I Had Contractor Visit Today

[energy star]

Yes I like Trane. I'm just trying to figure out why you decided on Trane. You do not have Trane at this house. Did you see a commercial? Does a friend have trane? What did you do to pick trane? Was it just-on line research or do you own another house with a Trane product?

[54regcab]

American Standard is the "generic" version of Trane. Same equipment without the advertising markup.

[tedkidd]

If he diid all that and you feel comfortable with the price and the company sign the contract. Could have also made a mistake on the year of the old unit if you post the serial number someone will know what year it is . The unit he is proposing is a very nice unit

The problem with is you can always find a hack to do do a crappy job cheaper

Unless you live far up North I have to question the need for a 60,000BTU furnace with only a 24,000BTU cooling load.
I do agree with others though, you found your contractor.

Look to the lowest output. A 60 that goes to 20 could be considered SMALLER than a 45 that goes to 30. The house might only need 40 worst case, but the 60 is a better fit, it can load match across more of the season.

[Zomby]

Yes I like Trane. I'm just trying to figure out why you decided on Trane. You do not have Trane at this house. Did you see a commercial? Does a friend have trane? What did you do to pick trane? Was it just-on line research or do you own another house with a Trane product?

My first home had a Trane. My parents home has a Trane. My best friend has a Trane. But I am not married to one so I am going to check a few other options as well.

[LibertyTree]

Trane has really done well for themselves making people think that they are better than the other major brands. I am a Trane dealer, the only reason I even offer the Trane product is for that 1 out of 20 people that believe that its going to shoot gold dust out of the registers. Otherwise I offer them Coleman/York thats significantly lower in price, has a better warranty and better heating efficiency.

[jtrammel]

Libert, can you email me that manual on the York communicating zone system you were talking about in another thread, my distributer hasn't heard about it and I can't find any info. Sorry for the hijack

[54regcab]

Look to the lowest output. A 60 that goes to 20 could be considered SMALLER than a 45 that goes to 30. The house might only need 40 worst case, but the 60 is a better fit, it can load match across more of the season.

Please tell me where you have found a 60/20 ratio, it's what I need for my own house when it comes to replace mine. Most units I've seen do about 2/3 of full power when on low mode.

[tedkidd]

Infinity mvc060. Now the mod. I believe american standard, and york. I think the rheem mod goes pretty low too.

[Zomby]

American Standard is the "generic" version of Trane. Same equipment without the advertising markup.

Wow. Simply wow!.

The American Standard contractor rep came out today and did pretty much the same walk-thru, testings, calculations, etc. His price was WAY over what the Trance contractor rep quoted... I mean WAY over.

From what I can tell the quote is for the exact same equipment, but he said I needed a 2.5 ton because we like to keep the house cooler than normal. The Trane rep said 2 ton, but I didn't tell him we liked to keep it around 68-70 degrees in the summer.

Next up. A Bryant contractor...........

[dan sw fl]

Wow. Simply wow!.

.. The Trane rep said 2 ton, but I didn't tell him we liked to keep it around 68-70 degrees in the summer.
...........

I guess some people might that it that way - if born in an igloo or similar.

You might turn into a ZomBIE at that temperature.
+ you can $pend 2 to 3 X a$ much a$ at 77'F.

[jtrammel]

With a smaller unit that removes more humidity you may be more comfortable at 72-74. Humidity has more to do with comfort than temperature.

[Zomby]

With a smaller unit that removes more humidity you may be more comfortable at 72-74. Humidity has more to do with comfort than temperature.

Excellent point!

[energy star]

You have two manual J's done. One is for a 2-Ton & the other for 2.2 Ton. The 2.2 bumped it up to 2.5. What is the temp (high) that this MJ was based on? How many days out of the year will you hit that temp? How many coolings days/hours do you have where your home is?

[54regcab]

With a smaller unit that removes more humidity you may be more comfortable at 72-74. Humidity has more to do with comfort than temperature.

+1
The 2 ton may not hold 68-70 during the hottest afternoons but the humidity will be low making it feel cooler. 68-70 at low humidity and fans running is very cool to most people.

[tedkidd]

+1
The 2 ton may not hold 68-70 during the hottest afternoons but the humidity will be low making it feel cooler. 68-70 at low humidity and fans running is very cool to most people.

Are you sure the stat is accurate? I find 78 at 40 rh is comfortable if I'm inactive, and I need 75 if rh goes above 45%. Above 50% rh, pretty hard to get comfortable without feeling clammy. You definitely want to build an understanding of how RH factors into your comfort requirements.

