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Fair enough. Wasn’t sure if one had a more distinct noise to it.
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Apr 15, 2022 23:31
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MRC48B posted:get a floor standing portable with dual hoses. Since it seems to add a couple hundred to the price, why the dual hoses?
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Apr 15, 2022 23:57
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Joementum posted:Since it seems to add a couple hundred to the price, why the dual hoses? If it's a single hose you are drawing in room air, half of it goes over the evaporator (cold side) and is returned to the room and the other half goes over the condenser (hot side) and outside. This means you are creating a negative pressure in your room and dragging hot outside air back in thorough anywhere it can get in. So essentially the unit is fighting itself. They're not efficient and they aren't comfortable. Units that actually work (two hoses) have a sealed off loop for the condenser side with it's own van do draw in outside air and exhaust it. Then you have another fan to circulate room air over the evap.
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Apr 16, 2022 00:15
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Thank makes sense, thanks. Was hoping to get out of this for less than $500, but alas. 
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Apr 16, 2022 00:18
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Joementum posted:Thank makes sense, thanks. Was hoping to get out of this for less than $500, but alas. You'll make it back up in power savings in one season or less depending on how much you run it.
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Apr 16, 2022 00:32
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Buy once, cry once. Also Floor standing have the advantage of fitting multiple window sizes, and not having to lift heavy poo poo to get them set up.
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Apr 16, 2022 00:34
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No worries about screwing up and dropping the thing on someone's head 2 floors down, either.
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Apr 16, 2022 02:39
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Motronic posted:Yes. Ended up being the cap, so small cost, but my unit has some other problems that means I’m going to start looking at replacing the whole thing. Time to price out heat pumps vs. a regular gas furnace and see if I want to make the transition or not.
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Apr 16, 2022 17:43
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kastein posted:No worries about screwing up and dropping the thing on someone's head 2 floors down, either. I had never used them before last year, but the brackets that attach to the window to hold up the AC are awesome. There's no trying to balance the air conditioner while you close the window.
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Apr 16, 2022 21:23
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So my ongoing war with Bertha the Boiler continues. I noticed the other day that there was a small puddle of water on the floor right under my backflow valve discharge vent. I'm not home to take a pic, but it looks like this guy: The downward pipe from that valve marked with the green arrow is just open on the bottom and some water dripped from it. I wiped it up, and put a little metal cup under it to make sure that was it, and sure enough this morning there was water in cup, maybe 2 or 4 oz of water. It was 40 last night, so the boiler worked a bit last night. I've never noticed water there before, and I'm not sure if that's normal operation or maybe the value is bad. Any tips before I just take my own life because of this boiler causing constant suffering?
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Apr 20, 2022 14:37
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The great thing about heating and plumbing is we call things exactly what they do. That is a backflow preventer, which prevents undrinkable treated boiler water from flowing back into your water supply. The seals on it may be starting to go. There may be markings on it and replacing them is trivial if you can do regular water piping work.
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Apr 20, 2022 14:44
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Geothermal air conditioning project at bro's house is go! We decided to start with the brine plumbing since the blower is on back order for another month or so and the air stuff will block necessary plumbing access in the attic. Bro rented a couple of tools for the day:  Bro with beefy hammer drill to punch through the garage wall.  Press tool for copper fittings whatever this might be called in English.  The run up the facade and far enough into the attic to be workable from up top was a bit tricky and took some planning but it all worked out. Insulation, the cover and trim pieces for the conduit whatchamacallit are yet to be done though. There will be some wiring in there before that can happen.  We left things at a good place to connect to the brine/air heat exchanger in the attic - the last bit will be flexible hose and a few brass compression fittings for serviceability. The loose clamp in the picture is no longer loose. We're all hooked up to the brine down in the garage. We managed to do all the plumbing that requires the press tool which was the ambition so unless there's a leak somewhere I think today was a success. After the heat exchanger is in we'll hook up the expansion tank and the condensation drain but that's all the plumbing needed if things go to plan.
