Who do you all recommend?

I have to replace our 15 year old Carrier Heat Pump. Yes....I live in the NE and they felt heat pumps were a good idea where I live. Unfortunately we do not have natural gas and I do not want a tank of propane on my property. So I am sticking with a heat pump.

My old system is leaking Freon and it will not last the winter. I squeezed a lot of life out of it this summer and believe it or not it did not really cost me much to cool. My largest Electric bill was $180 for an all electric home that is about 3000 sq ft of cooled space and I kept the house between 69 and 72 all summer. Unfortunately the winter will be about $350.

I have quotes for Carrier, Trane and Amana. That's from 2 different installers. I had another 2 but I did not like their reputations.

The SEER and HSPF rating for the ones I am considering is between 15-15.5 SEER and 8.5-9 HSPF. My current system is a 14 SEER 8 HSPF.

What do you all think? Give me your stories.

 

No heat pump experience, but I absolutely love my Trane HVAC system, though I like the Nest thermostat better than the Trane smart thermostat. No experience with Carrier.

 

Boner.

 

Good feedback. I like our Carrier system. Wished it was cheaper to repair it. That said I think the Trane name and Carrier name are both about the same. And I like the Trane installer more. I trust them.

 

We too love our Trane.

 

Your boner has a low rating for effectiveness and efficiency. Sorry. Angie's List said to stay away at all costs. The installer reviews also come up short.

 

Heat pump or other system?

If it is a Heat Pump what model is it and what size home?

 

It's gas. Can't recall the model...XCsomething.

My in-laws just had their old Trane heat pump replaced with a new Trane. I'll find out what model. So far so good.

 

We've had two Trane heat-pumps in our two houses.
Both were very reliable and dependable.

 

Go with the Trane since you like the installer. Both brands are solid IMO. The installation will be the thing that makes or breaks it. So many HVAC installers are shady. A lot of scumbags in Jersey, that's for sure. One guy actually told me that just because his stickers were on the units, that was no proof that his company installed them. Then he told me that the units were shit and needed to be replaced. I threw him out. They are Trane units and were under 10 years old at the time

 

I have a fairly new Bryant HVAC system and I really like it. I don't have any heat pump experience, though. Ours is a 2 stage gas fired furnace, two stage A/C, and three stage blower. It also has a proprietary thermostat that allows you to view all kinds of statistics and configure things I never thought would even be configurable (like desired humidity levels, how many times per hour do you want to allow the system to cycle, and others I can't remember off the top of my head). The only downfall to the thermostat is, I believe, the interface is proprietary. I don't think you can swtich it out for something like the Nest thermostat.

 

Does your Nest control the humidity in your house as well? I have a whole home humidifier that I want to continue using.

 

v2 does.

https://support.nest.com/article/How...r-dehumidifier

 

Additional info -

Carrier Single Stage Variable fan System is coming in at about $9600 with 0% for 36 months. The numbers suggest it is better than what we have today when our system was brand new. The installer is also throwing in a new WiFi control unit for it that will give us better control. Plus it looks cool.

Carrier's GreenSpeed unit is about $12000 but completely blows our system out the water. He is estimating it to save us about $500 a year so I assume that REALLY means $250 a year. Not sure if the extra cash is worth it. The system will only really last 10 - 15 years and it is brand new tech to the market so all the bugs are not worked out.

Trane higher end single stage unit with a variable fan system is coming in at about $8900 with an upgraded control as well to be able to allow us to use the existing humidifier. The numbers are a little better than the current system or the Carrier Single Stage unit.

Trane does have a higher end model but it is way too expensive. It's about what I paid for my TL so it is not going to fly.

As much as I like the GreenSpeed numbers I just don't know if it is worth $3000 more than the Trane.

Keep in mind these dollar numbers are different from state to state. I have done my homework and that is about the going rate for where I live. Unless someone else from my neighborhood chimes in and said I am paying too much.

 

Nice. That's what I thought but figured I would check.

 

No recent experience, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway. My ac is a Trane heat pump system. In 7 months it will be old enough to buy beer and its still going strong. In the 5 1/2 years I've lived there I've had the 24v transformer rewired (thank you Progress Energy and the butcher that installed that energy management box) and I had to have a new squirrel cage fan installed. Took them 2 days to find one that would fit and when the guy pulled the motor he found that the 3 point mount for it had broken in 2 places. He couldn't find a suitable replacement so he welded a few bits of wire coat hanger into it. That was about 5 years ago.

