I am one of those guys that went and bought a large, poorly built McMansion; feel free to mock me. It's 8 years old, 5,000+ square feet, looks great, passed all necessary inspections, but it's really crap and the builder has since been acquired by a larger company that ultimately declared bankruptcy. I've been in the house for less than 2 years and already have experienced moderately bad stucco, window, flashing, and water entry problems with limited insurance/legal recourse, but let's talk HVAC:
I have 2 separate split Carrier systems. The larger system adequately heats/cools the main floor and finished basement. The other, smaller system, is the problem. Both interior systems were installed side-by-side in the basement, but I have since learned that the smaller system should have been installed in the attic (which is now all but inaccessible). The runs to the top floor are so long that even with a fully charged AC, clean filter and the system on Hi, the air does not move with much force or effect by the time it reaches the upstairs bedrooms. Return vents upstairs are not strong enough to hold a simple tissue against the vent. To add to the upstairs cooling problem, the house is not shaded and gets beaten by direct sunlight most of the day. Even with the shades down and AC on, the MBR will often see the low 80s, and will only cool once the sun goes down. And this is with the system running nearly all day and all night.
Last year, my first summer in the house, I had a technician charge the system and make sure that all ducts were open and flowing the maximum amount of air. He confirmed that everything was set up as good as possible, but we still had a very warm upstairs all summer. This past weekend we lost all cooling upstairs and I found a large amount of water dripping out of the box that houses the interior coils. A different tech found 0 lbs of coolant in the coils, and informed me that I had a massive leak and my only options were replacing the cools or the entire system.
I have a $ quote for a new coil (P&L), but I am now considering a bigger, more drastic fix. Since the system has to run so hard for so long and it can't even keep up with the sun, I'm worried that a new coil is simply a bandaid, and at any time I will burn out the compressor and/or furnace blower. I have 3 companies coming out in the next 2 days to check out the system, make recommendations and offer quotes, but I am trying to educate myself enough to speak to them intelligently.
First, I have no airflow calculations nor the means to perform them. Is it wrong for me to assume that the estimators will do these calculations for themselves? Second, assuming that the builder actually installed the correct sized unit for the upstairs, where does that leave me? I always assumed that I just need a furnace with a bigger blower to solve my problem, but will it? Will a larger furnace make up for the long run, or will I need booster(s) or a more radical change? How can I know if the problem isn't the ductwork instead? Will a reputable company test the ductwork or will they just try to sell me bigger, better equipment? I try to educate myself before doing something that leaves me vulnerable to being taken advantage of (other than that one time when I bought a McMansion), but HVAC is a completely foreign world to me.
I sincerely appreciate any assistance anyone is willing to offer.
I have 2 separate split Carrier systems. The larger system adequately heats/cools the main floor and finished basement. The other, smaller system, is the problem. Both interior systems were installed side-by-side in the basement, but I have since learned that the smaller system should have been installed in the attic (which is now all but inaccessible). The runs to the top floor are so long that even with a fully charged AC, clean filter and the system on Hi, the air does not move with much force or effect by the time it reaches the upstairs bedrooms. Return vents upstairs are not strong enough to hold a simple tissue against the vent. To add to the upstairs cooling problem, the house is not shaded and gets beaten by direct sunlight most of the day. Even with the shades down and AC on, the MBR will often see the low 80s, and will only cool once the sun goes down. And this is with the system running nearly all day and all night.
Last year, my first summer in the house, I had a technician charge the system and make sure that all ducts were open and flowing the maximum amount of air. He confirmed that everything was set up as good as possible, but we still had a very warm upstairs all summer. This past weekend we lost all cooling upstairs and I found a large amount of water dripping out of the box that houses the interior coils. A different tech found 0 lbs of coolant in the coils, and informed me that I had a massive leak and my only options were replacing the cools or the entire system.
I have a $ quote for a new coil (P&L), but I am now considering a bigger, more drastic fix. Since the system has to run so hard for so long and it can't even keep up with the sun, I'm worried that a new coil is simply a bandaid, and at any time I will burn out the compressor and/or furnace blower. I have 3 companies coming out in the next 2 days to check out the system, make recommendations and offer quotes, but I am trying to educate myself enough to speak to them intelligently.
First, I have no airflow calculations nor the means to perform them. Is it wrong for me to assume that the estimators will do these calculations for themselves? Second, assuming that the builder actually installed the correct sized unit for the upstairs, where does that leave me? I always assumed that I just need a furnace with a bigger blower to solve my problem, but will it? Will a larger furnace make up for the long run, or will I need booster(s) or a more radical change? How can I know if the problem isn't the ductwork instead? Will a reputable company test the ductwork or will they just try to sell me bigger, better equipment? I try to educate myself before doing something that leaves me vulnerable to being taken advantage of (other than that one time when I bought a McMansion), but HVAC is a completely foreign world to me.
I sincerely appreciate any assistance anyone is willing to offer.
