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"No returns"
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May 30, 2019 15:28
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"If you're renting call your landlord: The HVAC Thread"
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May 30, 2019 15:41
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Venting our frustrations: The HVAC Thread
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May 30, 2019 16:05
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Take your pick of quotes from the classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsEQEPUJP8M
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May 30, 2019 16:09
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Jaded Burnout posted:"No returns" No returns, supplies are limited
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May 30, 2019 23:02
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angryrobots posted:No returns, supplies are limited 5
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May 30, 2019 23:27
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MRC48B posted:non comedy option: This one will do nicely.
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May 30, 2019 23:42
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I just drove for two hours to tell someone that. Also a belt.
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May 30, 2019 23:55
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angryrobots posted:No returns, supplies are limited
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May 31, 2019 03:37
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I got a quote for a ductless system and I'm wondering how it looks to you all. We are getting two more quotes. One compressor, 4 heads, Mitsubishi units. 1x 15k btu unit for main floor living spaces, 3x 6k btu units for upstairs bedrooms. New electrical sub-panel install included. $15k even for everything installed.
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Jun 6, 2019 15:35
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Pretty much any variance in the cost is going to depend largely on how difficult it will be to run the refrigerant, drain and power lines to the heads, which depends a whole lot on your house. Also, does this quote include drywall repair (if required)? HOW will the line sets be run? Hidden in the walls or are they just banging units on outside walls and running down the exterior?
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Jun 6, 2019 15:47
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Motronic posted:Pretty much any variance in the cost is going to depend largely on how difficult it will be to run the refrigerant, drain and power lines to the heads, which depends a whole lot on your house. Also, does this quote include drywall repair (if required)? HOW will the line sets be run? Hidden in the walls or are they just banging units on outside walls and running down the exterior? They didn't mention anything about wall repairs. I'll ask. They are planning to run them on the house exterior with line hiders.
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Jun 6, 2019 17:13
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Grand Theft Autobot posted:They didn't mention anything about wall repairs. I'll ask. If they're just banging them through exterior walls there won't likely be any drywall repair necessary. Whether this is a look you want or not is certainly up to you.
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Jun 6, 2019 17:34
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Motronic posted:If they're just banging them through exterior walls there won't likely be any drywall repair necessary. I mean, I don't really care that much. Ductless is the only reasonable option for my 105 year old house. There are a couple others on the block that have it and the line hiders don't stand out that much, especially if painted the same color as the siding.
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Jun 6, 2019 18:37
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Grand Theft Autobot posted:I mean, I don't really care that much. Ductless is the only reasonable option for my 105 year old house. There are a couple others on the block that have it and the line hiders don't stand out that much, especially if painted the same color as the siding. I considered going ductless upstairs in my 115 year old home - the existing forced air system was sufficient on the 1st floor, but lacking on the second floor. I had 2 small supplies for 3 rooms up stairs and it was an absolute oven in the summer. I even got a quote (8k for 2 units in the midwest) but ended up adding 2 supplies + an 8" rigid return duct. I'm very please with it so far and only ended up sacrificing ~6 sqft on the 1st floor and 2 sqft on the second floor. I contracted out an HVAC company to do the supply ducts (+ replace the AC/FURNACE which were 25 years old) but I did the return myself. e: the supplies I routed in the back of a closet and the return took up existing room space - basically adding a fake pillar on a wall. extravadanza fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 19:00
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Another popular retrofit in older homes (and I'm talking about 300 year old homes around here) are HVLP systems.
