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Year and a half? Call your installer. Could be as simple as a doa capacitor but could be something much more serious. They SHOULD do this pretty cheaply for labor, and parts should be $0, including gas, assuming they installed the entire sealed system the including lines.
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Sep 4, 2021 21:51
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movax posted:It looks like I can get a blower door test done for ~$250 and get an exact number for my ACH and other information re: how insulated my place actually is. Sorry for the delayed response, but I don't know much about that particular unit, but it definitely looks interesting. And yeah, the HRV portion basically exchanges the interior "stale" air for outdoor fresh air, generally/ideally passing it through some form of filter media, and on the way the outgoing warm air will transfer some thermal energy to the incoming cold air. I haven't spent much time looking at the unit you linked, but just from a quick glance, I'd imagine you'd need at least several of these to exchange over a decent-sized house, and it seems like a single unit is probably only about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of installing a large HRV/ERV unit?
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Sep 8, 2021 08:22
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SourKraut posted:Sorry for the delayed response, but I don't know much about that particular unit, but it definitely looks interesting. And yeah, the HRV portion basically exchanges the interior "stale" air for outdoor fresh air, generally/ideally passing it through some form of filter media, and on the way the outgoing warm air will transfer some thermal energy to the incoming cold air. No problem! I have no ductwork / desire to add ductwork, so the conventional HRV / ERV setup wouldn’t work for me. In this townhome, since it’s narrow, exterior access is quite easy, it seems like those little guys would help out. The CFM is probably low though, compared to just leaving a window / door open, but in the colder months, that generally doesn’t work too well. Ideally, I just need those to exchange like ~150 sf worth of air. On the mini-split saga side, I had a good visit from a Mitsubishi installer who knew his poo poo. I need to make some choices on the BTU per room, and I missed the part where any Hyper Heat system >3 heads needs a branch box — so, need to decide if I do want H2i and go 2x outdoor units, or just go with the non-H2i system which can do 5 cassettes, no branch box. He said there weren’t a lot of good choices on where to install a branch box (plus, needs plenty of service access), so likely not a path for those. Might be a chance to squeeze them into some existing soffits, which could be really really slick looking, but the ceiling also works if that won’t. Awaiting the quote now!
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Sep 9, 2021 06:14
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Are HVAC maintenance contracts worthwhile? Or, maybe, are they worthwhile once the equipment is past a certain age? Our unit is 2.5 years old and apparently the builder cheaped out and didn't install a bypass (or really two separate units, which would have been the best), so we're having one installed to prevent the blower from getting burnt out, and the company recommended a maintenance plan as well.
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Sep 10, 2021 02:25
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movax posted:No problem! Probably a dumb question, but did they say if they could connect up the two outdoor units in a way that, in a pinch if one was having issues, you could run less efficiently off the other for combined use until the other could be serviced? You'll have to keep us informed; I just had replaced my home AC about two years ago after we bought our house and the original unit died, but if I were doing it now, I'd probably go with ductless minisplits. hooah posted:Are HVAC maintenance contracts worthwhile? Or, maybe, are they worthwhile once the equipment is past a certain age? Our unit is 2.5 years old and apparently the builder cheaped out and didn't install a bypass (or really two separate units, which would have been the best), so we're having one installed to prevent the blower from getting burnt out, and the company recommended a maintenance plan as well. I think the best approach to this is to evaluate what 1 or 2x trips a year cost for normal tuneups during changes of season, etc., and compare that cost against what the maintenance plan is. Also, if your unit is only 2.5 years old, it may still be under its manufacturer's original warranty, and a lot of times, the warranty language says that you need to have regular maintenance (i.e. once or twice a year) performed on it to keep the warranty valid. So if you know who installed it, you could always get a maintenance plan through them for peace of mind.
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Sep 11, 2021 06:28
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Installer came by and swapped the contactor. He said it was loud, and may have been firing frequently and failing? He recommended documenting the loud compressor incidents from here out. Not much else you can replace other than the compressor.
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Sep 11, 2021 14:23
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hooah posted:Are HVAC maintenance contracts worthwhile? Or, maybe, are they worthwhile once the equipment is past a certain age? Our unit is 2.5 years old and apparently the builder cheaped out and didn't install a bypass (or really two separate units, which would have been the best), so we're having one installed to prevent the blower from getting burnt out, and the company recommended a maintenance plan as well. My contract costs about the same as two visits a year, plus they drop of 6 months worth of filters so is basically cost neutral if I was going to have the two PMs a year. And the soft benefit in my mind is if I have an emergency call, I'm a current customer so hopefully that works out to some sort of priority.