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Apr 24, 2022 17:03
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Anyone have opinions on Bosch condensing units? Got a few quotes for replacing my AC and furnace. I'm going with a heat pump and gas furnace combo since Chicago gets too cold to use a heat pump all year round. My top two contractors both quoted me slightly different Bosch condensing units. I was told they use Mitsubishi compressors, so it seems like it would be fine, I've just never used Bosch for HVAC before. If they're just sticking a Mitsu compressor in there and doing some of their own electronics to go with it, I suppose it should be fine.
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Apr 25, 2022 12:36
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I'm looking at getting my basement finished, and talking to a variety of contractors but I'm worried about one particular aspect of my houses existing HVAC throughout this. The height in this basement from slab to the bottom of the joists is right around 7'10", which after subtracting 5/8" for the ceiling drywall and probably something like 1" - 1/2" for the flooring from what I can gather online. Which should put us at a maximum of 7'8" ceiling height give or take. That sounds fine to me, and I would be happy with the result. Where the HVAC comes in is, this my proposed basement layout looks like this:  The blue square is the location of two separate propane powered furnace/air conditioning units, the pink square is showing what I believe to be the man supply and return coming off of both of those units, so 4 total large pieces of duct work running most of the way from the units to the wall (some of them stop a little short). Those supply/returns are taking something like 8-9" of space below the joists, bringing the final result in that area down to almost 7", which I think would be a real drag on the overall usability of that portion of the basement. To make matters worse, the main steel beam is running left to right on along the dotted wall, and there is *more* duck work, as well as plumbing and other stuff running left to right directly north of it, which means there's already going to be a soffit in that area directly north of the pink area (but even that won't be as low as the duct work is). Since the duct work is using up such a large portion of that area of the basement, there's no real good way to soffit it, you're pretty much just going to have to make that whole area's ceiling height below the lowest duct (while tray ceilings are in, as far as I know, reverse tray ceilings are not). So all of that combined together means that due to the duct work, that entire back area is going to have something like just barely over 7' ceilings at it's best. So I'm trying to determine if there is anything resembling a reasonable solution to get back some of the headroom in this part of the basement without doing something extremely drastic like digging out the concrete slab, which is not going to happen. Unfortunately, the joists in this house are running top to bottom in the above picture, so relocating the duct into the joists isn't really an option since they're running perpendicular to the duct work. The only things I could come up with is making the duct work short and wide, but so much of that space is taken up by duct work that I'm not sure that there's even enough room to do that with. The other thing I could think of was doing a tray ceiling like thing in that room, and re-running the duct work so that it hugs the bottom edge of the wall rather than going right up the middle. I even thought about just turning the duct work on it's side, run it along the bottom wall, and just cut 10" of space off that room to hide the duct work behind the wall. Do any of these make sense at all? Is there some better idea? Should I just resign myself to have a cave like back corner? Here's some pretty bad pictures of the area, it's kind of hard to get a good shot of it all (ignore the mess, in the process of sorting through all that crap and getting rid of stuff to prepare for finishing):      
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Apr 25, 2022 22:55
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Invalido posted:Geothermal air conditioning project at bro's house is go!  Awesome! Can't wait to see it come together.
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Apr 28, 2022 01:59
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Bird in a Blender posted:Anyone have opinions on Bosch condensing units? Got a few quotes for replacing my AC and furnace. I'm going with a heat pump and gas furnace combo since Chicago gets too cold to use a heat pump all year round. My top two contractors both quoted me slightly different Bosch condensing units. I was told they use Mitsubishi compressors, so it seems like it would be fine, I've just never used Bosch for HVAC before. If they're just sticking a Mitsu compressor in there and doing some of their own electronics to go with it, I suppose it should be fine. Did they give you a specific compressor model#? Even if you still have the gas burner as a secondary heat source you might be able to get a lot of your heating from the compressor depending on its specs.