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Jun 6, 2019 19:51
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I appreciate the replies. Another question related to this project: I had an ice dam leak into my kid's room this year, probably through chimney flashing. I had a chimney company come out and they (of course) say the whole chimney should be rebuilt for $8k. I asked how much it would be to just kill the chimney and roof over the cavity. That's $4k. My plan is to vent my boiler and water heater in a different way, so I don't need a chimney. I live in Minnesota, so I can see myself needing to go through this poo poo again every ten years or so, because exposed masonry in our loving death winters just can't last. I've got two options from the same people quoting the AC system. 1. 2. They'll drop a B Vent through the old chimney cavity and vent my stuff that way. This is probably half the cost of option 1. So, I'm not really sure which is worse. Number 1 keeps holes away from my roof, but could be noisy enough to keep anyone from living in the basement and is more expensive. Number 2 puts a hole in my roof but has no noise problems and is cheaper. To my knowledge, my plumbing stack vent has never had a leak issue. Are B Vents essentially the same thing? If done right are they leak prone? edit: lingo bullshit Grand Theft Autobot fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 21:47
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Grand Theft Autobot posted:
I would ask a roofer what to do about a leak/flashing, not a chimney company. Chimney dudes are some of the biggest ripoff artists in house repair, and that's really saying something. Their answer to almost everything is to rebuild the chimney to the tune of the cost of a new car. Unless your chimney is really deteriorated or falling over, I would think you'd be able to have it reflashed (probably $1000 or $2000 max), and then install a stainless liner for <$1000. You can also apply chimney cap goop yourself (basically an elastic paint) and waterproof/seal the masonry with a spray on sealer. That should keep water from penetrating and destroying stuff as it freezes. There are chimneys out there that are original to cold-climate homes from the 1700s, and they're still standing.
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Jun 7, 2019 01:23
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Would this be an okay place to ask about dinky little window units? Glancing through a couple pages it feels like this thread is mostly about big fancy central air projects but I couldn’t find anywhere that made more sense
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Jun 9, 2019 07:28
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Dear HVAC thread, I am in need of your advice. I bought a home with a non-functional central split-AC system about 2 years ago. I was initially able to revive the AC by replacing the leaking schrader valves then adding ~2 pounds of R22. That was all fine and dandy, the unit blew cold air all summer. Fast forward to my first attempt to power the unit up this summer and it doesn't seem to work. It sounds like the compressor is seized and gauge readings seem to agree there is no refrigerant flow. Throwing in a new capacitor + $40 hard start system didn't seem to work so, given the age of the unit, I figure Im in the market for a replacement. I am considering two courses of action: A)Buy a matched Condenser+Coil from one of the manufacturers that will sell to customers (Goodman or Rheem seem like my choices) Mount the coil/connect electrics/Run lineset Call a contractor to braze+evac+release refrigerant Cost = ~$1600 parts + $500? contractor There's a lot of residential development in my area which has made a number of 5-6 year old used condensers available, presumably from homeowners upgrading from cooling only to heatpump B)Buy a used Condenser of appropriate size and a new evaporator Mount / connect everything I can Call a contractor to braze/evac/charge the system Cost = $800 parts + $500? contractor *Thoughts on buying a used condenser? If the person who did the disconnection wasn't an idiot, what're the risks? *Is there much difference in manufacturers? Cost aside, would a 5-year old Trane be of better construction than a new Goodman system? *My DIY drive makes me want to braze+evac+charge the system myself, tell me not to do this.
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Jun 9, 2019 17:13
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Have you verified that the compressor is getting sufficient voltage?
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Jun 9, 2019 17:18
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check to make sure the contactor pads aren't toast. but It's probably too late at this point.Mr.Popadopolis posted:*Thoughts on buying a used condenser? If the person who did the disconnection wasn't an idiot, what're the risks? That it ran for years with unclean coils, filter, marginal run capacitor. The 800 you save is not really worth the risk, unless you're flipping this property soon. Wowporn posted:Would this be an okay place to ask about dinky little window units? Glancing through a couple pages it feels like this thread is mostly about big fancy central air projects but I couldn’t find anywhere that made more sense
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Jun 9, 2019 19:37
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MRC48B posted:That it ran for years with unclean coils, filter, marginal run capacitor. The 800 you save is not really worth the risk, unless you're flipping this property soon. He won't be "saving" $800. New compressors come pre-charged (which may or may not be sufficient charge weight depending on the line set length). R-22 ain't cheap.