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Sep 11, 2021 16:55
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Got a quote on replacing my HVAC unit, and the AC guy said I was going to need to replace all the ductwork as well, so the quote came in at $15K. The ductwork is pretty old, and the home inspection I got when I bought the house seven years ago said it needed some work, but I wonder how I can tell if it actually needs to be totally replaced? The guy didn't even really look at it besides peeking through the crawlspace door, which makes me a little nervous about going straight for replacement.
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Sep 11, 2021 17:07
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Rand Brittain posted:Got a quote on replacing my HVAC unit, and the AC guy said I was going to need to replace all the ductwork as well, so the quote came in at $15K. The ductwork is pretty old, and the home inspection I got when I bought the house seven years ago said it needed some work, but I wonder how I can tell if it actually needs to be totally replaced? The guy didn't even really look at it besides peeking through the crawlspace door, which makes me a little nervous about going straight for replacement. Did he explain why? Remember, he's a salesman. The default is that you don't do it, it's up to him to explain/convince you why it's necessary/desirable. If he doesn't make a good case, don't do it. Also, get other quotes and see if they mention the ductwork.
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Sep 11, 2021 18:17
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I recently moved into a condo and I’m trying to figure out why it’s so humid (65 ~ 70%) all the time. The AC appears to be working to cool the apartment to the 72 degrees I have it set at (I get a reading of 58 ~ 62 degrees from the vents when cooling) but I noticed that when it starts a cooling cycle, it just blows normal fan air (69 ~ 71 degrees) for a few minutes before the compressor kicks in it’s the cold air. I’m assuming that this warm fan air is at least a contributing factor to the condos relative humidity, but why is it behaving like this in the first place? Is it a compressor issue, a thermostat issue, or something else?
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Sep 12, 2021 00:49
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That warm air is just recirculating the air inside your condo. You need air flow before turning on the compressor, which is why the fan is running for a minute before everything turns on. Is it a newer unit? Are you in a high rise or small condo building? You may have outside air in your condo depending on code and the size of your building. Do you have leaky windows or doors? That is your most likely culprit for high humidity.
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Sep 12, 2021 14:11
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Bird in a Blender posted:That warm air is just recirculating the air inside your condo. You need air flow before turning on the compressor, which is why the fan is running for a minute before everything turns on. Thanks for the response! I’m in a high rise (42 floors) that was built in 2008 and I believe the A/C unit was installed at the same time. It’s in south Florida, so some elevated humidity is to be expected. The air inside the condo ~feels~ less humid than in the hallways (it’s also cooler) so perhaps it’s just the outside air factor… the A/C unit is in an A/C closet that is not in the condo itself but off of the hallway. I don’t have too many windows/doors - just one large floor-to-ceiling sliding door out to the balcony with two other fixed windows adjacent to it and a sliding window in the bedroom - all are heavy duty, hurricane grade stuff. Maybe humid air from the hallway is coming in through gaps in the front door? Is there a good method to test for this? Given the age of the unit, would the A/C need servicing? I checked the filter and it looked (to my eye) to be alright but I’ve ordered some new ones for peace of mind. I’ve also been running a dehumidifier since last night that has captured about 20 pints of water in 14~ hours.
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Sep 12, 2021 16:15
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zenintrude posted:Given the age of the unit, would the A/C need servicing? Have you not been servicing this unit annually? It needs it.
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Sep 12, 2021 16:24
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zenintrude posted:Thanks for the response! Is your AC possibly pulling in air from the hallway and conditioning that? If there's big gaps in the ductwork (or if the return wasn't attached for some reason), you could end up trying to condition all the hallway air. One of the apartments I was in had the HVAC in an outdoor closet, and if you walked in there while it was running it was significantly cooler then outside. A couple hours with some foil tape nicely fixed that issue.
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Sep 12, 2021 20:59
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zenintrude posted:Thanks for the response! Are you changing the filter regularly, like at least every few months? Just wondering. Since you’re in a high rise, I’m guessing that there is one grille in your place that provides outside air into your space. This should be conditioned so it’s not putting a lot of humidity into your space, but maybe not. This will come from a large unit that serves the whole building. If your unit AC doesn’t run that often, then humidity will build up until it kicks back on. I assume the humidity drops when your AC is on. Any idea how much your AC runs during the day?
