get a bid on a geothermal heating/air conditioning system. Yes, it's expensive. The price will probably give you a heart attack. However, there is (at least there was at one time) a considerable income tax credit for installing such a system which brings the price down considerably. The efficiency of geothermal is incredible. It cut our heating bill by 2/3. Our cooling bill was halved. So, the payback could take as little as 5 years. It's something to look at.

[OneStaple]

Stop the infiltration and insulate the heck out of the roof, use good glass on the East, South and West facing walls and you are in great shape.

Yeah, my house was built in '81, so I'm sure there's plenty of air infiltration. I've been sealing the ones I find as I discover them, but many are hidden and can only be reached during renovations. I replaced all windows about five years ago with high end ones (good glass) that met the tax rebates at the time, so I should be good there. My attics (weird 2-attic design) have open soffits and a ridge vent, as well as fans/vents on the gables. I imagine foaming and sealing would take somewhat of a "redesign" of the attic approach. I'll have to look into it.

You might try one other thing before installing a traditional HVAC system. Get a bid on a geothermal heating/air conditioning system. Yes, it's expensive. The price will probably give you a heart attack. However, there is (at least there was at one time) a considerable income tax credit for installing such a system which brings the price down considerably. The efficiency of geothermal is incredible. It cut our heating bill by 2/3. Our cooling bill was halved. So, the payback could take as little as 5 years. It's something to look at.

Come on now! You're taking me on an entirely different line of research. And you're right, internet searching certainly suggests that installation pricing isn't cheap. I'm sure there's a "Washington DC markup" too, which will probably give me a second heart attack. The 30% federal tax credit is still active. It's a bit intriguing, as we'll probably be here for at least a little while. I'll have to call around and see what local prices are.

Thanks,
Tyler

[dg152]

Washington, D.C. mark up? Yeah, you probably got that right! LOL! I don't mean to muddy the waters at all but it is something you might want to look into if you've got the time. It doesn't cost anything to get a bid. Once you see the price you can really ream me out! Have fun with your research.

Doug

[OneStaple]

Washington, D.C. mark up? Yeah, you probably got that right! LOL! I don't mean to muddy the waters at all but it is something you might want to look into if you've got the time. It doesn't cost anything to get a bid. Once you see the price you can really ream me out! Have fun with your research.

Ok, some updates. First, I had a well-rated geothermal company come out to give me a quote. The guy asked a few questions and then basically said that I don't want geothermal and he's wasn't even going to bother going through the trouble of a quote. He said it'd likely run $28K-$33K and my electric bill (average of $130 over the past 12 months) wasn't enough to make that up in any reasonable time. He'd also never seen power savings in the region near what is bragged about online (50%+).

So far I have quotes from two companies. Both are well rated and seemed to shoot straight. Didn't feel pushy or weasel-y. If that makes sense. One specialized in Trane and the other in Carrier. I think the leading contender so far is $7500 for a Carrier 15 SEER single stage (25HCC536A003, Performance series, which is their middle-grade) with variable speed air handler (FV4CNF003L00). 3 ton system. The Carrier warranty is 10 year parts, 2 year labor.

Think I'll still have a third company come give a quote.

Tyler

[Wildwood]

Went through same process last year and got single stage Carrier 15 sear performance sounds like same model, had to run new piping and replaced air vents. Thermostat replace few months back at no cost they had problems with model initially install. City inspector told me all about getting units installed properly. He also has a Carrier but said most models will give proper service if installed correctly and serviced annually. He was down on parts made in China! Got my fingers crossed hope don't need parts!

[OneStaple]

Thanks for the feedback on pricing. Seems like that Carrier option is in the right ballpark at least.

thooks - I toyed with trying to replace everything myself, but HVAC is one of the few household areas that I have no experience in (not that it appears all that difficult) and I'm overloaded with other projects (in the middle of a complete bathroom remodel), so unfortunately (or fortunately!) I'll just be putting a pen on a check for this one.

For what it's worth, the plan is to reuse my current Nest thermostat.

Tyler