I've found weight can impact tstat settings. As peoples % body fat levels increase their comfortable temperatures decreases, so things start to get delicate here, but you don't want to dismiss someone's stated setting without being cognizant of this important variable.

[dan sw fl]

Are you sure the stat is accurate? I find 78 at 40 rh is comfortable if I'm inactive, and I need 75 if rh goes above 45%. Above 50% rh, pretty hard to get comfortable without feeling clammy. You definitely want to build an understanding of how RH factors into your comfort requirements.

I've found weight can impact tstat settings. As peoples % body fat levels increase their comfortable temperatures decreases, so things start to get delicate here, but you don't want to dismiss someone's stated setting without being cognizant of this important variable.

I've found that some people have Bigger Boilers [ internal, of course], so preference for 73'F or 78'F depends on boiler efficiency
and -Bigger is not Better- can be applied in a few different ways.

I have a big boiler but also find that 78'F at 40% R.H. is just fine!

[dan sw fl]

+1
The 2 ton may not hold 68-70 during the hottest afternoons but the humidity will be low making it feel cooler. 68-70 at low humidity and fans running is very cool to most people.

Dry Bulb 68'F
Wet Bulb 58'F
Dew Point 51'F
Humidity 55%
which is good performance from DX system in most of the U.S. at less than 3,000 foot elevation
would probbly be considered clammy by most people.

I would Not refer to this condition (> 42%) as Low Humidity.

I don't know of any normally used residential equipment that actually achieves <43% at 68'F.

[motoguy128]

Are you sure the stat is accurate? I find 78 at 40 rh is comfortable if I'm inactive, and I need 75 if rh goes above 45%. Above 50% rh, pretty hard to get comfortable without feeling clammy. You definitely want to build an understanding of how RH factors into your comfort requirements.

I've found weight can impact tstat settings. As peoples % body fat levels increase their comfortable temperatures decreases, so things start to get delicate here, but you don't want to dismiss someone's stated setting without being cognizant of this important variable.

+1. At our house, dewpoints are under 50F all summer, so 73-75 iis very comfortable. Downstairs dewpoints are in the low 40's so 77F feels comfortable. However, when I go to my parents house wiht their oversized AC (2.5tons on a 1400sqft 2 story townshouse with 2 shared walls in Michigan (probably needs 1.5 tons based on run times alone) the humidity is over 55% and it needs ot be 69-70F ot be comfortable.

Sorry, but 68F is either clammy if RH is over 50%, or cool if it's <50%. 68F is my winter setting in my home.

WHat I find funny, is that some people will keep it 69F in summer and 71F in winter. Now there is a clear sign that humidity is not being managed. Heck, I had a roomate that wanted 70F in summer but I came home ot hte huse at 76F in winter.... and the dumba** is in shorts and a T-shirt.

[Tommy knocker]

Wow. Simply wow!.

The American Standard contractor rep came out today and did pretty much the same walk-thru, testings, calculations, etc. His price was WAY over what the Trance contractor rep quoted... I mean WAY over.

From what I can tell the quote is for the exact same equipment, but he said I needed a 2.5 ton because we like to keep the house cooler than normal. The Trane rep said 2 ton, but I didn't tell him we liked to keep it around 68-70 degrees in the summer.

Next up. A Bryant contractor...........

Sooo a second quoat did not produce the devil? Forget the price for now. Look at the load calcs. Very close. So now you should be comfortable in knowing what you need, tonnage wise. Get the 3rd quoat then pick the one you want based on solid data. Too easy.

[54regcab]

+1. At our house, dewpoints are under 50F all summer, so 73-75 iis very comfortable. Downstairs dewpoints are in the low 40's so 77F feels comfortable. However, when I go to my parents house wiht their oversized AC (2.5tons on a 1400sqft 2 story townshouse with 2 shared walls in Michigan (probably needs 1.5 tons based on run times alone) the humidity is over 55% and it needs ot be 69-70F ot be comfortable.

Sorry, but 68F is either clammy if RH is over 50%, or cool if it's <50%. 68F is my winter setting in my home.

WHat I find funny, is that some people will keep it 69F in summer and 71F in winter. Now there is a clear sign that humidity is not being managed. Heck, I had a roomate that wanted 70F in summer but I came home ot hte huse at 76F in winter.... and the dumba** is in shorts and a T-shirt.

We see it all the time. People want to program their thermostat that way!! Ask the customer, if it's 73 in the house, do you want to heat or AC to run? Their answer is it depends on time of year !!