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Sep 13, 2021 03:29
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Is it okay to sanity-check pricing here? I got a proposal from an HVAC company to replace my oil boiler with a gas boiler since I just had gas service installed. This includes the boiler and an indirect hot water storage tank, plus new plumbing around the boiler, but not replacement of the baseboards throughout the house. It also includes removal of the oil boiler and tank, which is in a walk-out basement so there's no digging involved. It does not involve chimney work. I have an existing relationship with the company (they maintain my current unit and my mini-split AC units) and it's a family-owned business for which I'm ostensibly getting a "friends and family" discount. The price is 3-4 times what I expected - $23k. The proposal lists the exact equipment and it's about $5k worth of equipment, so I was guessing $8-10k on the high end. It seems even wildly above an FU quote. I'll get some other quotes, but am I missing something about the process and being one of "those" homeowners who googles "cost to replace boiler" and puts too much trust in bobvila.com's estimate? I can also ask them to do some breaking down so I understand what portion of the cost is going to installation vs removal, etc. edit: I'm in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the Philly suburbs.
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Sep 14, 2021 13:17
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I’m in SEPA in the Philly burbs. I can’t help you with the quote as I am just a normal dumb homeowner, but I did the whole “my furnace collapsed” routine a few years ago. My best responses came from IT Landis (Carrier), Walton (Lennox), and the Costco Lennox vendor, Quality Degree. Landis got my cash since they did a Manual J calculation to size it correctly, checking my registers and windows, but all three were quite competent. Sounds like you may be talking about Horizon, which I’ve heard gouges a lot. Get more quotes. DkHelmet fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 13:27
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Erwin posted:The price is 3-4 times what I expected - $23k. The proposal lists the exact equipment and it's about $5k worth of equipment, so I was guessing $8-10k on the high end. It seems even wildly above an FU quote. I'll get some other quotes, but am I missing something about the process and being one of "those" homeowners who googles "cost to replace boiler" and puts too much trust in bobvila.com's estimate? I can also ask them to do some breaking down so I understand what portion of the cost is going to installation vs removal, etc. Equipment cost is usually only about 1/3 of the total cost in a job like that. You have a fair amount of labor there; it's not just swapping like-for-like. You need a bunch of new piping, possible gas line work, and ripping out an old oil tank and heavy boiler. 23k does strike me as quite high, but there could be other labor/PITA factors that only someone onsite can see. I think you're dreaming for 8K, but 15K strikes me as possible as a wild-rear end guess.
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Sep 14, 2021 15:00
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Are there any central A/C units out now that are particularly good at cutting down on your power bill? I live in Texas and our A/C eats up the lion’s share of our electricity bill every month, but we can’t really use it much less than we do now. I’m wondering if there’s a unit out there that’s more energy efficient than the one we have so we can maybe save some money.
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Sep 19, 2021 01:16
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Probably, especially if your unit is more than 10 years old, but replacing a central AC unit is expensive. Like 6K at least. I haven’t run the exact numbers but generally it never pays off. If your equipment is still in good working order your efforts are better spent adding more insulation and air sealing to the home. I feel your pain though, I’m in San Antonio and my electric bill is often really close to 400 dollars during the summer.
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Sep 19, 2021 01:26
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The above poster is correct. unless you're at end-of-lifespan for a unit, the payback isn't there for upgrades. your best bet is insulation, windows, and reducing solar load.
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Sep 19, 2021 01:43
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I think our unit is 9 years old. The date on the sticker says 2012. We do need new windows though. I don’t know how old our windows are but they haven’t ever been replaced since we moved into this house in the mid-90s. For all I know they might still be the same ones from when the house was built in the 60s. Our insulation should be fine. When that winter storm hit us back in February the snow on our roof took loving forever to melt. All the other houses in our area had patches on their rooves where the snow had melted off and the roof was visible underneath, while ours stayed covered in a solid sheet of snow for days and days. If I remember right, that’s supposed to be a sign that there’s no heat escaping, isn’t it? EDIT: Might as well post the sticker. The brand name is American Standard, which I guess is owned by Trane. 
I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Sep 19, 2021 |
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Sep 19, 2021 02:34
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that appears to be a 13 seer unit, you'll save about 5% on energy for each seer higher you go, so if you replaced it with a 19 seer unit, you'd spend 30% less on electricity running it. Your break even would depend on how much you're actually spending on cooling annually.
