Need some advice for a new member. Heat pump/air handler/electric furnace replacement.
Just bought a house in July, and the heat pump has been nothing but trouble. Fixed 4 times. Condensate pan cracked and flooded my basement and destroyed floor for thousands of dollars of damage. Heating mode failed and I'm now on aux heat since October.
Getting HVAC bids in Montreal seems to be a crapshoot. I'm up to 5 bids. All but two seem sketchy. No one does load calcs. Only one guy knew what it was and offered it, at my expense. So I'm left with what is below.
Background info;
House built in 1992. 1st and second floor area combined 3100 sq feet. Basement is heated by electric baseboards, no ducting there. All the thermal glass in the windows will be replaced over the next 2 years. Current unit is a Ruud 4 or 5 ton behemoth with two big fans, 90s vintage.
Air hanlder is probably a 5 ton. The model numbers have faded. Uses r22.
Here are the bids (no prices)
Bid 1.
Equipment suggested: Lennox (only deals in Lennox)
Suggested HP: XP 14, or signature series XP 17 (more $$$) 4 ton
Suggested Air handler CBX40UHV-048 (more $$$, variable speed) or CBX27UH-048 (fixed speed), both 4 ton
Suggested thermostat: my current Nest v2, or switch to Lennox icomfort whatever if I get the variable speed blower
Extras suggested: replacing electronic air filter with MERV 16 paper filter, UV light inside air handler to stop mold growth, redoing the ducting between the indoor coil and air handler to remove right angles.
Installer: by far the most professional looking. Spent 3.5 hours in my house. Measured duct sizing, square footage, and returns/exhausts. Measured current refrigerant lines, and looked at furnace and heat pump placement.
Suggested teh following install: heat pump capacity based on sq footage, but limited by current line set. Some of the refrigerant lines are behind finished ceiling and may not be able to replace. Suggested purging lines before install. The newer r410a will not allow a 5 ton unit outside.
For the blower he suggested a 4 ton unit, since I am restricted to around 1950 CFM according to his calcs. Offered to do a load calc for my house (at my expense) through a third party, but stated that it would not change much on the install, sicne a 5 ton won't work due to teh lines, and unlikely to be able to drop to a 3.5 ton.
Pros: most detailed and thorough bid, explained every thing in clear concise language, range of prices depending on which of the 4 combos I choose
Cons: referred by Cotsco, Lennox brand seems hated by pretty much every one, most expensive bid at the high end
Bid 2.
Equipment suggested: Carrier (only deals in Carrier/payne)
Suggested HP: Carrier Infinity 25HNB5 4 ton
Suggested Air handler : FX4 fan coil, fixed speed 5 TON
Suggested thermostat: my current Nest v2,
Extras suggested: redoing the ducting between the indoor coil and air handler to remove right angles. dealer pushing hard for a Neptronic humidifier
Installer: Current company that maintains my equipment. Their techs have left a bad taste in my mouth for being pretty short sighted. Spent a lot of time looking at my pump and furnace. Guesstimated house square footage. Never went upstairs. Did note the difficulty and changing lineset.
Suggested teh following install: heat pump capacity based on sq footage, but limited by current line set. Suggested purging lines before install.
For the blower he suggested a 5 ton unit, since he says I need 2000 CFM.
Pros: 2nd most detailed bid, Carrier brand which seems highly regarded
Cons: Mismatched pump and air handler worry me. I've dealt with their techs before. Didn't spend much time walking around the house or assessing my returns and ducts. Uses the words infinity and greenspeed twice per sentence.
Bid 3.
Equipment suggested: Amana (deals in several brands, including Lennox)
Suggested HP: ASZ14, 4 ton
Suggested air handler: suggests keeping my Ruud unit and will retrofit new coil on my existing setup.
Suggested thermostat: current Nest
Installer: seems to be well regarded since they did my neighbours heat pump with no issues. Spent some time calculating sq footage, and measuring ducts and returns. Noted no issues with refrigerant lines and said they could be fished out easy.says my furnace is old but reliable and sees no need to change it now.
Pros: cheapest bid by far, good word of mouth
Cons: seemed very superficial, though more thorough than number 2. Suggested the lowest efficiency heat pump.
Bid 4 and 5: these guys just plain scared me. Took some pics with their iphones and disappeared. I think one of them wants to stalk the wife.
Sorry for the long post. But I'm need of guidance. I'm looking at dropping between 8k and 13k (CAD not USD) on this. I need to get it right. I come from a world of oil furnaces and in wall ACs. Heat pumps are new to me.