 

Thanks. That's what I am leaning towards. Seems like the best balance.

 

When I asked my MIL about their heat pump today she said that their original lasted 23 years. And, get this, not a single service incident.

So they bought a new Trane, XV18, and it's been serviced twice in two years. Lol

I'd say that's just chance though. And they come with fantastic warranties.

 

Anyone else?

 

So update -

I have another player added to the list. I contacted another installer. The one that did the installation of the existing system. I wished I had called them in the first place.

He is offering a similar Carrier system I described earlier that is about a 16 SEER and 9 HSPF for $3000 less than the first Carrier installer. So instead of $9600 it is $6500. :wtf: They also have an A+ BBB rating. Looks like I was getting shafted by the first company.

He is also offering the $12000 Greenspeed unit for $9300 + I get a $1050 rebate from Carrier so it brings my overall investment to $8300. I won't get financing but I can figure that out. To me that is worth it. It comes up at $1800 more but there seems to be some really good savings potential. Not sure if it was worth $3500, but $1800 is definitely nicer.

Thoughts?

 

Go for efficiency. While you may not recoup the cost in savings, it could be a nice selling point if you ever decide to move...

 

I was thinking the same way.

 

Be careful with the carrier units, the contractor had 2 put into my home when it was built and both have required coil replacements within 3-4 years of normal use. They were replaced under warranty 1x and they may need to be replaced soon. Apparently there are different "grades" where the cheaper stuff is the "contractor" stuff and the more reliable stuff. I'm going to probably have to spend a bit of money to have both units replaced in a little bit versus spending 1K on new coils for each unit.

 

I read that Carrier had a coil issue back about 4 years ago and they forked out a lot to do replacements. The second Carrier installer openly discussed that with me but said the issue was resolved.

Have you been happy with the units other than that?

 

I have a Carrier Infinity system (AC, gas heat). It was installed about three years ago, I've been here for two years, and no problems at all. I was under the house the other day, and poked around in it since I was there...everything inside still looks brand new and seems to be in perfect working order.

 

^^^^

Had the Infinity system installed on Friday. Unfortunately it's electric not gas. Very nice though. It comfortable again in the house. My wife wants to crank it up but I'm trying to keep in similar to what I did last winter to get an idea of what the savings is going to be.

I called today to get my rebates done. I get about $1300 back from Carrier and the power company.

For you in the North East what do you have your thermostat set to? It's set at 67F right now and I'm in short sleeves with no issues. The highest I have it set to is 69.

Thanks.

 

I usually stay at 69 when home, 65 when asleep. Most people I know think I'm nuts and won't go lower than 72. Humidity level is just as important as temp.

 

Humidity is around 45%.

 

72 in the summer
69 in the winter

 

That is about where I have mine. I do let it get a little colder during the winter nights so 66-67 instead of 69.

One other note on the Infinity - it is freaking quiet. I can hear my neighbor's over mine even when I am 20 ft. away from the outside unit.

 

Wow you guys keep your homes cool. We usually keep the thermostat at 75-78° year round. But the humidity is high here. The other night when it was 30° the humidity was 77%.

EDIT: There's no carpet in the home. Ceramic tile flooring in the entire house. Definitely helps keep the house cooler in the summer.

 

75 to 78 in the winter will kill my pocket. That's too warm. I like it colder. The wife would like it to be 75 but I can't afford that.

 

Uh yea even 73 during the winter can kill the budget. Lol

 

We had a york 15 seer installed 4 years ago for about 4k. We ended up getting about 1500 back after rebates. the best $2500 that we have spent so far here. In the winter it's 71 when we are awake and home and 69 when sleeping or away. In the summer it's pretty much about the same.

 

All electric or is that just for the AC? Unfortunately where we live we do not have natural gas so heating and cooling is all electric. It costs a lot more.

So far I am liking it. Very comfortable in the house. I am still adjusting the temp at times to get a good balance. I'm waiting for next month's electric bill. And the month after.

 

I can understand where you guys are coming from. The temperature here fluctuates a lot in the fall/spring. Few days ago it was freezing. Today it was in the 70s. Tomorrow high 60s, so the system would barely run. Actually I'd turn it off. No need to have it on auto. The house will stay comfortable. Now when it does stay cold then we'll notice an increase when the bill comes in thefollowing month. Btw all electric.

 

All electric.

 

That's a hell of a deal.

 

What size filter and MERV rating did you get?