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Sep 19, 2021 07:32
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Two years ago, old R22 a/c system died and we got an entire new system installed. Called the company out 3 weeks ago because it hit 80* inside. They said they found a leak in the evap coils. They came out and replaced the coil yesterday, and recharged the system. Seemed to be working fine when they left, but by the end of the day it was 78* inside and yet only 79* outside. It's currently 85* outside and 77* inside, and rising. Filters are all new, the water line is not plugged. Any ideas what would cause such poor performance? I'll be calling them back out but was hoping to have some talking points or just better educate myself in general. Thanks!
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Sep 19, 2021 16:57
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Sipher posted:Two years ago, old R22 a/c system died and we got an entire new system installed. Called the company out 3 weeks ago because it hit 80* inside. They said they found a leak in the evap coils. Sounds like another leak or installation issue. I'd call them back and be pissed. There is 0 reason for their to be any issues a day after. The only thing I would check is that the compressor is actually kicking on when the thermostat is calling for it. Since you're getting some cooling though, that's probably not the issue.
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Sep 19, 2021 17:10
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Thanks! They're out here right now, said the piston that regulates the refrigerant is clogged/stuck; they're replacing it. He's been here for 3 hours though and we're all melting, hah.
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Sep 20, 2021 20:54
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Sipher posted:Thanks! They're out here right now, said the piston that regulates the refrigerant is clogged/stuck; they're replacing it. He's been here for 3 hours though and we're all melting, hah. So a bad reversing valve. Sounds like somebody got poo poo in the lines when they were installing/repairing your coil (I think that's what you said your first call out was for). What kind of clowns did you hire for this work?
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Sep 20, 2021 21:52
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Motronic posted:So a bad reversing valve. Sounds like somebody got poo poo in the lines when they were installing/repairing your coil (I think that's what you said your first call out was for). Technically the broken (likely gross looking) coil could have let crud in as well. 
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Sep 20, 2021 22:00
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Motronic posted:So a bad reversing valve. Sounds like somebody got poo poo in the lines when they were installing/repairing your coil (I think that's what you said your first call out was for). I was thinking someone might have forgotten to remove one of the caps when putting it all together.
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Sep 20, 2021 22:56
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Motronic posted:So a bad reversing valve. A "Piston" is a fixed expansion device that is superior to a cap tube, in that its supposed to be less likely to clog, acts like a check valve for equalization on off cycle, and is harder to gently caress up the installation (read tonnage chart, use piston of correct size)
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Sep 20, 2021 23:08
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MRC48B posted:A "Piston" is a fixed expansion device that is superior to a cap tube, in that its supposed to be less likely to clog, acts like a check valve for equalization on off cycle, and is harder to gently caress up the installation (read tonnage chart, use piston of correct size) Ahh, thanks. I don't do much with fixed AC and that's not really a thing in automotive stuff.
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Sep 20, 2021 23:12
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SourKraut posted:Probably a dumb question, but did they say if they could connect up the two outdoor units in a way that, in a pinch if one was having issues, you could run less efficiently off the other for combined use until the other could be serviced? They didn’t say anything about that option, but it is interesting! As an update — I think the Daikin installers are out, just way too much drywall tear up, non-ideal locations and condensate is just ‘lol’. They did indicate it would be no problem to refund deposit, so at least I don’t expect much of an issue to get that money back. I did get a quote from a smaller Mitsu installer — roughly $30K (with tax) for 6 units (asked for one in the garage for funsies) which is a bit higher than the Daikin quote, which I thought was already insanely padded. Was not expecting it to come in that high (Seattle area FWIW) — going to interrogate where that cost is coming from (I suspect the two outdoor units required to service all the cassettes drives up cost, because even wholesale, ones of those is like $3K, right?). Getting one more in two weeks as well, from another Mitsu installer that seems to be much bigger, so curious to see what that comes out too.