Just bought a house in July, and the heat pump has been nothing but trouble. Fixed 4 times. Condensate pan cracked and flooded my basement and destroyed floor for thousands of dollars of damage. Heating mode failed and I'm now on aux heat since October.
Getting HVAC bids in Montreal seems to be a crapshoot. I'm up to 5 bids. All but two seem sketchy. No one does load calcs. Only one guy knew what it was and offered it, at my expense. So I'm left with what is below.
Background info;
House built in 1992. 1st and second floor area combined 3100 sq feet. Basement is heated by electric baseboards, no ducting there. All the thermal glass in the windows will be replaced over the next 2 years. Current unit is a Ruud 4 or 5 ton behemoth with two big fans, 90s vintage.
Air hanlder is probably a 5 ton. The model numbers have faded. Uses r22.
Here are the bids (no prices)
Bid 1.
Equipment suggested: Lennox (only deals in Lennox)
Suggested HP: XP 14, or signature series XP 17 (more $$$) 4 ton
Suggested Air handler CBX40UHV-048 (more $$$, variable speed) or CBX27UH-048 (fixed speed), both 4 ton
Suggested thermostat: my current Nest v2, or switch to Lennox icomfort whatever if I get the variable speed blower
Extras suggested: replacing electronic air filter with MERV 16 paper filter, UV light inside air handler to stop mold growth, redoing the ducting between the indoor coil and air handler to remove right angles.
Installer: by far the most professional looking. Spent 3.5 hours in my house. Measured duct sizing, square footage, and returns/exhausts. Measured current refrigerant lines, and looked at furnace and heat pump placement.
Suggested teh following install: heat pump capacity based on sq footage, but limited by current line set. Some of the refrigerant lines are behind finished ceiling and may not be able to replace. Suggested purging lines before install. The newer r410a will not allow a 5 ton unit outside.
For the blower he suggested a 4 ton unit, since I am restricted to around 1950 CFM according to his calcs. Offered to do a load calc for my house (at my expense) through a third party, but stated that it would not change much on the install, sicne a 5 ton won't work due to teh lines, and unlikely to be able to drop to a 3.5 ton.
Pros: most detailed and thorough bid, explained every thing in clear concise language, range of prices depending on which of the 4 combos I choose
Cons: referred by Cotsco, Lennox brand seems hated by pretty much every one, most expensive bid at the high end
Bid 2.
Equipment suggested: Carrier (only deals in Carrier/payne)
Suggested HP: Carrier Infinity 25HNB5 4 ton
Suggested Air handler : FX4 fan coil, fixed speed 5 TON
Suggested thermostat: my current Nest v2,
Extras suggested: redoing the ducting between the indoor coil and air handler to remove right angles. dealer pushing hard for a Neptronic humidifier
Installer: Current company that maintains my equipment. Their techs have left a bad taste in my mouth for being pretty short sighted. Spent a lot of time looking at my pump and furnace. Guesstimated house square footage. Never went upstairs. Did note the difficulty and changing lineset.
Suggested teh following install: heat pump capacity based on sq footage, but limited by current line set. Suggested purging lines before install.
For the blower he suggested a 5 ton unit, since he says I need 2000 CFM.
Pros: 2nd most detailed bid, Carrier brand which seems highly regarded
Cons: Mismatched pump and air handler worry me. I've dealt with their techs before. Didn't spend much time walking around the house or assessing my returns and ducts. Uses the words infinity and greenspeed twice per sentence.
Bid 3.
Equipment suggested: Amana (deals in several brands, including Lennox)
Suggested HP: ASZ14, 4 ton
Suggested air handler: suggests keeping my Ruud unit and will retrofit new coil on my existing setup.
Suggested thermostat: current Nest
Installer: seems to be well regarded since they did my neighbours heat pump with no issues. Spent some time calculating sq footage, and measuring ducts and returns. Noted no issues with refrigerant lines and said they could be fished out easy.says my furnace is old but reliable and sees no need to change it now.
Pros: cheapest bid by far, good word of mouth
Cons: seemed very superficial, though more thorough than number 2. Suggested the lowest efficiency heat pump.
Bid 4 and 5: these guys just plain scared me. Took some pics with their iphones and disappeared. I think one of them wants to stalk the wife.
Sorry for the long post. But I'm need of guidance. I'm looking at dropping between 8k and 13k (CAD not USD) on this. I need to get it right. I come from a world of oil furnaces and in wall ACs. Heat pumps are new to me.
