23yr old Carrier better than new Payne ?

[jeanlaffite]

I had a 23yr old Carrier model # 38ED030300 condenser unit
2.5 ton & a 3 ton 13 yr old evap. unit. not cooling, in Houston area. Home Warranty paid for installation of new 3 ton condeser unit 10 seer Payne Model PA10JA036-G. Still have the 3 ton evap. unit in attic that is 13 yr old Carrier. It looks to like the new Payne uses more electricity than the old Carrier.
1) Payne has 4.88 lbs. R-22 Minimum circuit amps-21.4
Fan rated @ 1.4 FLA
Compessor@ 16.0 RLA 82.0 LRA
2) Carrier has 7.6 Lbs. R-22 Minimum circuit amps-18.2
Fan rated @ 1.1 FLA
Compresssor@ 13.7 RLA 65 LRA

Do the above numbers mean I got a less efficient condensor and brand name doesn't bother me but higher electric bill does. Should I go ahead now and change evaporator coil or wait til it goes out? Should I ask for a more efficient model that uses the same or less electric than the old one?this is one of 2 units on a 2600 sq. ft home in Houston Tx. Area.Don't know for sure what FLA or RHA mean but looks like amps they pull maybe. Some insight from a Pro would be very welcome. My old unit said High efficiency on it and was a lot bigger 2.5 ton than the new 3 ton.

[smadave]

Your old carrier was 10 SEER, so what you have now is very comparable. There are many variables that will determine what your electric bill will be like. For example, if your old duct system has alot of air leaks that could contribute to a higher electric bill. All of these variables or conditions have a much bigger impact on your electric bill than the SEER rating listed on the equipment. As long as your coil is clean (and doesnt leak), I would leave it alone. Hope this helps...

Dave in NJ

[jeanlaffite]

Thanks for the reply Dave. But if there both 10 seer how come the old uses less electricity. and why did the old one have more R-22, Why is the Payne so darn loud?

[Ron]

the Payne is so loud that is the reason I have'nt put one in for a few years, but have never had a problem with performance on any.

[smadave]

The Carrier was a 2.5 Ton unit, the Payne is a 3 ton unit. The 3 ton compressor is going to use alittle more electric. I dont know why the payne is loud, Maybe the Carrier used a blanket on the compressor and had a better fan design. The Payne is made by the same company that ownes Carrer and Bryant. Its really just a builders grade unit and sound level isnt a big concern for builders grade stuff.

Dave in NJ

[dougfamous]

I had a 23yr old Carrier model # 38ED030300 condenser unit
2.5 ton & a 3 ton 13 yr old evap. unit. not cooling, in Houston area. Home Warranty paid for installation of new 3 ton condeser unit 10 seer Payne Model PA10JA036-G.

Stop right there. Re-read that. You had a home warranty company do it? Then it was done on the cheap, and you got a hacked system.

The new condenser is a half ton bigger, so yes it's gonna use more juice. I doubt the difference will be that noticable. What you SHOULD be concerned about, instead of the amp draw, is did they do a load calc? Of course they didn't , it's home warranty.

Are you sure it's the correct size? Can ducts handle more A/C? You won't get the same efficiency from a 13 year old coil, period.

Instead of nitpicking some trivial details, you should be concentrating on getting a professional out to review your whole setup. Home warranty = BAD NEWS.

[city]

Why not get a qoute for a matching airhandler so that your system will be correctly matched. A friend also had his unit replaced by home warranty and his bill went up. I have a home warranty, but chose not use them for my replacement because i did not want a payne in my house. Home warranty does not replace the inside unit. Spend a little money to get a matching airhandler.

[BaldLoonie]

First, ignore the ratings on the nameplate. That isn't going to tell you SEER. Unless your indoor coil is matched, which yours isn't, you'll have no way to know what you are getting. We've had customers get new units out of warranty companies. They find the cheapest unit, many have switched to Payne from Goodman and the cheapest company to install them. Often they don't cover things like recovery and "disposal" of the old unit. Never heard of a matched coil but that's good for biz, cleaning up with new coils and sometimes new compressors.

The ED was one of the best Carriers built. The Payne one of the cheapest. The ED had the compresser under a heavy cover, big slow speen fan with nice shroud to deaden noise even more. It was rated at 11 SEER with matching coil, this was in the 7 SEER days. It came with high & low pressure protection, an accumulator for compressor protection, a liquid line solenoid to get the super SEER.

[airworx]

the payne will use more eergy its a bigger machine. the carrier was a 2.5 ton the payne a 3 ton.

[cem-bsee]

a 3 amp increase from 18a is not much.

how long does the new one run, say at 85F outside? -- or you pick an ambient to quote run time --

are you comfortable?
what is your Relative Humidity % inside the house?
both where the new unit serves.

what does the installing co state?
what does warranty co state?

are you sure that the new uses more elec? have you checked your usage as btu per degree day per sq foot? or kwh per degree day? [ after first subtracting the amount kwh used last May ] in other words, has the ambient temp been hotter this year? in many areas, $ per unit has increased!