I Had Contractor Visit Today

[dan sw fl]

I had a contractor come out today. He spent over 3 hours here and about two of those hours were measuring and calculating my home. He went into the attic and crawlspace, inspected both the inside and outside units and did some tests on each. I was very impressed with not only his knowledge, but also at the end he was not pushing me to buy anything.

I was kind of shocked that when he ran the numbers for my outside unit, it came back as not only a 3 ton unit (I thought it was a 2 ton) but he also informed the unit was built in 1988 (My house was built in 1998.

The good news is both my attic (30-R) and walls (14-R) insulation was fine.

The interesting news in after all his calculation/measuring he said my current AC unit is too big and I should go down to a 2 ton unit.
The current gas furnace is 75,000 btu at 80%. He suggested to downsize that as well to 60,000 btu and of course the more efficient 97%.

, but I think I was given a very good price for a Trane 4ttr5024and a Trane XV95.

Thoughts?

So, Is the smaller sized units also more or less substantiated by your relatively reasonable utility use/costs?

[energy star]

Can I ask what originally prompted the contractor visit in the first place?

[Zomby]

Can I ask what originally prompted the contractor visit in the first place?

I called them because my current system has issues and is 14 years old.

[energy star]

It's not the equipment. Its the installation.

[Zomby]

It's not the equipment. Its the installation.

I am not sure what you are saying here?

[catmanacman]

Highly unlikely to get 2 or 3 contractors that will do a load calculation ,can't hurt to get a second quote but don't let a few hundred bucks change your mind .also would get the 10 yr part and labor warranty

[Zomby]

Highly unlikely to get 2 or 3 contractors that will do a load calculation ,can't hurt to get a second quote but don't let a few hundred bucks change your mind .also would get the 10 yr part and labor warranty

I am just going to get another opinion from a different contractor. I am still sold on the original bid because I was impressed with the low sells pressure, the time he took to check my home top to bottom and the fact that I like Trane.

[carmon]

it all sounds good..... nothing wrong with more quotes.... once you give the job out your married

[dan sw fl]

This is the informantion he left me on my old outside unit:

14 years old
3 ton
SEER - 9.1
Model BRCS0361BD

Unsure of the manufacturer, thought Goodman or Airpro?

He said it was 15 years old, but then got a call from the person who did the search and came back with the built in 1988 and not 1998.

http://www.master.ca/documents/0BRCS...Guide-0103.pdf

[Zomby]

http://www.master.ca/documents/0BRCS...Guide-0103.pdf

That's it. Funny how they say it is quiet because you can hear this 4 houses away. Also it doesn't blow straight up, if blows more to the side at perhaps 90 degrees

[LibertyTree]

Yea bring in the next dude and share all the info that other guy gave you for free and he will give you x amount of savings, way of the world, nice guy finishes last. He should have closed the sale.

I hate it when customers do that. I had a guy do it over XXXX on a dual fuel system and he had to call me 10 months later to come fix everything. He ended up paying me XXX for all the repairs leaving him with a grand total of XXX more than I quoted him to end up with a shotty installation and a heapin' helpin' of heartache.

[energy star]

If you have a Coleman/York outside your house for 14yrs, how and why did you decide or pick Trane equipment as your next equipment choice?

[dan sw fl]

I hate it when customers do that. I had a guy do it over XXXX on a dual fuel system and he had to call me 10 months later to come fix everything. He ended up paying me XXXX for all the repairs leaving him with a grand total of XXX more than I quoted him to end up with a shotty installation and a heapin' helpin' of heartache.

You definitely have
enough experience to know that
the vast majority of homeowners are preset to be cheap and not tru$ting of Mechanical Contractor$.
The understanding of HVAC and IAQ Value is not a virtue gained by a mental osmosis proocess nor inherited.
HomeOwners actually have quite a formidable job to try to gain confidence, trust and understanding in the current environment.

For example, how Many people PLAN on changing their systems out based on poor performance prior to "it's death".
The only one's that will have proper information to do this will likely be the homeowners that have a trustworthy mechanical contractor performing semi-annual maintenance over a period of years.
If you have read threads by Florida Joy here, you may be familar with a truly unique, smart individual who takes a significant amount of time to gain an understanding of the real HVAC and building envelope issues.

If there were a real source of " word-of-mouth advertising", such as Wide spread use of a reputable Angie's List or SIMILAR , the trust of contractors would be more reasonable.
Maybe the current 20's- 40's generation with a vast social media use will be able to better interact this way to effectively transition " the Hack" to a thing of the Past or at least a VERY Difficult environment for one to operate in.

One can only HOPE.

[dan sw fl]

That's it. Funny how they say it is quiet because you can hear this 4 houses away. Also it doesn't blow straight up, if blows more to the side at perhaps 90 degrees

I didn't HEAR any1 say
________ compressors would be quiet for 15+ years.

What do people do when they are sick or irratated, Y E L L !

We saw people yelling for help.
I heard someone yelling my name.
The crowd was yelling wildly.

Could it be that equipment wishes to emulate humans?

Certainly, brain transplants will be performed with an electronic package with sufficient "thinking" capacity to present a real evolution in life.
When were heart transplants thought of as a impossiblity? Only a few decades ago.
The initial phase of Brain transplants is definitely within a few decades.

[Zomby]

If you have a Coleman/York outside your house for 14yrs, how and why did you decide or pick Trane equipment as your next equipment choice?

I have not made a decision yet, but I am leaning to the Trane line of products

[jtrammel]

Don't get me wrong trane makes a good product and if that is what the contractor you choose uses then definitely use their product because they will be more familiar with it, but it is no better than York, carrier, Lennox etc. The only reason peope think Trane is so great is because they spend Mega bucks on marketing and advertising. I've heard that each piece of equipment trane produces has a 6$ advertising markup which is huge when you are talking about millions of pieces per year. Trane parts OEM parts are priced high compared to other brands as well. The equipment really has little to do with the proper operation, it the installation, sizing and duct sizing that makes the difference in a long lasting reliable hvac system or a POS hvac system.

[Zomby]

Don't get me wrong trane makes a good product and if that is what the contractor you choose uses then definitely use their product because they will be more familiar with it, but it is no better than York, carrier, Lennox etc. The only reason peope think Trane is so great is because they spend Mega bucks on marketing and advertising. I've heard that each piece of equipment trane produces has a 6$ advertising markup which is huge when you are talking about millions of pieces per year. Trane parts OEM parts are priced high compared to other brands as well. The equipment really has little to do with the proper operation, it the installation, sizing and duct sizing that makes the difference in a long lasting reliable hvac system or a POS hvac system.

Noted and appreciated.

[energy star]

I have not made a decision yet, but I am leaning to the Trane line of products

Yes I know, but how did you make that decision?

[Zomby]

Yes I know, but how did you make that decision?

I like Trane and always have. Do you not like the product line?

[duckman06]

I am going to say this to get straight to the point. I would choose Trane if i were you. You have been impressed by sales rep. That cares trane, you want Trane and they make a great system if installed properly.

Although I sale Trane, have Trane in my home and have suggested getting Trane. I have no dog in the fight but if you fell comfortable withe the trane dealer and you want trane buy it you want be sorry as long as installed properly, serviced properly and have full warranty.