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Jun 9, 2019 19:44
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Mr.Popadopolis posted:*Thoughts on buying a used condenser? If the person who did the disconnection wasn't an idiot, what're the risks? If you are going to DIY this, than you most certianly shouldn't buy a used system. You won't know the condition it was in before it was disconnected. Was it sealed and filled with nitro so moisture didn't get in? Is the compressor going to run like its full of rocks? As far as brands go, ehhh, yes and no. For the most part, they're pretty similar, but I would say Trane and Lennox are definitely worth the extra coin. They're built better, use better parts, and seem to hold up better. Goodman is a fine system, but it gets a lot of lovely installs. And their commercial line is garbage, but that's another story. But for your purposes Goodman would work just fine. I'm gonna go against the usual contractor stuff, and say you can do all the install yourself, but there's things you need to be aware of. First of all, you're going to need a drier, if you new condenser doesn't have one installed already. A 163s should be sufficient for your install. Then you're going to need a tank of nitrogen for the install as well. For pressure testing, and to flow while you braze if you want to be a real pro. The biggest thing though, is you should see if you need permits for this if you plan to sell your house anytime soon.
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Jun 9, 2019 20:55
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MRC48B posted:check to make sure the contactor pads aren't toast. but It's probably too late at this point. The listing stated the condenser came from a wealthy couples summer home and that it was maintained yearly. Motronic posted:He won't be "saving" $800. New compressors come pre-charged (which may or may not be sufficient charge weight depending on the line set length). R-22 ain't cheap. The evaporator coil is only 10 feet from the condenser, it's a straight shot through the foundation wall to the crawlspace thankfully. I still have like 28 pounds in my bottle of R22 I bought to recharge the system the first time, not sure what to do with it when I replace this system.
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Jun 9, 2019 20:56
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Mr.Popadopolis posted:I still have like 28 pounds in my bottle of R22 I bought to recharge the system the first time, not sure what to do with it when I replace this system. Uhhhhh....you put in on eBay for $300+ to pay for some of this.
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Jun 9, 2019 21:16
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MRC48B posted:post away. Cool, I’m looking at ac units for the living room of my ~525 sqft apartment and wondering if there’s a huge downside to getting one of those “portable” units that looks more like a small dehumidifier with a hose that vents out a window. My biggest reasons for wanting to go with one of those are that it’ll take up way less space of the window it’s installed in, and ease of installation (my windows are like a hundred years old and I’m surprised every time I open one and it doesn’t crumble apart, so putting in a 65 lb ac unit makes me nervous). I live in Minnesota so it’s only hot enough to need ac like 2-3 months out of the year, and usually won’t need to run it overnight. I know the efficiency is usually a lot worse with those units but I was able to find one that’s still above 10 EER which I think would be good enough for my uses? TLDR are there any major downsides to getting one of the portable AC units instead of a regular completely window mounted one if I’m aware of the small differences
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Jun 10, 2019 00:35
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the EERs of both window and portables are not great, I use a portable because in northern climates getting units in and out of windows sucks. at your latitude you won't notice the difference in efficiency. Portables are much easier to deal with, just a bit more finicky to set up. I recommend splurging on a two-hose unit if you can. Taking room air for the condenser just pulls outside air in somewhere else.
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Jun 10, 2019 00:59
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Cool, that's good to know, I was afraid they would have a higher chance of like burning the building down or leaking or something. And forgot to mention but my budget is pretty low so I don't think I'll be able to find a dual hose unit I can afford, I'm just barely able to get out of "drag unit into bathtub to manually drain condensation" territory price wise.