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Apr 28, 2022 03:14
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Also, Hi hvac thread, its my first time poking my head in here. Between crazy high heating oil prices and a sudden discovery that my house has a poor fresh air exchange rate, I’ve been devouring hvac youtube to start getting a feel on what I want to do to upgrade my 1900sqft raised ranch. First order of business is looking into an erv unit, but need some advice about supply and return locations for the assembly. Quite a few places say you can exhaust from your bathrooms in lieu of a standard bathroom fan, but I’m worried that might not be enough cfms to help keep shower humidity at bay? Anyone own or have experience with erv installs?
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Apr 28, 2022 03:22
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H110Hawk posted:
Bro's been chipping away at in in my absense:   He said it was impossible to insulate properly within the confines of the conduit (I believe it, putting on the clamps in there was tight) so there's condensation coming out onto the outer wall during operation we might have to rip that out and try filling the whole box with spray foam or something. Blower might show up in a week if we're lucky, and the last plumbing bits should show up soon as well. We have some stuff we can do in the meantime though. We need an air inlet box structure in the hallway ceiling that we've been unable to source ready made, so that will need fabrication for example. Bro is also working on temp sensors, arduinos and blower speed control but he's much better at those things than I am so I'm not really involved. The basic idea is to let the AC brine pump run at a constant speed during the summer months and control indoor temps with the blower rpm alone, but we'll see if that's too crude and needs refinement once summer comes and we're making and distributing cold air.
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Apr 28, 2022 11:05
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SpaceCadetBob posted:Did they give you a specific compressor model#? Even if you still have the gas burner as a secondary heat source you might be able to get a lot of your heating from the compressor depending on its specs. It’s a Bosch Inverter Ducted Split BOVA-36HDN1- M18M Heat Pump. I plan to use it for heating in the shoulder months, but it’s supposed to switch to gas automatically once it gets below 35 F outside. I’ll have to do some research on this because I’ve installed heat pump systems that work down to -20, but I had multiple people tell me that these stop at 35. I think the heat pump still works, it’s just the efficiency drops so low that it becomes much more economical to turn on the gas.
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Apr 28, 2022 11:56
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We had the fan motor on our condenser replaced in 2020 and I noticed that there seems to be an oily residue on the top of it now. How concerned should I be about that?
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May 8, 2022 23:30
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I had a hvac company come out and do an annual checkup on my furnace and thry managed to charge me a lot for not too much work (from what i can tell) and managed to leave the furnace non-functional when they were done. In the process of diagnosing what was wrong with it i noticed that one of the burners is pretty rusty...i think they cleaned it a bit but probably did it the lazy way and scrubbed it without removing it. Heres the best pic I could get:  The other burner looked much cleaner and no rust...should i replace this one or ia it good enough? And why would one rust but not the other? Cleaner one: 
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May 9, 2022 16:20
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That's more than surface. Looks more like one of them was getting (maybe a lot) more gas than the others. Possibly the others weren't even lighting off? My own question. Parents just signed a check for a complete HVAC replacement. I don't mean just the mechanical parts; ducts, lineset, returns. It's all getting done; install company is outsourcing a whole-house surge protector to an electrician (IMO very much needed, I fully agree with that). How bad did they get ripped off? New system is a Daikin 6 ton VRF heat pump, Daikin air handler (I believe with a gas backup for heat, not 100% on that, but there's not a 240V circuit remotely close to the furnace). All new ductwork (though it looks like they're doing flex, so who knows if it'll be any improvement), running at least 1 new return, adding automatic dampers to make it somewhat of a multi-zone system, smart thermostat. They're coming from an early 90s (original to the house) York gas furnace with a no-name R-22 coil and (18-19 year old) 11 SEER 5 ton Trane condenser and a single Nest thermostat. Part of the house has always been a sauna, the installer has promised to fix that with the added returns. They're dropping $15k. How bad did they get ripped off? I feel like with the added returns and all new ductwork, probably "not the end of the world, could have done a bit better", and they're getting a 12 year parts + 6 year labor warranty. It's too late to object, the installers are there now. Funny that it took me to talk my stepdad into agreeing to the $500ish (installed) whole house surge protector on top of all of that when he's dropping "very nice used car, almost basic new car" money on this. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 18:23 on May 9, 2022 |
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May 9, 2022 18:21
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How big is the house, because a 6 ton unit implies it's a pretty big house. $15k for all that work seems pretty reasonable though. Can't answer if it was all needed though.
