Twice in the last three years our AC has went on the blink, and done so at the most inopportune times...

The tech is coming out tomorrow, and not a nano-second too soon as when I got home from work, it was 88 degrees INSIDE my home.

I have a Prehistoric Payne Central Heating & Cooling system, and the guy told me that the system was too small for my house (2,200 sq. feet); and that the SEER rating was too low.

He told me a more efficient system could cut my energy bill in half, but- I didn't want to fork over $5,000 for a Trane.

How do you know what size unit you need to cool off a certain size house? Is there a calculation that tells you this?

I've heard that insulation does nothign to protect your home from radiant heating, and will actually retain heat in your attic, thus warming your house long after the sun has set... Is this true?

What SEER rating should I look for?

Can you tell I don't know jack about AC systems...

Gimme a window unit. That 40,000 BTU system my mom had, would cool our house, after a couple or four hours....

 

Get 2nd and 3rd opinions. Compare.

 

I can tell you I replaced both my heating and air units last fall. It did save over the winter. I'm waiting to see how my electric bill fairs with the new AC. It is forcing a much strong stream of air through the vents so the house feels cooler.

 

I AM IN HTE HVAC FEILD I SELL EQUIPMENT, AND DO INSTALLS ON THE SIDE IF YOU WANT THE REAL PRICE I CAN TELL YOU
BUT SHHHHHH YOU DIDNT HERE IT FROM ME

 

CIA,

I have done some research the last few weeks and talked to a few local HVAC places. 1.5 Ton AC cools about 1000 - 1200 sq ft. so at 2200 sq ft you are porbably looking at a 3 ton unit. Now as for SEER rating they start at 10 and work there way up ,they higher the SEER number the more efficient the unit is. Along with $$$$.

Here's some info.

What is Seer?

Seer is an acronym for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio and is used to specify the comparative energy efficiency of air conditioners under 65,000 Btu's (about 5.5 tons). It is the result of the Btu's produced divided by the watts consumed. An air conditioner is said to be 10 seer if, for example it produces 36,000 Btu's per hour (3 tons) and consumes 3600 watts in that one hour of operation..
36,000 Btu's (3 tons)
Divided by
3600 watts consumed = 10 seer
Each one point increase above 10 seer reduces operating

What is TON?

Tonnage is used to express the one hour cooling capacity of air conditioners. One ton is 12,000 Btu's of cooling/hour. Residential capacities are offered in one half ton increments between 1.5 tons up to 5.0 tons. On average, one ton will cool between 400-700 square feet in a residential application. Homes with poor insulation will reside on the lower end of this scale while homes with excellent insulation qualities will reside on the upper end.
Homes requiring more than 5 tons are “zoned”, using two or more systems to meet the necessary capacity demand

 

you dont have to zones houses more than five tons.
13 seer will be the minimum seer rating in 2006. if you live in the northeast or northern usa you wont save that much unless you run your a/c all the time , the only differnce between seer ratings is that th econdensor is sized larger. in r410a system the compressor will be smaller because it uses a higher pressure gas.

 

I just had my system replaced last month. I'm afraid I must disagree with SEU1's size numbers. I have right at 1000' of air conditioned space and I have a 2.5 ton unit. The 15 year old 2 ton that was here before just never did cut it. But I guess your AC needs in Ohio aren't quite as demanding as ours here in Florida.

My AC guy recommended getting the 10 SEER unit due to lower purchase cost and lower repair costs. The 10 SEER units are very basic and easy to work on. He also said that the savings in power usage would take about 5-7 years to make up for the additional cost of the premium unit.

I got a RUUD heat pump and air handler for $1135 and the install cost me $150 (paid the helper) and about 4 hours trimming my AC guy's trees.

 

We just purchased a new central air unit, the guy who did ours claimed that the Trane and American standard units are the same internally, with different cases. We wound up with a 3 ton Carrier, (cools upstairs with a 3.5 ton downstairs). We paid about $3k for an external unit an new coil installed.

 

all condensing units are the same internally they all use the same compressors by copeland,tecumseh,bristal, the differnt manufacturers only make the caseing they sit in, if you by a generic one its prety much the same.
usually it is 1 ton per 400 to 600 sq ft of space it depends on the house and windows, this is the last year 10 seer will be manufatured min. will be 13 seer a 3 ton unit probably only costed the a/c mech about $500

 

SEU1 SIZE NUMBERS ARE CORRECT

 

I own 18 dupexes here in Florida and 3-4 houses. I do all of my own AC work and I grew up with a stepfather that was a commercial AC guy.

What JCC said is all correct. The bigger the SEER, the bigger the condenser coil and sometimes different fan motors and fans. That's about it.

IN Forida I use 2tons per 1000 sf. but I use a 2 ton condenser and a 2.5 ton air handler. that seems to work a little better.

At my house, I have a 4 ton condenser and a 5 ton variable speed air handler. I put it in myself for about $800.

All of the equipment is nearly identical. Tranes and Carriers have aluminum condenser coils which is kind of a PITA. The biggest diffence between the brands is the paint or powdercoating and the design of the cases. Some of them rattle like crazy and rust quickly. Some of the condensers are armored and some aren't, it seems like the armored ones rattle more and aren't as efficient.

Change your filters, double filter it if you can, get a digital thremostat and make sure you aim the registers properly (which most people don't) and it will work less, last longer and be more efficient in the long run.

 

Yeah- I have the digital thermometer, and I have it programmed to maintain the temp at 77 - 79 degrees in the house (during the day when we're not home). 75 degrees from 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM (So I don't have to here *It's cold, it's cold, is the AC still on? What's it set on, yadda-yadda-yadda. Are you hot or something? whaa-whaaa-whaa.)

Then once she goes to sleep; it's drops to 71 degrees. (I can't sleep in the heat)... My unit maintains a 2 degree sweep, so, it'll cool the house to 69 (Perfect) and won't kick in again until the thermostat hits 73...

Having the house cool down as the temp drops outside has kept the light bill under $250 so far...

 

It was the capacitor....

1 capacitor replaced, and I got cold AC- (Does teh Hammer dance) ~You can't touch this~

Do, do-do-do, do-do, do-do
~You can't touch this~

Do, do-do-do, do-do, do-do
~You can't touch this~

My interior home temperature has plummeted to 91 degrees! That tells me hy insulation is complete & utter BS- seeing that it's only 98 outside....

 

i hope he didnt charge you to much

 

$45.00