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Sep 21, 2021 12:08
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Cross posting from the home thread, not sure how I missed this one. I have 3 upstairs bedrooms that get warm/humid with the door closed, seems like a classic case of poor air circulation to me, none of the rooms have returns and it seems like the doors seal pretty well. What are the options for addressing this, preferably with the least amount of noise transmission between rooms? Leaning toward something like this, but was curious if the thread has input: https://www.tamtech.com/product/perfect-balance-in-door-return-air-pathway/
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Sep 23, 2021 22:55
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Hello all, I'm getting a mini-split installed into the garage as its primarily used as family gym space and misc. storage. I got quotes from two places so far. I haven't received the second quote yet but I do know the system he wants installed. I'm hoping people here can help shed some light on the differences between these options and pros/cons of each. The total garage space area is about 600 sqft. Option 1: Mitsubishi MUZ-FS15NA-U1 Mitsubishi MSZ-FS15NA-U1 Quote: $6500 Option 2: Daikin RXS12LVJU Daikin FTXS12LVJU Quote: ??? (I think this is going to come in somewhere around $5.5k-$6k from his mumbling) I live in Oregon so climate wise its very rare if we are seeing freezing temperatures and its been getting hotter and staying hotter year over year. xgalaxy fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Sep 24, 2021 |
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Sep 24, 2021 22:35
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xgalaxy posted:Hello all, Note: Not an HVAC technician, several other posters in this thread are, definitely listen to them instead of me. Is this install complicated, require a ton of electrical work, or otherwise difficult? In my area I would expect around 4,000 dollars tops to have one of these installed for my garage. Wiring would be easy, and it's one hole through an exterior wall, so not a complicated install. That Mitsubishi kit is nice, but expensive. The Daikin is more reasonable, but is only 12000 btu instead of 15000. If I was going to do this, I'd pick up a DIY kit for like 1500 bucks and farm out the electrical. My FB Marketplace has a bunch of guys selling 1 ton minisplits for like 500 bucks and they'll do install for another 200. edit: To answer your question about the pros/cons of each. They're both heat pump mini splits, basically the same, the Mitsubishi has a larger capacity at 15K BTU instead of 12 for the daikin. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Sep 24, 2021 |
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Sep 24, 2021 22:52
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The mitsu you linked has slightly higher capacity, which can be good on hot days and bad (lowest cool setting is higher, but both these have excellent turn down, so it probably won't matter) and will heat at lower outside temps. the mitsu is much better at heating, depends how much you care about that. http://mylinkdrive.com/viewPdf?srcU...Z-FS15NA_en.pdf http://www.daikinac.com/content/assets/DOC/SubmittalDataSheets/072017/LV/FTXS12LVJU-RXS12LVJU-Submittal-Sheet.pdf if the price isn't an issue (I have no idea what the install looks like) and mitsu contractor has good references, I would go that way, but I'm biased having worked with mitsu and daikin's big systems.
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Sep 24, 2021 22:58
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Yea the install should be "easy" I would think. The electrical box is right on the same wall where I want the indoor/outdoor placed. To be honest I don't feel very comfortable with a DIY approach for this and would prefer a professional. I did notice the difference between the capacities but not knowledgeable enough about this to understand why the installers are under/oversizing the choice. I did appreciate that the second guy (the Daikin contractor) asked about insulation and suggested insulation companies to add some over the garage attic space. However, one thing I like about the Mitsubishi contractor is they are the same company that does the house HVAC system so I would be able to get the maintenance contract to cover both systems.
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Sep 24, 2021 23:05
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the daikin guys is right, you should insulate no matter who you go with. its easy to diy and will save you in the long run. the sizing really doesnt matter much as long as total cooling btu is larger than actual load. these units are variable speed, so they can match lower loads easily. the real question from a technical standpoint, is how much you care about heating when it drops to 5f outside (if it does that, iirc in oregon it depends on what area of the state)
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Sep 24, 2021 23:15
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MRC48B posted:the daikin guys is right, you should insulate no matter who you go with. its easy to diy and will save you in the long run. Yea definitely plan on doing insulation. I'm in the Eugene/Portland area of Oregon. Looking this up the 10-yr averages in my area are: - ~30 F to ~50 F in winter months - ~70 F to ~90 F in summer months I'm more concerned with cooling than I am with heating as there are more days where its hot here than it being cold. So the Mitsubishi being able to operate down to -5 or whatever doesn't matter to me much. I guess its nice if we have an extreme weather event but those are rare. What about air filters, allergens, and that kind of stuff. Are both of this units capabilities the same in that regard? xgalaxy fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Sep 24, 2021 |
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Sep 24, 2021 23:27
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these are mini-splits. their air filtration ability is somewhere between jack and poo poo. they both use "washable" filters mounted underneath the front cover of the inside unit. they don't catch anything smaller than pet hair.
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Sep 25, 2021 00:03
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