Which do you think we chose?

16 years ago

First let me say thanks, I learned a lot from this forum and the guys at HVAC Talk. I hope IÂve made a good decision. We got several quotes. Some we dismissed out of hand, we just werenÂt comfortable with them; but we did look carefully at two well respected local contractors.

The first was a Trane dealer who had serviced a lot of our neighbors. The salesman took less than a half hour measuring the house from the outside, never looked at the ductwork, didnÂt do any calculations that IÂm aware of; and, based on a similar house nearby, recommended a 3 ton XL19i with a 2TEE3F40 air handler connected to the existing ducts and electrical, new lines, insulate the plenum, and include a 10 year warranty on compressor, coil, and parts a 2 year warranty on labor. Extended warranty and any electrical would be extra.

The Carrier dealer, also well respected, with all their techs NATE certified, spent over 2 hours, climbing in the attic, measuring, checking the ductwork, taking digital pictures, etc. He did a J calc. and some other mathematical mumbo jumbo. All which he submitted. He felt that our existing 25 year old ductwork would not handle one of the new high efficiency units, and the cost to replace was not economically viable. His plan was to replace some of the returns where the builder had used wall cavities, change a supply that was added to the end of a run, seal all leaks that a test finds, and clean all the ductwork after the install. Install new lines, do all the electrical work with their own in house licensed electrician, re - line the plenum, and build a stronger base for the air handler. He has recommended a Carrier Performance 24APA536 with a FV4BNF005 air handler and digital controls. Included is a 10 year transferable warranty on the compressor, all parts of the complete system, and labor. Free maintenance for one year. A 2 year performance guarantee that the system will work as designed or our money back. If the compressor fails once in five years they will install a completly new outside unit at no cost, and start the warranty over.

We started this project with the idea that we wanted a Trane. The prices for the two systems as described were within a few hundred dollars of each other. The Trane had a slightly higher SEER, 19 vs. 16, but the salesman felt that the EER only pertained to commercial units and didnÂt know what that number was for the one he proposed. The Carrier system has an EER of 13.

Which one do you think we went with?

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Comments (4)

garyg
16 years ago
"...but the salesman felt that the EER only pertained to commercial units and didnÂt know what that number was for the one he proposed."

- Your true operating costs are determined by EER and not SEER. EER peratins to every unit. SEER = EER x fudge factor.

An 3-ton XL19i matched with a 2TEE3F40 is 37,800 btu, 12.5 EER, and 19 SEER. The 19i is a dual compressor system.

A 24APA536 matched with a FV4BNF005 is a Performance 15 Puron with 36,200 btu, 13.2 EER, and 16 SEER. I believe that this unit uses one single stage compressor (as do most systems in use today). The ARI website lists this as a discontinued model.

I would hope that you chose the installer that you felt most comfortable that would give you a quality installation.

Best to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: ARI Directory
svwillow1
Original Author
16 years ago
We went with the Carrier contractor because he seemed determined to make certain the equipment was properly sized, would work, and would do a quality install. ARI shows the system with two seperate entries for the air handler, and with slightly different numbers as an active listing. I don't know if there is a significant difference between ARI#1346229 and ARI #906615 Model year perhaps? Both show the same performance numbers. Yes, it is a single compressor model.
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garyg
16 years ago
"I don't know if there is a significant difference between ARI#1346229 and ARI #906615 Model year perhaps?"

- ARI# 1346229 is a Ruud AJL Series, 12 EER, 14 SEER, 40,500 btu.
svwillow1
Original Author
16 years ago
Sorry my typo mistake I meant ARI #1348229

Which do you think we chose?

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