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Heating & Air Conditioning

Newbies need help

17 years ago

Warning - I don't know how to tell a short story!

We bought and moved into a new home in October. The home was built in 1967. It is 2000 sf tri-level, no basement. We live in Utah at 4500 altitude. We've replaced all the old, single-pane alum frame windows with double-pane vinyl low-e. House has 3 furnaces, one for each level. 1 is 4 yr old Trane 80% effic. Other two way old and not high eff. Our heating bill here is almost double what we had in our old 5000 sf house at 7000 alt and 2 90+ units.

We're getting quotes from various hvac contractors. One wants to combine all heating into single 90+ Lennox unit. Another recommends only replacing the 2 older units with 2 80% Bryant units. Third guy is coming tonight.

As I've been reading around I'm nervous about what I'm hearing about Lennox reliability. Our previous home had 1 Heil which needed some kind of yearly repair and 1 Bryant that never needed any repair.

What questions should we ask and what criteria can we use to determine which direction and what brand of equipment to go with? We plan on being in this home for a long time, 20+ years.

Thanks!

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Comments (2)

bob_brown
17 years ago
You cannot compare one house to another. Even the exact same floorplan, with the same people, will have different usages, depending on orientation and location.

I would probably maintain the 3 seperate systems. You will have better climate control.

I would consider the higher efficiency furnaces for your climate. I think the 90% units would be a reasonable payback in Dallas, where we only have 3 months of cold.

I don't understand realibility issues you are claiming. Lennox has a good track record, the problem is in thier documentation. It sucks. The equipment works great, but if you are not a Lennox dealer, it is a PITA to troubleshoot thier systems. On the otherhand, TRANE probably has the most expensive OEM parts in the industry. They aren't better, just more expensive.
bobhvac
17 years ago
Check for Nate certified techs in your area 1st.

Here is a link that might be useful: NATE
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