Heat and Air ?

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Good idea on hiring a contractor! As an avid diy'er I am guilty of always thinking that it is cheaper for me to do it then to hire it out. You can overlook things like this.
Thanks for the tip,
Dave

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Good idea on hiring a contractor! As an avid diy'er I am guilty of always thinking that it is cheaper for me to do it then to hire it out. You can overlook things like this.
Thanks for the tip,
Dave

Volfandt · Jun 10, 2006

I upgraded my heatpump to a dual fuel setup about 4 yrs ago and up until this past winter I wasn't realizing any savings over the old. After I did some more research and happened across a set of programming instructions for the system & thermostat, I'm finally seeing and feeling this new units efficiency.

I went with a Carrier which is less expensive than the Lennox. Those were the two I was considering but I've heard good reviews from other brands.

My system is a split heatpump system with a gas furnance as the other heat source. Most heatpumps use electric resistance heaters as the backup but I wanted warmer air and at the time natural gas wasn't as expensive as electric. But now the times they have changed!
When they set my system up they let it run in default mode mode which is alright in AC mode but not in heat mode (unless natural gas is very cheap). It would run the gas furnance even when it was only 40 degrees outside. At 40 degrees a heatpump works very well and cheaper. Anyways, after I found and downloaded the installers setup and programming manual for my dual fuel system I was able to set the outside temps when the natural gas would take over and my heating bills have gone down since.

The Seer on the Heatpump is 14.5 and the furnace is listed at 95.5% efficency.
The Heatpump uses Puron as it's refrigerant as opposed to freon. To tell you the truth I think that it runs alot more than the old freon unit but it uses less electric. I've saved all my utility usage receipts and have verified this based on consumption.

There are higher Seer and efficency rateings than the unit I have and there are lower but this unit seems to run very well for us.

I would recommend not going below a Seer of 12 and to price out a dual fuel system. A heatpump works pretty well down to around 30 degrees.

Good luck
Volfandt

Volfandt · Jun 10, 2006

I upgraded my heatpump to a dual fuel setup about 4 yrs ago and up until this past winter I wasn't realizing any savings over the old. After I did some more research and happened across a set of programming instructions for the system & thermostat, I'm finally seeing and feeling this new units efficiency.

I went with a Carrier which is less expensive than the Lennox. Those were the two I was considering but I've heard good reviews from other brands.

My system is a split heatpump system with a gas furnance as the other heat source. Most heatpumps use electric resistance heaters as the backup but I wanted warmer air and at the time natural gas wasn't as expensive as electric. But now the times they have changed!
When they set my system up they let it run in default mode mode which is alright in AC mode but not in heat mode (unless natural gas is very cheap). It would run the gas furnance even when it was only 40 degrees outside. At 40 degrees a heatpump works very well and cheaper. Anyways, after I found and downloaded the installers setup and programming manual for my dual fuel system I was able to set the outside temps when the natural gas would take over and my heating bills have gone down since.

The Seer on the Heatpump is 14.5 and the furnace is listed at 95.5% efficency.
The Heatpump uses Puron as it's refrigerant as opposed to freon. To tell you the truth I think that it runs alot more than the old freon unit but it uses less electric. I've saved all my utility usage receipts and have verified this based on consumption.

There are higher Seer and efficency rateings than the unit I have and there are lower but this unit seems to run very well for us.

I would recommend not going below a Seer of 12 and to price out a dual fuel system. A heatpump works pretty well down to around 30 degrees.

Good luck
Volfandt

Sigarms · Jun 10, 2006

( I would recommend not going below a Seer of 12 and to price out a dual fuel system. A heatpump works pretty well down to )

Minimum standard is now 13 SEER unless if you can still find a 12 SEER in inventory (which is getting harder and harder to do each passing day).

Puron is "freon", R-410A compared to R-22 which is found in other systems.

Sigarms · Jun 10, 2006

( I would recommend not going below a Seer of 12 and to price out a dual fuel system. A heatpump works pretty well down to )

Minimum standard is now 13 SEER unless if you can still find a 12 SEER in inventory (which is getting harder and harder to do each passing day).

Puron is "freon", R-410A compared to R-22 which is found in other systems.

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Good info on the heatpump, down to 30 degree's would take care of a large portion of our winter, which might be very simular to yours. I had a conversation with my neighbor today and he put in a system just like yours about 15 months ago. He said that there utility bills have cut in half (but there system was the original 1969), plus they are more comfortable. I appreciate the insight guys!
Thanks, Dave

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Good info on the heatpump, down to 30 degree's would take care of a large portion of our winter, which might be very simular to yours. I had a conversation with my neighbor today and he put in a system just like yours about 15 months ago. He said that there utility bills have cut in half (but there system was the original 1969), plus they are more comfortable. I appreciate the insight guys!
Thanks, Dave

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Thanks Sigarms, I did not realize that it had gone to 13seer. Do you have a recomendation on Seer rating to initial outlay? Or maybe what would be a good value in the long run. I have read that the highest Seer ratings take a long time to pay out (like 8+years), but this was on another diy forum and the info might have been old, I do not remember which forum, Information OVERLOAD /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.
Thanks for the info, DAve

OKnewguy · Jun 10, 2006

Thanks Sigarms, I did not realize that it had gone to 13seer. Do you have a recomendation on Seer rating to initial outlay? Or maybe what would be a good value in the long run. I have read that the highest Seer ratings take a long time to pay out (like 8+years), but this was on another diy forum and the info might have been old, I do not remember which forum, Information OVERLOAD /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.
Thanks for the info, DAve