I got a couple questions I was hoping y'all could help me with. First off I am a first time homeowner and not to old so I don't know very much about this type of stuff. I have a 1750 sq. foot home and I am looking for a new heating and cooling unit. I have propane heat right now, but the heat exchange coils need replaced before this winter ( cracked leaking carbon monoxide ) I found this out because I had to have the ac part of the unit fixed a couple weeks ago. I spent a lot of money last winter for gas ( and I don't think it is going to get any cheaper ) He suggested that I replace my unit with a heat pump. The unit I have now is 12 years old is it time to be replaced ? I have never lived in a home with a heat pump so I was wondering how well they proform ( I live in middle Tennessee ). He quoted me $3,500.00 to replace the unit with a 2.5 ton. Does this seem about right? Thanks for any and all help.

 

I'm assuming that's installed right?

I don't know much about it either, but my father-in-law jut got me a new Rheem 4 ton heat pump with back up heat strip for when temps get too low for the pump. He said this thing would sell for around $2500-$3000 uninstalled.

BTW, he also told me you need 1 ton per 500sq ft, so by that 2.5 ton sounds kinda small.

 

I live north of you in Indianapois, IN and my house uses a heat pump. I'm pretty happy with it because its cheaper than the alternative in this area(natural gas) and kept my house warm all winter. A lot of people don't like heat pumps because when they are in heat mode they don't heat the air up as hot as a natural gas furnace would. It comes out luke warm unless the heating coils are on, and those are expensive to run. My house is 1600 sq.ft. and I'm using a 2 ton unit. I say go for it because it will save you money in the long run, plus you won't have to pay out so much money to service the older HVAC units you obviously have.

Goodluck!

 

I also live in Indianapolis and have a heat pump. It seems to work pretty good for me. This past winter the electric backup heat on it did come on a couple of times, which gets pretty expensive, but that's only when it gets very cold. Here in Indy I'm sure I'm coming out ahead vs. using gas. With you living alittle more south I say go for it if your gas prices are high like they are in Indy. The main draw back with the heat pumps is that they do not work good when it gets very cold but like I said yearlier you'll be fine in Tenn. I have a 1700sq.ft house but I have no idea how many ton my unit is.

 

i just got one put in monday. i got a heatpump with a gas furnace (for real cold days) the guy told me a heat pump blows a lot cooler about 95-100 and gas blows about 130-145. Mine is set at 28 the heatpump turns off and the gas furnace turns on. call and get more prices i got a 3ton heatpump seer 14 with r410a (the new freon) and a 70,000 btu 95% 2 stage furnace installed with a humidifier two vents made bigger(from 6 inch pipe to 8 inch pipe) a new intake and a touchscreen thermostat (it is really cool) with a 10 year warranty for $4200. they told me if i wanted just the heatpump and use my old furnace it would be $2400

edit my house is 1200sq feet but wanted it cold in here. the trick to hvac guys to get a big unit is to tell them your are building on in about 2 years.

 

i got prices as high as $6500

 

The heat pump should be more efficient. One common complaint about them is that when they kick on, the first air to come out is cold. The thermostat tells it that it is cold enough to come on and it starts blowing cold air until it can collect enough heat to be noticed.

 

Thats fine with me. I don't like the heat that much anyway. Expecially the dry heat from my gas unit right now. As long as I won't have a problem keeping my house between 60-65 degrees I will be set.

 

i had a humidifier put in so it is not that dry in the winter. it was only $200 more

 

do you want to see what i got?
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?num=14360