Our 11 Yr old 3.5 ton RUUD Silouhette II AC for the upstairs (2000 sq. ft.) stopped cooling Monday and DH discovered that the evaporator coils were coated in ice. Shut off AC and fan which is always ON was used to thaw out. But although the drip line was clear (DH opens the evap. cabinet and pours bleach/water mix down the line to condensate pump every 3 months and had installed new condensate pump last year) it turned out that the horizontal cold air return cabinet had 10 inches of stagnant rusty water sitting under the air handler. The blower motor had died of rust!

We've never had a service contract on our HVAC but have had whoever was available check freon every other year. Last check was in June by Service Magic and he only suggested cleaning the outdoor units which we did following instructions in a Family Handyman article. But DH admits that though he vacuumed the evap coils he never looked into the furnace blower cabinet below the burner in 11 years so we've likely had that water sitting there for 7 years. 7 years ago we noticed dripping and repairman said he had to correct the "tilt" of the evaporator coil to have water drain to the drain line. Apparently either that didn't work or he cracked the drip pan.

The coils are very much tilted toward the drain, but the original installer who came out yesterday says that the drip pan was cracked allowing the unseen drip onto the blower and into the rusty lake below.

He's saying that the cracked drip pan and coils are no longer available and therefore we have to change to new coil, matching condensor, and put in new blower for airhandler so we probably should go with new efficient units especially as DH and 2 of the kids have asthma so we run fans on always thru the HP electric air cleaners.

Strangely even though they are Rheem/Ruud Top Contractors, they spec'd all Lennox equipment. DH told them he didn't want Lennox but that was the only type the fellow would quote, saying call the office for Rheen/Ruud pricing. Rheem is higher quality right???

He's quoted 3.5 ton 2 Stage 14SEER Lennox AC and 90,000 BTU 80AFUE variable speed Lennox Air Handler Furnace for $6820 w/ Honeywell 2 Stage Thermostat. This is Princeton, NJ does that seem right for Lennox???

House is 4400sqft. with underconstruction basement adding another 1800sqft. We had assumed larger first floor unit was sized for a finished basement but having read many pages of this forum we are now no longer certain????

Existing contractor grade Ruuds are 82% AFUE original equipment for home built in 1997. We pay $0.20KWh from Jersey CPL. (Princeton). We have Home Depot (Trane) and 2 other Trane contractors coming today to get competitive bids. We can't find a Ruud contractor who will show up in less than 2 weeks so will have American Standard bids also if possible. I see they are Trane equivalents.

The original installer said no to our request to have a 90% AFUE quoted. He says that the chimney flue would have to be changed, PVC exhaust run to side of house, condesate drip to sump run, gas water heaters replaced because exhaust vents would no longer work. Is that all true????

We have a 3 year old and intend to see him through high school so at least till then or death of DH (go go arsenic!), we'll be here. So really thought we should step up to 90%AFUE. Absent that should we think heat pump? We used 2800KWH and electric bill avg. $600 during summer months at $0.20/KWH. It appears to be flat rate on current bill but I thought it ramped up to 0.34/KWH before.

So is central NJ too cold for a heat pump to be effective???