Currently I have a house with a basement with 2 floors. The 2nd floor has its own separate 1.5 ton unit that is a Trane heat pump with a variable air speed handler. The other unit is a 2.5 ton heat pump from Trane with a matched variable speed air handler. The 2.5 ton compressor has died with 1 month prior to being 10 years from manufacture and about 9 and 1/2 years from install.
The 2.5 ton unit is why I need your help. I have had problems with it since the beginning 3 years from purchase the fan motor died and was replaced under warranty. Then 2 years later it was replaced again when the fan motor died also under warranty. 3 years later it died again the fan motor at my cost. This time when it died I thought for sure it was the fan motor. The HVAC dealer said nope the compressor was going to ground and has to be replaced.
I have not only had the mechanical problems this unit has continually lost ground in both the winter and summer since I purchased it new 10 years ago. If the set point was 72 in the summer it could easily go to 77 to 80 on a 90 degree day. If it was cold outside around 35 it would go down to 68 if I had it set to 72 and then strip heat would come on to fix the problems. We have always had 1 room too hot or warm pretty much year round. Due to this my unit is running all the time and my heating bill could easily hit 700 dollars plus and my cooling bills the low 300's.
So with this information my first HVAC dealer comes in to give me prices and solutions. He says my 8x10 intake on the air handler is too small and so is my output ducting which is causing a bottle neck. He said since the basement is finished unless I want him to tear apart my basement the fix is to stay with a variable speed furnace. He could then overclock the fan speed with dip switches and make it try to push more air and that would fix the comfort level and reduce bills. To do this he would hard recommend a Trane XV95 (TUH2B060A9V3VA) and a coil (4TXCB004CC3HCA). The only thing to play with is the heat pump he recommended the XL16i or HB14. He said he did not like the XL20i because it has too many parts to break. He said he did not like the XR15 and does not carry it due to no bang for the extra bucks. He did measure my house for Louisville Kentucky area and came up with 1500 sq on the first floor and 1450 on the basement. He said I was barely 24000 BTU which is 2.5 ton. Though I did not catch how much on the heating I believe it was 60,000?
The second guy came out and then put a meter or something on the air handler and counted the flashes. Said while it said my unit was set to 1125CFM I was only getting around 800 max. He also said my ducts were fine since it was all sheet metal and straight short runs. He said my problem is that I have 14 ducts on my system and I want a goal of around 100 CFM per duct. That my 2.5 ton unit only gives about 1000 ideally. He also said my compressor went to ground because it was improperly installed and most likely they did not vacuum all the water out of the line causing sludge to build up that eat the compressor from the inside. This extra stuff going on could have caused more load and the fan fail like it did. He said the solution was to have a properly installed unit that was 2.5 tons. He recommended staying away from dual fuel as it costs a lot more for the system. He recommended staying with heat pump and air handler like I have now with strip heat as backup.
He will give me the costs on Monday but the systems he recommends are the XR15 as it is minimally more and a better unit overall. And he is in love with the XL20i as it has two compressors and would dehumidify the air great which is what I need. (I have not mentioned it but I have an extremely large in wall saltwater fish tank in the basement.) He said the 2 compressor model is the way to go to save money as it will only suck half the power. I did ask about my complaint about not feeling any air from the vents. He said he does not think I need it but he could set the air speeds higher. I asked if he could put a bigger blower in the basement by say 1/2 ton so I can get more air flow? He said he would if I told him too.
I know this is a lot but I appreciate anyone who took the time to read and respond. I did call Trane corporate and they said they like stuff each one said but to call more dealers to get more opinions. While I have called 2 more I figured I would see if I could get a consensus on how to move forward?
The 2.5 ton unit is why I need your help. I have had problems with it since the beginning 3 years from purchase the fan motor died and was replaced under warranty. Then 2 years later it was replaced again when the fan motor died also under warranty. 3 years later it died again the fan motor at my cost. This time when it died I thought for sure it was the fan motor. The HVAC dealer said nope the compressor was going to ground and has to be replaced.
I have not only had the mechanical problems this unit has continually lost ground in both the winter and summer since I purchased it new 10 years ago. If the set point was 72 in the summer it could easily go to 77 to 80 on a 90 degree day. If it was cold outside around 35 it would go down to 68 if I had it set to 72 and then strip heat would come on to fix the problems. We have always had 1 room too hot or warm pretty much year round. Due to this my unit is running all the time and my heating bill could easily hit 700 dollars plus and my cooling bills the low 300's.
So with this information my first HVAC dealer comes in to give me prices and solutions. He says my 8x10 intake on the air handler is too small and so is my output ducting which is causing a bottle neck. He said since the basement is finished unless I want him to tear apart my basement the fix is to stay with a variable speed furnace. He could then overclock the fan speed with dip switches and make it try to push more air and that would fix the comfort level and reduce bills. To do this he would hard recommend a Trane XV95 (TUH2B060A9V3VA) and a coil (4TXCB004CC3HCA). The only thing to play with is the heat pump he recommended the XL16i or HB14. He said he did not like the XL20i because it has too many parts to break. He said he did not like the XR15 and does not carry it due to no bang for the extra bucks. He did measure my house for Louisville Kentucky area and came up with 1500 sq on the first floor and 1450 on the basement. He said I was barely 24000 BTU which is 2.5 ton. Though I did not catch how much on the heating I believe it was 60,000?
The second guy came out and then put a meter or something on the air handler and counted the flashes. Said while it said my unit was set to 1125CFM I was only getting around 800 max. He also said my ducts were fine since it was all sheet metal and straight short runs. He said my problem is that I have 14 ducts on my system and I want a goal of around 100 CFM per duct. That my 2.5 ton unit only gives about 1000 ideally. He also said my compressor went to ground because it was improperly installed and most likely they did not vacuum all the water out of the line causing sludge to build up that eat the compressor from the inside. This extra stuff going on could have caused more load and the fan fail like it did. He said the solution was to have a properly installed unit that was 2.5 tons. He recommended staying away from dual fuel as it costs a lot more for the system. He recommended staying with heat pump and air handler like I have now with strip heat as backup.
He will give me the costs on Monday but the systems he recommends are the XR15 as it is minimally more and a better unit overall. And he is in love with the XL20i as it has two compressors and would dehumidify the air great which is what I need. (I have not mentioned it but I have an extremely large in wall saltwater fish tank in the basement.) He said the 2 compressor model is the way to go to save money as it will only suck half the power. I did ask about my complaint about not feeling any air from the vents. He said he does not think I need it but he could set the air speeds higher. I asked if he could put a bigger blower in the basement by say 1/2 ton so I can get more air flow? He said he would if I told him too.
I know this is a lot but I appreciate anyone who took the time to read and respond. I did call Trane corporate and they said they like stuff each one said but to call more dealers to get more opinions. While I have called 2 more I figured I would see if I could get a consensus on how to move forward?
