Does the way our current system is set up make sense?

[chris7]

Our house has two outdoor units and two air handlers. The first system is for what was the original house. The second system supplies the "new" part of the house with a lot of overlap. House built in 76 w/ substantial remodel in 83 almost doubling square footage. It's a two story house but the only room on the second floor is master bedroom (one vent from each system). Square footage 2200 s.f. Austin, TX. The outdoor units and airhandlers are all 6 or 7 years old. Trane. One 10 Seer, one 11 Seer. Electric heat, so our heating bills are really high. Some rooms have vents from one system only, some from both. The way its set up does not make sense to me. We have cold spots (two downstairs bedroom w. one vent each from "original house" system are always freezing in winter). So... Our 6 year old 10 seer trane unit has a shot compressor and we're thinking about a heat pump. Duct work also clearly needs attention because when I was up their with the tech it was cooler in the attic then downstairs so we're obviously air conditioning our attic through some substantial leaks. Is there any way we can go with just one system for the whole house? I know it would require connecting the two duct systems but what other problems would it present? I should mention that the system that serves "original house" is only run a fraction of the time (mainly winter)because theres so much overlap. We don't have any issues with the upstairs being too hot or too cold and we're only up their at night. We just got the news about the compressor friday and I'm in research mode this weekend before talking to any contractors on monday. Two systems seems like overkill in this house, what am I not seeing? Do we need two systems or can we replace with one for whole house? I'm bleary eyed from reading about HVAC for 6 straight hours and I need advice, suggestions, opinions. Please. Thank you

[chris7]

P.S. Anyone want to reccomend a quality HVAC person/company in Austin?

[chris7]

And lastly... I dug out the original paperwork, the 10 seer unit is 2 ton, the 11 seer unit is 2.5 ton.

[beenthere]

Might take more then just connecting the 2 duct systems togther.

For all practical purposes 1 unit can handle your house.

There's a couple guys from Texas on this board, that might work in your area.

You just have to wait for them to wake up.

[tony82164]

Originally posted by chris7
Our house has two outdoor units and two air handlers. The first system is for what was the original house. The second system supplies the "new" part of the house with a lot of overlap. House built in 76 w/ substantial remodel in 83 almost doubling square footage. It's a two story house but the only room on the second floor is master bedroom (one vent from each system). Square footage 2200 s.f. Austin, TX. The outdoor units and airhandlers are all 6 or 7 years old. Trane. One 10 Seer, one 11 Seer. Electric heat, so our heating bills are really high. Some rooms have vents from one system only, some from both. The way its set up does not make sense to me. We have cold spots (two downstairs bedroom w. one vent each from "original house" system are always freezing in winter). So... Our 6 year old 10 seer trane unit has a shot compressor and we're thinking about a heat pump. Duct work also clearly needs attention because when I was up their with the tech it was cooler in the attic then downstairs so we're obviously air conditioning our attic through some substantial leaks. Is there any way we can go with just one system for the whole house? I know it would require connecting the two duct systems but what other problems would it present? I should mention that the system that serves "original house" is only run a fraction of the time (mainly winter)because theres so much overlap. We don't have any issues with the upstairs being too hot or too cold and we're only up their at night. We just got the news about the compressor friday and I'm in research mode this weekend before talking to any contractors on monday. Two systems seems like overkill in this house, what am I not seeing? Do we need two systems or can we replace with one for whole house? I'm bleary eyed from reading about HVAC for 6 straight hours and I need advice, suggestions, opinions. Please. Thank you

If There is a way to tie the two duct systems together you want to have the air handler upstairs or you will no be happy with airflow.

[chris7]

Air handler upstairs would not be a problem, one is currently there (sort of). We have 3 seperate attic spaces. The one above the 2nd floor bedroom has no duct work. The other two are due to pitched roof lines that go about half way up the 2nd floor. All of the downstairs vents are on the wall but up at the roof level. Upstairs the vent is midway up the wall. So all the duct work runs pretty much level in these two side attics. It seems like the problem would be connecting the two duct systems that are in two seperate attics, although at the same level.

[tinknocker service tech]

you can do one system in most cases
find a contractor and let him look over every thing and decide if it is fesable or not. make sure he does a load calculation and the dusts are sized properly
may have to replace the ducts if they are to small or to big

if you go back to two systems you also need a load cal. done and you should have the house zoned properly for max use of 2 zone. again this may require replacing all the duct work.

[chris7]

I was wrong, there is a way to connect them. The kitchen has one vent from each system and the ductwork is in a fur down (don't know if that's how you spell that)so they could be joined over the kitchen. It seems that the size and the condition of the ductwork is the big issue. Might be a problem whether we go with one system or two. I've read enough here and at other sites to know that if the contactor does not automatically do the calculations for load and ductwork then to run in the other direction. I'll hopefully get a guy from the company who's done the servicing to come out tomorrow and look it over, we'll see how that goes. And I'll get at least two more quotes. Still hoping someone can recommend an Austin person/company that they feel good about.

[the dangling wrangler]

Chris7 I can recommend a top notch company in Austin.Email me and I'll get you their #. I think my email is in the profile .

[beenthere]

Originally posted by the dangling wrangler
Chris7 I can recommend a top notch company in Austin.Email me and I'll get you their #. I think my email is in the profile .

No, its not.

But it is in your creds.

[the dangling wrangler]

You're right,I don't email myself too often.

[chris7]

Thanks for the name Dangling Wrangler. I'll give him a call tomorrow.