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Jun 10, 2019 01:24
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Wowporn posted:Cool, I’m looking at ac units for the living room of my ~525 sqft apartment and wondering if there’s a huge downside to getting one of those “portable” units that looks more like a small dehumidifier with a hose that vents out a window. Massive downsides. They're a shitload louder, even the best ones still wind up releasing plenty of heat back into the room from the exhaust hoses (they're always single-wall hoses, not insulated at all), the hoses pop off easily, they sometimes leak condensation, the condensation pumps that are supposed to splash the condensation onto the coils burn out eventually (so you have to drag the whole thing over to the bathtub to drain it), they're much less efficient (even if you get a 2 hose model).. I know a window unit is a PITA, but you only have to deal with moving it twice a year. They're a lot quieter, since the compressor is physically outside, and even if they happen to have the same EER, they're (much) more efficient in that they're exhausting 100% of the hot air outside, instead of through a glorified dryer hose that's going to heat the room back up even if it doesn't leak. The window units are also much, much cheaper for the same cooling capacity. Assuming 10k BTU (which would handle your square footage okay-ish, so long as it's a pretty open floorplan), you're going to pay $400+ for a lovely no-name portable with a questionable warranty, and you'll have trouble finding them locally. You can get a name brand windowshaker at Wal-Mart or your favorite big box home improvement store for quite a bit less if you go for the basic model, and still be under $400 if you get one with electronic controls and a remote.
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Jun 10, 2019 08:49
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I guess another factor is that which kind I got would affect where I put it in my apartment; since the amount of window space the portable ones take up is so much smaller I would put it in my living room since then it won't block half of one of my two windows in there (unless there is a practical way to stick a window ac into a swing open piano window and not have to like tape a board over the top half of the window) but if I got a window unit I would probably want to put it in my bedroom window since I don't care as much about losing the window real estate in there. My apartment is rail car style with all the rooms in one line, so I don't know if it would be super easy to get the cold air to travel to the living room, which is on the opposite end from the bedroom, or if it would work out okay in such a mild summer climate.
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Jun 11, 2019 01:30
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You'd need to setup a decent fan or two between the bedroom and living room. Box fans move a lot of air for their size, but they're loud.
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Jun 15, 2019 19:37
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Grand Theft Autobot posted:I got a quote for a ductless system and I'm wondering how it looks to you all. We are getting two more quotes. Hey me too! My quote was for 1 large unit on the first floor, two smaller units on the 2nd floor. 12k, also changing the service line from 100 A to 200 A. Glad to hear it is at least in the same ball park..
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Jun 17, 2019 11:08
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I can't seem to get the humidity level down inside my new construction house for some reason. (appx 1 year old) I've had the company out twice now to check out the systems, and they're working properly and has zero issues cooling the house to the desired temps. I just can't get the humidity down below 65% for some reason. I'm curious if anyone can offer any advice. Info San Antonio TX area 3400 sq ft 2 story house 2.5 ton Carrier A/C downstairs 2 ton Carrier A/C upstairs downstairs temp set to 70 upstairs temp set to 72 downstairs unit connected to an Aprilaire 8126x fresh air system, but it's programmed not to open if the humidity is above 60% or temp is below 32 or above 100 outside. The last tech confirmed its working properly. I've never had this problem in previous homes...if anything it would get too dry during the summer. Current outdoor humidity is 56%, and it's going to be hot today so the units should run quite a bit today. Indoor humidity is 64% downstairs and 59% upstairs according to my ecobees, and the tech tested with his equipment they're accurate. What's weird is my neighbors report their houses don't have this issue, so I'm just at a loss. It's newer energy efficient construction and the house is sealed up pretty well. I make sure to run the exhaust vents during cooking and showers to try to get the humid air vented outside. Any ideas? I'm at the point where I might just go buy a dehumidifier to see if it helps. edit: I check the runtime stats I can get out of the ecobee website. The system seems sized properly. It runs pretty much 100% between the hours of 4pm and 9pm which is expected in my area. My living areas get a lot of western sun, plus thats when we're all generating the most heat. It cycles on and off during the day, but it doesn't seem to be oversized and excessively short cycling. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Jun 19, 2019 |
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Jun 19, 2019 17:59
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How much does the unit cycle outside of 4-9pm? What's your "away" settings? Have you tried adjusting your "away" temp to run the unit a little more and see if the humidity drops? Have any of the techs checked that the air handler units are leveled properly and draining condensate the way they're supposed to?
