recommendations for AC unit?
#1
Lapine Member
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Austin, Texas in my own little world
Posts: 21,691
recommendations for AC unit?
I may need to replace mine with a more energy-efficient model....
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.
#2
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by snowbunny
I may need to replace mine with a more energy-efficient model....
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.
#3
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by Thydney
everyone seems to like a Trane around here.
#4
Lapine Member
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Austin, Texas in my own little world
Posts: 21,691
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by Bob
we've seen adverts for those around here too...though anything that cleans the air that much, can't be that great for kids, they need some shite in the air or they'll end up allergic to everything *lol*
Has anyone heard of Bryant? High-end, but supposed to be good.
#5
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by snowbunny
open the damn door and let it some fresh air
Has anyone heard of Bryant? High-end, but supposed to be good.
Has anyone heard of Bryant? High-end, but supposed to be good.
Ours took a crap last night too!! Not sure whether it needs replaced (it's 10 years old) or just another charge of freon or what. Might try a heat pump...lot of those around here- said to be much more efficient.?
#6
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by ironporer
Ours took a crap last night too!! Not sure whether it needs replaced (it's 10 years old) or just another charge of freon or what. Might try a heat pump...lot of those around here- said to be much more efficient.?
#7
Mr. Grumpy
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 3,100
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Trane is very expensive
I use goodman on my own home and also on my rental properties
since they bought amana reliabilty and warranty are much improved
I use goodman on my own home and also on my rental properties
since they bought amana reliabilty and warranty are much improved
#8
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: back in Gods own country..
Posts: 4,007
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by snowbunny
open the damn door and let it some fresh air
Has anyone heard of Bryant? High-end, but supposed to be good.
Has anyone heard of Bryant? High-end, but supposed to be good.
#9
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by woodsey
yes I've had recommenadtions for that brand, apparantly it is the best..mine is at least 16 years old and the whole house vibrates when its on so I need to get mine done some time soon so thats the brand I would go with. I need a big system as I have a 3000 sq.ft. house and I was quoted $6500. I would love two, one for the ground floor and one for the top as I hate paying to cool upstairs when we don't go up til bedtime and vice versa at night but it would be too expensive, we have a friend who bought a house with two units and her electricity bills are tiny in comparison to mine because she only cools the bit of the house she needs too. I have heard of a new system that allows you to individuallly heat/cool each room to whatever temp. you desire but not sure how much it is.
#10
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by woodsey
yes I've had recommenadtions for that brand, apparantly it is the best..mine is at least 16 years old and the whole house vibrates when its on so I need to get mine done some time soon so thats the brand I would go with. I need a big system as I have a 3000 sq.ft. house and I was quoted $6500. I would love two, one for the ground floor and one for the top as I hate paying to cool upstairs when we don't go up til bedtime and vice versa at night but it would be too expensive, we have a friend who bought a house with two units and her electricity bills are tiny in comparison to mine because she only cools the bit of the house she needs too. I have heard of a new system that allows you to individuallly heat/cool each room to whatever temp. you desire but not sure how much it is.
We have an a/c unit and furnace for each floor. We were told this depends on the size of the house. The warm/cool air is blown around the house, this is not efficient over a large area thus the need for more than 1 unit.
Makes sense not to be heating/cooling parts of your house you are not using. A lot of new houses have thermostats in each room so you can control them individually.
#11
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Austin, Texas in my own little world
Posts: 21,691
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
Makes sense not to be heating/cooling parts of your house you are not using. A lot of new houses have thermostats in each room so you can control them individually.
#12
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
There is also Carrier.
Woodsey you can buy covers for the ducts made out of the same stuff as fridge magnets, they seal of the ones not in use.
Woodsey you can buy covers for the ducts made out of the same stuff as fridge magnets, they seal of the ones not in use.
#13
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by snowbunny
Actually, that could be a retrofit.... a temperature sensor (themostat) that controls the vent being open. Similar technology's already available for greenhouses; I bet it's also there for house-houses. Thanks for the tip, I'll have a look!
#14
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
We replaced our house's original "gas pack" which is a combined heat and air unit. We didn't have to replace the whole thing because the air part needed replacement parts but based on the unit's age (over 10 years old), we went ahead and replaced the whole thing.
Our next door neighbor, whose house is the exact same age as ours, replaced his "gas pack" in 2004 and he was most happy with his Carrier unit.
We had two local companies come out to give us quotes. One gave us a Trane quote and the other, a Carrier quote. Only the latter company was an authorized dealer for Carrier.
We decided to take the Carrier quote because the unit quoted was more efficient (and quiet) than the Trane quote and cost less (can't remember the amount. Perhaps $400?).
That was in September 2005. Since then, we've been extremely happy with our Carrier unit. It's so quiet, so much so, we can't hear when the aircon kicks in (unllike the original Trane that was frankly noisy). I think the aircon part is a little too efficient because we still set the air con temperatures the same as for the Trane but with the Carrier, it feels colder
As long as you find a good company to do the work and you buy an AC unit to suit your house size, you'll be fine.
NC Penguin
Our next door neighbor, whose house is the exact same age as ours, replaced his "gas pack" in 2004 and he was most happy with his Carrier unit.
We had two local companies come out to give us quotes. One gave us a Trane quote and the other, a Carrier quote. Only the latter company was an authorized dealer for Carrier.
We decided to take the Carrier quote because the unit quoted was more efficient (and quiet) than the Trane quote and cost less (can't remember the amount. Perhaps $400?).
That was in September 2005. Since then, we've been extremely happy with our Carrier unit. It's so quiet, so much so, we can't hear when the aircon kicks in (unllike the original Trane that was frankly noisy). I think the aircon part is a little too efficient because we still set the air con temperatures the same as for the Trane but with the Carrier, it feels colder
As long as you find a good company to do the work and you buy an AC unit to suit your house size, you'll be fine.
NC Penguin
#15
Re: recommendations for AC unit?
Originally Posted by snowbunny
I may need to replace mine with a more energy-efficient model....
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.
anyone done this lately? Floridians and other southerners/southwesterners especially welcome to opine.
Thanks.