Carrier Infinity Question

[ccollins67]

DW and I have been speaking with a homebuilder. The home we are looking at is a 2 story + basement totalling approx. 2900 heated sq. ft. We requested that the home be built with foam insulation and immediately the builder said that we should seriously consider getting a Carrier Infinity to make the most of the investment in the foam. He spoke about its' benefits but the upcharge for the Infinity over his standard unit nearly made my heart stop. I got the impression that the improvement in efficiency that an Infinity can provide is greater in a foamed house vs. a home with blown cellulose etc. Hence the strong recommendation for that ac unit. I do not pretend to understand how hvac works but do know that we are willing to invest in things like foam insulation if we can get a return on our money in say, 3-5 years. Would an Infinity accomplish something similar? Would a homeowner be able to get their money back on an upgrade such as this in say, 5 years? Any suggestions are welcome - I want to make a good decision for my growing family.

Thank you,

Curtis

Location: West Texas (3,300ft. alt)
Summer Energy Charge: $0.045000 per kWh
Winter Energy Charge: $0.036560 per kWh
No idea on furnace...will find out.

[21degrees]

Like where you are located, what your electrical cost are. What kind of furnace you are putting in model number. Tell your builder that he is dead wrong about insullation. The higher seer means the more it runs the more it saves.

[MADHVACTECH]

I am a fan of the Carrier Inifinity system. It is a well put together system that is easy to use. But to get the full performance out of it, you need the Infinity series furnace. I do not belive they make a infinity series airhandler. So I would check to see what he is offering as a package, why he is sugesting that package, and if there are any other options.

With the infinity system, you have a lot options, and that could be what there are suggesting. Without knowing the bid or where you are from it is hard to say. Here are a few of the options that could be offered, a Infinity series furnace, Infinty seriies Heat Pump condensor, this will heat and cool and are usually setup to run in heat mode to around 40 degrees outside air. You could also have a 3 zones of heating for each floor, which means each floor will heat/cool on its own, and they could upgrade its air intake by going with air to air exchanger with heat recovery, and upgrading the air filter Infinty air purifier.

There are a ton of different options, and designs that could be done with a residential system, but this is a common way a higher end Infiity systems are put together. I can say as long as the duct work is designed right the systems will be very comfortable for your family. And as long as there reasonable markups it is possible to get a fairly fast pay back over a normal system. It could befaster if it is designed with a heat pump and you take your gas heating days away and end up using the heat pump for you heat source.

Don't just go off what the builder says. I would also make sure you meet in with HVAC contractor, maybe once prior to the job starting, and once on site if you have questions.

Here is a good link for some information to look at the different models and ratings. http://www.residential.carrier.com/index.shtml

Good Luck Tim

[DGIO-Not]

I do not belive they make a infinity series airhandler.

Infinity Air Handler starts with model number FE. You can check ratings at ahri.org (although they do not tell you return on zoning, my next comment will probably bring out those more knowledgable than I.)

I like the Infinity Zone Controls as well. Carrier was the first to come out with communicating controls and has had them in the field for decades, including residential..this is not guess work on their part, they know it. However, (this is where I get dangerous) in Building Science, their Comfort Zone trumps the Infinity for energy efficiency. However, the Infinity has alot of bell and whistles that as an HVAC contractor I love and it will tell you if you got a bad installation right away.

[DanW13]

For the Contrator to make you believe that you will only benefit form anInfinity system using only Faom insulation is totally off the wall BS. As longas the home is well insulated as with any home that is well insulated any system weather it's a Carrier Infinity or a Lennox, or a Tempstar high efficiency furnace you will benefit so long as the furnace blower motor is a ECM blower motor, and it's staged, and the HVAC contractor does the proper load calc to detemine the proper size equipment for the home you will get a good pay back and in most instance's typically a HO should see a pay back within 5yrs.

I have the Infinity 96 3 stage and love it, I'm hoping to pair it up with a Infinity HP by the end of this year for the complete Hybrid system as I have heard nothing but good things about the Hybrid heating. If you can afford to insulate your home with foam and buy the Infinity system go for it, otherwise just insulate your home, air seal it completely and get the Infinity system and you will save just as much as if you insulated the house with foam, although the foam will insulate and air seal all in one shot where as if you insulate with cellulouse or batts your still going to have to air seal.

Other than that there's there's not much more difference between the 2 types of insulation, and your going to see just as much of a pay back from foam or batt's, or cellulouse insulation. It would be in your best interest to hire someone who is willing to do a load calc to porperly size the new equipment, and also do the proper install will only ensure you longevity of payback and enjoyment of the newly installed equipment. Don't let this contractor BS you by trying to sell you faom over other insulation and trying to make you feel as though that if you don't get the foam insulation to forget buying an Infinity equipment.

Do a search for Infinity equipment as there's plenty to read about and I will guaraentee that 99% of customers who did install a Infinity will have nothing but good things to say about it.