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Jun 19, 2019 20:05
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skipdogg posted:I can't seem to get the humidity level down inside my new construction house for some reason. (appx 1 year old) I've had the company out twice now to check out the systems, and they're working properly and has zero issues cooling the house to the desired temps. I just can't get the humidity down below 65% for some reason. I'm curious if anyone can offer any advice. I'm not super used to US construction styles but new building construction introduces a lot of water and are more tightly sealed up for eco reasons. It took me several weeks of running a dehumidifier and watching the local humidity info to know when to leave the windows open to get things down and stable.. Bear in mind you're not comparing like to like with your outdoor humidity unless indoor and outdoor are at the same temperature. What I found effective (but annoying) was running both the inside and outside humidity through this calculator to get both absolute humidities, then leaving the doors & windows open if it was more humid inside. It was often more humid inside even when raining outside because of the temperature difference. 65% isn't too bad, though.
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Jun 19, 2019 21:03
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angryrobots posted:How much does the unit cycle outside of 4-9pm? What's your "away" settings? Have you tried adjusting your "away" temp to run the unit a little more and see if the humidity drops? Have any of the techs checked that the air handler units are leveled properly and draining condensate the way they're supposed to? I've attached the data from the downstairs unit from the Ecobee website. It cycles a fair bit overnight keeping it cold, but otherwise looks ok? I'm not using any away settings. I'm home all day, and I've found it's best to just leave it at a set temp and let it keep it that way. Late afternoons get hot, and my last house didn't have the capability to bringing the temp down until the sun went down. I'm not sure about the air handlers being level. I did have an idea about checking the condensate line that runs to a bathroom sink. I could disconnect it and put it in a bucket and see if it's draining properly. Jaded Burnout posted:I'm not super used to US construction styles but new building construction introduces a lot of water and are more tightly sealed up for eco reasons. It took me several weeks of running a dehumidifier and watching the local humidity info to know when to leave the windows open to get things down and stable.. The house is almost a year old. I expected higher humidity levels while the house "dried out" last summer, but I would have though it wouldn't be as bad this summer. It's just really getting hot here now, so I didn't chase this when the A/C wasn't running as much. 65% isn't bad, but it's abnormal in my experience of living here the last decade or so. My last house was generally low 40% to mid 30's in the summer. We had to get rid of a microfiber couch that did nothing but generate static electricity during the summer months. Maybe this house will be different, but want to make sure I'm not missing something. That system was arguably undersized for the house though. It ran non stop most summer days.
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Jun 19, 2019 21:23
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For that kind of runtime, imo yeah that's an oddly high indoor humidity level. I would like to check the air handlers, at least look at them and make sure the external catch pans are dry. Also the tech checked that the fresh air system is "working" I know, but was he able to verify that the damper is fully closed and sealing well? Or did he just check that it wasn't being commanded to open?
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Jun 19, 2019 22:50
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I’ll go up and check the handlers again tomorrow morning. Pretty sure my attic is way too hot right now. I don’t think he checked the seal on the fresh air, but we can see the damper easily and it is closed and seems to work properly. Thanks for the help so far, I appreciate it. Edit: somehow the humidity in the house has gone up and for the first time ever the system isn’t holding temp https://imgur.com/a/zHqDMcn skipdogg fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Jun 19, 2019 |
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Jun 19, 2019 23:41
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skipdogg posted:I’ll go up and check the handlers again tomorrow morning. Pretty sure my attic is way too hot right now. I don't know what sort of temperature you're fighting outside, but if a 1 year old house can't hold temp on modern construction something is seriously broken. My leaky as hell 1947 house can hold temp on a low-mid grade system now that we blew in insulation against 110F+. Are you sure both units are actually blowing cold air? That none of your walls are suspiciously hot or cold? 4.5 tons seems like a decent amount for a correctly insulated house, but I am a lay person when it comes to HVAC.
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Jun 20, 2019 00:10
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