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May 9, 2022 18:56
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BraveUlysses posted:I had a hvac company come out and do an annual checkup on my furnace Sorry your service person sucked. Checkups aren't hard, you are paying for their (ostensible) experience. Nobody trains anyone for poo poo anymore. The rusty bit you are seeing is a kind of orifice plate designed to get the gas/air mixture to burn completely and with a specific shape, so it goes into the heat exchanger and passes its energy to the air going through the blower. As long as the holes in the plate are the correct size and free of obstruction, surface rust will not affect performance. As for why one, not the other, burning natgas + air = c02 + water. The moisture condenses in places on shutoff and can cause weird rusting effects.
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May 10, 2022 01:13
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STR posted:That's more than surface. Looks more like one of them was getting (maybe a lot) more gas than the others. Possibly the others weren't even lighting off?
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May 10, 2022 07:26
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I posted a while back about a noisy compressor. Occasionally it starts up loud and stays loud. If I cut it off and back on, it comes back quiet. My YouTube diagnosis is that the compressor clutch is slipping? I've been around and around with the installer about it. We tried all kinds of fixes, contactor, cap, pressures, but it looks like it was just a bad compressor from the factory. He says the problem is even if the manufacturer replaces the part they don't cover any labor or refrig. BS costs being passed down the chain.
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May 14, 2022 02:03
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I thought I was in AI for a second here. What clutch? How long ago was this system installed?
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May 14, 2022 02:09
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It was installed July 2020. I haven't ever torn down a scroll compressor so I don't know how electricity turns to compression but I assumed there was some sort of mechanical clutch?
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May 14, 2022 02:15
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Vaporware posted:It was installed July 2020. I haven't ever torn down a scroll compressor so I don't know how electricity turns to compression but I assumed there was some sort of mechanical clutch? And their install warranty doesn't cover this? You need to escalate inside of the installers company. If that doesn't get what you deserve you wat you need to go to the manufacturer. (remember these installer are a bit tired to the manufacturers) This may not be successful, but it's a thing you can try. You may or may not be right about the diagnosis (you probably are) but this should not be your bill. Keep making phone calls, keep notes. Document everything. If you don't have notes about when you identified this problem and what has happened so far do you best to make notes on the dates things happened right now before you continue escalating. Motronic fucked around with this message at 02:24 on May 14, 2022 |
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May 14, 2022 02:21
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What will happen is the installer will eat the extra costs if you complain enough. No manufacturer in this industry covers labor, refrigerant, or the other parts necessary to do warranty jobs correctly. Nobody likes this but contractors rarely have leverage to do anything about it. Also, no mechanical clutches in scrolls. There is a spring mechanism to keep the scroll plates meshed. Abnormal noise from a scroll usually indicates incorrect rotation direction (hard to mess up on a resi single phase) or liquid floodback. You may have something weirder, we can't diag via forum post.
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May 14, 2022 02:33
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I feel bad because the installer is independent and has no way to avoid taking a loss at this point. I told him it's crazy, my industry can't just lob a new part at you and say "lol later", but that's exactly how this works in HVAC, apparently. Even if I don't pay for it this time it just means he'll have to add more contingency costs the next time around. This is the sound. Sometimes it'll start spontaneously after running for 20 min, other times run all day nice and quiet. Resolves if you cut it off and back on. Either way it is cooling just fine. https://imgur.com/a/Ecb70KI
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May 14, 2022 03:30
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Yeah that's gonna kill it. Something is doa or installed wrong.
