New split system installed??

[NChelp]

Hi everyone, thank you in advance for any help. I've never had problems with our a/c and we now find ourselves having to replace the whole system in our 1300 sq foot house (old system is a 15 year old Trane, 2.5 ton split system with an air handler in the attic and heat pump/condesor outside). As was best explained to me the valve that switches over from heat to ac has gone hay wire and is causing our transformer in the attic to blow. Because of the age of the unit we were told it was best to have the whole system replaced.

By a stroke of goodluck we have a neighbor that bought a brand new Goodman 2.5 ton heat pump/condensor and Goodman ARUF Series Model ARUF303016 Multi-Position Air Handler that ended up being the wrong size for his home and we got a good deal on it so we bought it from him (they're both still sealed in package). My questions are two fold:

1) first the old system was installed so that the air handler was in the attic, we've been told we might want to move it to our crawl space. What would be the advantage to this? I'm afraid our crawl space is not the best space since our home is at the bottom of a hill and the crawl space is in no way sealed or cleaned out.

2) since we have the entire system that needs to be replaced what should I be looking at as far installation/labor costs? We've been quoted four times any where from a couple of hundred to over a thousand dollars... i'm under the impression we already have the big ticket item so we shouldn't be paying too much for installation. Unfortunately our neighbors have all had different companies come out and all have had bad experiences with their technicians so we can't get references there...

thank you!

[skibme]

good luck, alot of folks on here won't touch your job.they will be along soon.

[iraqveteran]

so let me get this straight....

You needed a reversing valve coil and a new transformer. And you opted for a new system.

Then, you purchased a system from the neighbor, not evening knowing if its the right size, and you want it installed.

On top of that, you expect a contractor to send out 1 maybe 2 installers to work all day long getting the system installed and running for a couple hundred bucks????

You gotta wake up. Give the system back to your neighbor and have them return it. Get a load calc done to ensure your getting the right sized system and pick a good system that a contractor is willing to install at a good rate.
Above all else, you want proper installation.


Your trying to take shortcuts and I'm afraid it will only cost you more in the end.

[Jay 41]

You know, I'm fairly new to this site, but how many times have does this happen. I'm all for saving a buck, but how many times have you guys been over the pros and cons of this situation?

[iraqveteran]

You know, I'm fairly new to this site, but how many times have does this happen. I'm all for saving a buck, but how many times have you guys been over the pros and cons of this situation?

entirely too many

[Jay 41]

entirely too many

How many home owners do think are actually losing money, and sleep, by buying units this way, and then get mad at the industry as a whole, assiuming all hvac contractors are crooks?

[I_bend_metal]

By a stroke of goodluck

LMAO!

that ended up being the wrong size for his home

How do you know it is the RIGHT size for your home?

(they're both still sealed in package)

Leave them there

Questions

Why don't you leave all of this to the professionals?
There isn't anyone here that's going to install YOUR equipment.
No warranty what so ever.

If you asked me....I would charge the same thing I change anyone else when they buy my equipment....now wouldn't you rather just return that and have it done right?

This thead will be closed shortly I am sure

[iraqveteran]

How many home owners do think are actually losing money, and sleep, by buying units this way, and then get mad at the industry as a whole, assiuming all hvac contractors are crooks?

ALL OF THEM

without a doubt.

[I_bend_metal]

How many home owners do think are actually losing money, and sleep, by buying units this way, and then get mad at the industry as a whole, assiuming all hvac contractors are crooks?

They do it all the time and then bash us when we show up to fix the crap heap....like we are the one's to blame for their mistakes.

[Jay 41]

Wasn't trying to hi-jack, just figured some body else might feel the same way.

[I_bend_metal]

Wasn't trying to hi-jack, just figured some body else might feel the same way.

Hi-jacking it is better than what will happen when everyone else sees it...LOL

[cmajerus]

http://www.goodmanmfg.com/Portals/0/.../PWCACHPCA.pdf

I would read this VERY carefully if your neighbor purchased this system online. If you open up your packaging it is on the warranty card you have( which is worthless by the way) you will see the same thing.


Neither warranty applies to, and no warranty is offered by Goodman
on, any unit ordered over the Internet.

[NChelp]

ok, so let me clarify a few points and say that i came on here with the assumption i wouldn't get bashed, I just had a few questions Like i mentioned before we had four different companies come out to give us quotes, all had a different opinion of what to do initially but in the end all recommended replacing both the outside unit and the air handler with matching units since the one we have is so old. A 2.5 ton unit IS WHAT WE NEED and WILL do the job, it was one of the few things all the companies that came out agreed upon, I understand some brands are more expensive than others but all agreed a the units I bought will do it. The split system that was bought still has the warranty and is the EXACT same unit two of the four companies that came out wanted to sell us (down to the model number and same air handler unit). Not that it matters but the reason the neighbor got stuck with it was because the company that came out initially sold him on an upgraded 2.5 ton unit, when his home warranty asked why they would upgrade a unit on such a small house (about 400 sq ft smaller than ours) there was a disagreement. Long story short the company backed out when the home warranty company wanted to get a 2nd opinion on the upgrade and left him with the brand new unit and wouldn't do his job since they lost the home warranty contract. I even called the distributor that handles the sales for that a/c company to get the info on the model we now have and Goodman to confirm in writing that this unit is still under warranty.

Now if I sound a little jaded or confused you'll have to excuse me since either our area has incredibly bad a/c companies or my neighbors and I are incredibly unlucky with our experiences so far. I take the time to get certified, insured, etc companies out here and can't get a straight answer, when I begin to ask questions about the new units that they want to to install it's pretty much seems to match up, all 2.5 ton, all 13 seer, all include new heat pump/condensor and air handler unit. I simply wanted to know what kind of time and labor it would take to get one installed and what the benefits of the crawl space move would be (recommended by one tech but not really mentioned by the others other than being told "I guess you could do it").

I don't simply want to scam someone out of hard earned $$ or get a super cheap fix but unfortunately with a 4 month old baby and gas/food prices through the roof I simply don't have $4k-5k to upgrade an a/c but I need something since 100 degree heat and fans won't cut it. And all our techs seemed reluctant to just replace that valve or coil or whatever it is saying it probably wouldn't last through the summer and still cost me over a thousand dollars ---which would be lost when the whole system blows.

But in the end I guess the answers I've gotten so far just mean I'm SOL and I'll keep up my search for a good a/c company in my area, and my apologies to anyone who was offended I didn't mean to say I was trying to scam anyone in your profession. Thank you for your time.