Help a dumb homeowner

[HammerDog]

In the market for a complete heating and A/C system. I currently have a big window unit and a smaller A/C for the back of the house and Baseboard heat, which BTW is costing me a fortune to operate. During the winter I was using approx 4,600kwh which equates to over $300 a month. If I do not do something soon my wife is going to "Loranna Bobbit" me. My budget is around 9k.

I have a small single story brick ranch home located in central Indiana. Inside measurements indicate I have 1,850 sq ft of living area, outside measurements say it is 1,212 sq ft, this does not include the attached one car garage. I do have a crawl space and attic. I do not presently have any trees big enough to shade the house and will be doing the roof this coming fall in a light brown. I do not know if that makes a difference or not, but you have the information.

I have had so far 3 companies come out to give an estimate.

Company #1 was professional, took measurements of the house and give me 3 options all with a 2 ton heat pump. All Bryant equipment.
1. 14 seer
2. 15 seer
3. 16 seer with variable speed
My neighbor has had this same company out to do some work for him and is still pissed at the work that was done. Basically, the service men that came out were incompetent and did not know what they were doing and had major issues trying to get the system working. But another guy at my place of employment highly recommended them.

Company #2 guy was about 350lbs and was telling me that due to his size he could not put the vents on the outside wall like I wanted, but could get his 15 year old kid to do it if thatis what I wanted. I told him to leave.

Company #3 first off the salesman was late. i had a 4:00 appt with him, at 4:37 I got a call from his office stating he was running a little behind and he was leaving town then which is only 5 miles from myhouse. At 5:30 the salesman finally shows up. I told him straight up that I was already skeptical of his company. And that he is the salesman trying to get my work and 1.5 hrs late and makes me wonder greatly about service after the sale. I do let him in and talk with him after he apologized several times for his being late. He ended up talking a good show, but after a week I still have no written estimate from his company.

I have 2 more companies coming out next week, hopefully one will meet my needs.

I do have several questions:

Considering my location, is a heat pump the best route to go?

Should I spend the extra $$ to put returns in every room?

Any particular brands to steer clear from?

I know I will have some other questions, thanks in advance for your responses. I just do not want to be asking these questions after the fact.

[beenthere]

What are your utility rates.
Brand doesn't matter. If the installers screw up, teh brand name won't make it right.
How much under cut do your doors have.

[Twilly]

Twilli says go with the fat guy, at least he was honest

[HammerDog]

What are your utility rates. $0.077, that includes all the addons
Brand doesn't matter. If the installers screw up, teh brand name won't make it right.
How much under cut do your doors have.

Opening on the bottom of the door is approx 1/2" to 3/4"


I understand that the brand does not matter, there are some good units out there. I just do not want to get stuck with a POS.

[HammerDog]

Twilli says go with the fat guy, at least he was honest

You must have been the fat guy with body odor that came out the other day? LOL

[Skip 2 my lou]

What are the exact problems with company #1? They sound very professional (which is good) they also offered plenty of options. It sounds to me that they hire good salesman and pay them by using sub-standard installers.

Points to remember:

You should have never been given an exact time to meet someone. In this business a range like 3 - 5 is reasonable. A 30 min. lead call when he is on the way would have been good.

To fully develop a solution for your home in a non-emergency situation, a week and a half is reasonable. That is assuming a heat load calc, cfm distribution etc...

While meeting with people you begin to see more of their angle. The big man would be slow, but probably very good at what he does.

If your rooms are comfortable a year long with the doors closed, you may not need additional returns, but it would help.

[meoberry]

1850 square feet. 2 ton heatpump?? Wouldn't work in Florida.

[HammerDog]

What are the exact problems with company #1? They sound very professional (which is good) they also offered plenty of options. It sounds to me that they hire good salesman and pay them by using sub-standard installers.

My co-worker said he had great service, basically said the installers were superb.

Neighbor had a quagmire at his location. The company that first installed his system was bought out by company #1. That is how they got involved. But some of the issues he has:

System run constantly: they wanted to install a bigger outside unit (2.5 to 3) without upgrading the Air handler
Said he did not need the Infra red air cleaner option and unplugged it.
Multiple service calls for one issue.
Service techs was not familiar with the systems, nor did they know how to diagnose the problem. They just changed parts till it worked
The service techs had no schooling or certs.

