Pay back

[city]

Why is that people always worry about payback of a new unit they are installing?

My unit went out this year, when i was replacing it. I replaced with the best system my budget would allow.

My pay back is the comfort i enjoy
Lower utility bills
efficient system, well installed
Even if i sell my house, i am confident the new owner will be content with the new system; knowing they were left with a new system.
Add value to home?
Peace of mind.

[ARPA]

Here in Miami, it is an easy way to explain why a homeownwner should updrade, for instance:

Home owner needs a new ac. ac costs X amount of dollars. No real beneficial savings as it is the same or close to the same SEER rating,
but:
Upgrade to 16 SEER, and you would save approx. X amount of dollars per year on your electric bill.

Now, take the X amount of the basic system from the upgraded system, and this is your difference.

Now, calculate how many years it would take you, running this high efficient system to pay off the upgrade amount from your electric bill savings.

Most of the calcs I do here have a payback in under 5 years. After that it is money in the customers pocket, with the entire system paying for itself in under 10 years.

I can't remember the last time I sold a 10 SEER system, or since 13 SEER came into effect, sold one of those.

[iheatncoolinnc]

Most of the higher end units have options that are not installed on the lower end equipment. Some manufacture's have two or more thirteen SEER air conditioners. One of the Ruud 13 SEER air conditioners comes with high and low pressure switch. I think all units should have this as standard. Some manufacture's do not put any protection on their 14 SEER and use the compressor internal overload for their high pressure protection. I will install a 13 SEER unit but I do avoid builder model units. Definitely less quality in these units. Also, a sure giveaway is the five year compressor warranty from the manufacture. A 13 SEER with an above average duct system will operate for less than a 15 SEER with a poor duct system.

[t527ed]

we have pushed the most efficient units we could get for at least the last 20 years.

have never had a customer complain that their unit was too efficient!!

the way utility prices keep going up payback periods get shorter all the time.

[man from trane]

High efficiency equipment is not guaranteed to make your home more comfortable. It tends to have many more components to cause problems and does not last as long. In the Midwest, it is hard to justify spending almost twice as much up front for a 10% increase in eficiency. The system will only run hard for about 2 months of the winter and 2 months of the summer. There simply is not enough hours of runtime in a year for it to pay for itself before it is time to replace it.
I knew some people who invested thousands in a geothermal heat pump. Undoubtedly this is the most efficient system you could have in my part of the country. The same year they had recovered all the money it cost to install, the heat exchanger broke, discharging R-22 into the loop. They had to replace the entire unit and have had trouble with the loop ever since. Also, they often had trouble with the original unit as well. I would rather have a reliable, standard efficiency system that will run for 25 years with no problems than have the extra up-front cost of the higher efficiency system and wonder what is going to break next. If I lived in Texas or Minnesota I would feel differently. It all depends on your climate.