Originally Posted by
Florida Joy
17 SEER is not my goal... I think it was my answer to your question, which went something like: "At what SEER do the really big utility rebates kick-in?"
I'm not so sure I'd be happy with a new unit keeping me "just as cool". My 3.5 ton is "keeping up" because of two overlapping sets of circumstances.
First, I've lowered my expectations regarding comfort in favor of being able to pay my electric bill when it comes due every month, i.e., I turned up the t-stat to 77 and it pretty much maintains the temperature at 77-78 degrees. I sit and/or sleep under ceiling fans most days because my comfort level is 74-75 degrees during the day... I prefer around 70 at night, but can't afford the electric bill.
Second, it's been a relatively mild, dry summer... ODDB has been <92 degrees most days with lower than normal rainfall all year, thus lower than normal humidity.
I thought we'd been over and over and over this 4-ton issue a number of times in various threads and the only reason I was considering a 3-ton iQ Drive was because of it's ability to perform at 118% of nominal capacity.
The only "official" Manual J load calc done by the Broan dealer confirmed that 4-ton was the right size for any dual stage system other than the iQ Drive.