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May 14, 2022 06:03
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I have zoned heating/cooling and this time of year (it got hot this week in the Midwest) my upstairs smells a bit when the air starts. It’s not musty but just smells like hot cellulose. Like an attic. The unit is in the attic, and registers are all fed with freaking flex duct. Is the hot attic smell likely a leak in the flex duct, or just inevitable with the air handler being outside the building envelope? I’m curious if there’s anything I can do about it.
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May 15, 2022 05:00
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Check to see if the blower bearings are wearing out and the motor is overheating.
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May 15, 2022 05:18
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Anyone change their oil heating out for heat pumps recently? This would be in Massachusetts. Wondering how expensive it is at the moment, given contractors are apparently MIA.
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May 15, 2022 16:14
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I can't guide you on price, but I hope you're talking ground-source HP not air-source. Air-source will work, but at much reduced efficiency levels in the winter months and it will absolutely murder your electric bill. (Personal experience, here.)
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May 15, 2022 18:54
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Thaaaat is very good to know. I’ll keep that in mind when looking around!
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May 15, 2022 19:06
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Pollyanna posted:Thaaaat is very good to know. I’ll keep that in mind when looking around! I have a ground source heat pump, live in northern Michigan, my average electric bill at $0.22 per kwh is $240 / mo. That includes water, hot water (also heat pump) and all the usual lights, electric dryer, gadgets, in a 2200 sqft house that is insulated about as well as they did in 1982. Heating season starts in October and just stopped a week or so ago. My system is 16 years old, installed by the PO. My internet sleuthing told me that these systems only last for 15-20 years. So in a poo poo fit I tried to call the HVAC people who installed it and someone was going to call me back. So I then called a bunch of other HVAC folks who either just told me "lol" or maybe next year, but all insisted 15 years was it. Then the original installer called me back and called everyone else assholes who were trying to sell me something I didn't need. He says he still has systems running that are 35 years old. There are newer air-air heat pump systems designed for cold climates (Arctic Heat Pumps being a Canadian brand) , and a lot has been done in the last few years in terms of efficiency. If you're interested I'd make sure you're dealing with someone who is intimately familiar with them and not just another HVAC team.
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May 15, 2022 22:52
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kastein posted:I can't guide you on price, but I hope you're talking ground-source HP not air-source. Air-source will work, but at much reduced efficiency levels in the winter months and it will absolutely murder your electric bill. (Personal experience, here.) Possibly, but Im considering the same swap in CT with similarly high electric rates, and even so, with the oil price spike the $/btu from an air source heat pump is superior even at really low cold temperature COPs.
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May 15, 2022 23:14
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Yooper posted:My system is 16 years old, installed by the PO. My internet sleuthing told me that these systems only last for 15-20 years. So in a poo poo fit I tried to call the HVAC people who installed it and someone was going to call me back. So I then called a bunch of other HVAC folks who either just told me "lol" or maybe next year, but all insisted 15 years was it. Then the original installer called me back and called everyone else assholes who were trying to sell me something I didn't need. He says he still has systems running that are 35 years old. All these people are "Correct". The "Design Lifespan" for a residential (and many commercial/industrial) heating and cooling system is 15-20 years. That means on average, a correctly installed and maintained system should experience no major failures for at least that long, anything past that is a bonus. the key word there is on average. I have seen systems barely last 12, and others keep on trucking past 35. Where you end up on the bathtub curve depends on usage, luck, and how hungover the workers were when they built and installed it. Smart people start budgeting for a replacement at around the age of your system. Do you have a backup heat source to keep you from freezing for a few days if they have to order parts?
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May 16, 2022 00:19
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