Points to remember:

You should have never been given an exact time to meet someone. In this business a range like 3 - 5 is reasonable. A 30 min. lead call when he is on the way would have been good.

I am in the service industry as well, and if I tell a customer I will be there.....I am there or I call them to let them know what the situation is. And we have 33,000 customers. So a specific time is not too much to ask if you are trying to get $9,000 of my money.

To fully develop a solution for your home in a non-emergency situation, a week and a half is reasonable. That is assuming a heat load calc, cfm distribution etc...
A week and a half to get an estimate? Sounds a little long, but OK

Company #1 give me the estimate righ there on the spot
Company #3 met with me last friday and stated he would get me the estimate early next week. So I am just going by his time line.

While meeting with people you begin to see more of their angle. The big man would be slow, but probably very good at what he does.
You are right about accessing people, I do this very well. And big boy will not be working for me. Nothing against people of large stature, but when I have limitations of what i want as the customer due to his size, I have a problem

If your rooms are comfortable a year long with the doors closed, you may not need additional returns, but it would help.

I do not have any returns in the house presently. No duct work at all.

[HammerDog]

1850 square feet. 2 ton heatpump?? Wouldn't work in Florida.

I know, we do not have near the humidity you have down there.

Normal heat during the summer is about 75 - 90deg it can go higher, but not for too long.

[Skip 2 my lou]

what is your method for choosing contractors? I knew about the sucky one that was reccomended, it may be time to punt.

look for members of ACCA.

[HammerDog]

what is your method for choosing contractors? I knew about the sucky one that was reccomended, it may be time to punt.

look for members of ACCA.

I tried getting suggestions from friends and coworkers first.

I am now looking in the phone book.

I want a professional company with good customer service. Tell me straight up what they plan to do to solve my problems and tell me what it is going to cost me.......No BS. No funny money games.
I want a company that can provide 24hr service in a timely manner.
I want a company that has been in business long enough to establish a good reputation, but not be on the bubble of retirement for several more years.


Does ACCA have a website, or a list of members?

[Skip 2 my lou]

http://www.acca.org/contractors/

In the ACCA ranks you will find legit business people that are interested in improving the industry.

[model m-man]

Number 2 gets my vote. He's got to be good to maintain his size under our working conditions! lol

[HammerDog]

Please read my blog to further protect yourself against "challenges" with your A/C system:

Marge, I understand your frustrations, but I do not think your issue is with an actual company or equipment issues.
Insect inspection should be done to a home on a regular basis. And ants can move rather quickly, thus the need for prompt action.
Just like you need to inspect your trees on your property. If you have a dead tree on your property and it falls killing someone. You are responsible as the owner. You have an obligation as a homeowner to take care of your property, not the contractors you hire. I did read your blog, but just do not agree with your logic (blaming an A/C guy for ants infiltrating your system). Apparently your last post "Ants" got out of hand and was closed. And I will not turn this thread into a discussion about ants. But an exterminator takes care of living pests, A/C guys take care of cooling/heating the home. Sounds like you figured that one out though on your own. Good luck with your situation

[HammerDog]

Number 2 gets my vote. He's got to be good to maintain his size under our working conditions! lol

Twinkies and little debbie snack cakes are cheap.

[Twilly]

Please read my blog to further protect yourself against "challenges" with your A/C system:

Get ahold of Twilli as Twilli has ant eaters for sale

[HammerDog]

Get ahold of Twilli as Twilli has ant eaters for sale

Have you ever added anything useful to a thread on here? Just wanting to know.

[Twilly]

Twilli says no, thats why they gave Twilli a position of responsibility, isn't that the way it works?

[Twilly]

Twinkies and little debbie snack cakes are cheap.

But Twilli could try for a "little debbie"

[HammerDog]

Twilli says no, thats why they gave Twilli a position of responsibility, isn't that the way it works?

Guess so.


BTW, you must be a plummer.