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Replacing my HVAC


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Since I am retiring sometime next year I am going thru and replacing things around the house.  My Heil hvac system is pushing 15 years and I have decided to replace it now.

I have a 80% gas furnace with central air.  Looking at energy star rated 95% furnace.  I want more efficient CA (16 SEER) or might go with a Heat Pump this time around.

I know the installer is probably as important as the equipment but wonder what brands folks out there have or what they bought and why or one they stay from.

Around my area we have Trane, American Standard, Lennox and Bryant from long time family businesses that have good reps.  We also have Rheem, Heil and Tempstar from newer businesses that I really dont have a feel for.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

 

 

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I replaced my central air system a few years back with Tempstar and have been very happy with it.  I used that brand because that's what my "brother-in-law in the business" installer had discount access to at the time.  Otherwise I like Bryant and Carrier and have always thought of them as being at the top of quality chain.  In reality, the internal heart of the system is probably an Copeland compressor (an Emerson company) regardless of the A/C brand, so I'm not sure how much the brand really matters in terms of A/C.

If I had it to do over again, I'd definitely do the heat pump instead of just the standard A/C.  This gives you the best of both worlds, i.e. very efficient heat pump heat for when temps are not frigid...and then the gas furnace for when the temps get lower or are low over a more extended period when the heat pump is less effective.  I really regret not paying the extra for a heat pump when I replaced my central A/C.

I don't really have any input on the gas furnace as I've never had to replace one of those yet.  They seem to vary less in quality and so much more efficient than they used to be, it's probably hard to go wrong with that regardless.

Hope that helps some.

 

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I have several quotes now and learning a lot also.  It's funny how you pick up little tidbits of info from the various vendors.

I am considering a hybrid system which is a fancy word for using a heat pump outside and gas furnace inside.  The heat pump cools at warm temps and heats to around 30 degrees.  Then my gas furnace would kick on when temps fall from there.

I was set on getting a 95% efficient furnace but finding out the more complex systems can come with higher unit cost, higher installation cost and higher service costs I am trying to do a little more calculating.

Living here in southern Indiana with the heat pump providing about all the heating except for those days or nights of the 3-4 winter months that the temps drop 30ish and below, I am wanting to figure what is the real payback.  I know the 95% saves 15% on the heat bill vs the 80% when running but with $1500-$2000 higher upfront costs we are talking about several years before breaking even.

If I was 40 or 50 I wouldn't even think about it but at age 66 calculating payback and breaking even prices is occurring more frequently. 

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