About to choose Trane....some questions

[masboy]

i got a quote for Trane HVAC system for with XR14 + XR80 + 2.5 ton + Thermostat XL800. Then I asked him to upgrade it to XR14 + XL80 + 3 ton + Thermostat XL800 with same price. But he said, he can give it to me with additional $150. Is it worth ? or should I stick with XR80 + 2.5 ton ? How efficien XL80 compare to XR80 ?

We live in Townhouse in SoCal area, it's about 1200 sq ft, 2 stories.

thanks in advance!

[mayguy]

Has a Manual-J been done??

3ton on a 1,200 sq ft townhome is a LOT of A/C, unless you are in a dessert area of Calf?

XR80 and XL80 are both 80% furnace, you get two stage heat on the XL80 for better comfort..

I don't know what your weather is like in the summer or winter.

[heatkits]

Prepare yourself for an on slot of, "Read the Rules" posts. Now you won't get a straight answer as they will be fixated on the pricing thing.

Personally, I'd go for the highest efficiency... You know the cost of energy is never going down again. How can it? Ya, we all wished it would, but you know it's got rise and rise some more. This little price difference will seem like such a bargain once we get hit with the real cost of energy.

Let me put it to you this way: You buy the cheep stuff and have it installed now. Then the price of energy goes through the roof in a year or so what are you going to do then? Put in new equipment or wished you had.

[masboy]

Has a Manual-J been done??

3ton on a 1,200 sq ft townhome is a LOT of A/C, unless you are in a dessert area of Calf?

XR80 and XL80 are both 80% furnace, you get two stage heat on the XL80 for better comfort..

I don't know what your weather is like in the summer or winter.

umm...what is Manual-J ? sorry i'm totally new in AC.

Hmmm I guess 2.5 ton should be enough then ? What do you mean by A LOT of A/C ? 3 ton = a little quicker to get the house COLD than 2.5 ton ? is that what you mean ? summer in Calif around our area is pretty decent, it was 100 F few weeks ago, but back to normal.

Prepare yourself for an on slot of, "Read the Rules" posts. Now you won't get a straight answer as they will be fixated on the pricing thing.

Personally, I'd go for the highest efficiency... You know the cost of energy is never going down again. How can it? Ya, we all wished it would, but you know it's got rise and rise some more. This little price difference will seem like such a bargain once we get hit with the real cost of energy.

Let me put it to you this way: You buy the cheep stuff and have it installed now. Then the price of energy goes through the roof in a year or so what are you going to do then? Put in new equipment or wished you had.

I only put the additional dollar, that's not allowed either ? I did read the rules Just need to get an idea how worth it is to spend extra 150 to get 3 ton + 2 stage heat instead of 2.5 ton + 1 stage heat.


Thanks a lot for the respond !!! keep coming please

[mayguy]

umm...what is Manual-J ? sorry i'm totally new in AC.

The dealer should of done this.. Manual-J is a load calc. program to find the right sized heating and cooling equipment for your home.. If the dealer didn't do this, then I'd ask them to do one, or find one that will do it. You can down load your own home owner's version above on the tab "HVAC Calc." for $50.

summer in Calif around our area is pretty decent, it was 100 F few weeks ago, but back to normal.

How often do you see that temp? Is there a lot of humidity in your area in the summer?

Hmmm I guess 2.5 ton should be enough then ? What do you mean by A LOT of A/C ? 3 ton = a little quicker to get the house COLD than 2.5 ton ?

I may even say 2ton may be enough. but again The Manual-J/Load Calc. will give you the answer. How well is the attic insulated and vented, and how old are the windows? If they are older windows/single pane, I'd upgrade those before HVAC, or at least let the dealer know that so the can size it to the windows/attic upgrade.

Over sizing is NOT better.. It's will use more energy, and you will not be comfortable.. Why? Oversized equipment will cycle on and off often, and it will not run enough to pull the humidity, and with higher humidity you may end up cranking the temps down lower to feel the comfort... Lower temps means more energy, and same with on and off cycle vs steady run.

[beenthere]

Get rid of the price reference.

A larger A/C will cool quicker. So if your in a humid area you will turn your stat lower to get the humidity down, and pay more for your cooling.

Call contractors, and ask them on the phone if they do load calcs, if not keep calling.

[everythingair]

In the residential heating and cooling industry, more is rarely better. Properly sized furnaces and cooling systems will operate for longer cycles which is more efficient and more comfortable. If your current system is a 2.5 capacity, by increasing the capacity to a 3 ton you will be needing to increase the amount of air provided to the system which could cause problems with the existing system and will definitely be noisier.

[acbobburk]

Don’t you just love it when the HVAC contractor that is supposed to be the expert takes sizing advice from the home owner that thinks “Bigger is Better”?

[masboy]

THANK YOU so much for all the responds, it really make me think again about 'bigger = better'.

Let see...yes he did calculate the window size and asked me about how old the window is all that stuff, so I guess that's the 'Load Calc' ?

I don't feel any humidity in our area at all, just summer hot during summer season and during winter is pretty cool down, not too cold either.

We don't have AC right now, we only have old fart heater, it's really old. So this AC will be a brand new installation.

Another question if you guys don't mind. How to decide which SEER to go ? He gave me options Train XR13 & Train XR14....the total price differences is about $400.

I also noticed in trane.com that XR13 as having a seer rating of up to 14 so it's pretty much identical to the XR14 then ??

[RyanHughes]

The XR14 may not even get 14 SEER with your matchup without the variable-speed blower. Are you looking at units with R410A refrigerant or R22 refrigerant? R22 XR14 has scroll compressors in 2.5-5 ton; R410A XR14 has scroll compressors in 3-5 ton. R22 XR13 has scroll compressors in 3 & 5 ton; R410A XR13 has scroll compressors in 3-5 ton. This is for air conditioners. The XR14 will have a sound enclosure for the compressor in all sizes.