Heat Pump Suplemental Ht and Digital Thermostat

[keith welchel]

the HVAC tech checked it today and said the compressor is dead.

here's what's happened in the last week...

The outside unit has been making loud noises and vibrates when in defrost mode for about two months or so...

I called a service repair company that I have never used before but is on the HVAC manufactures list of recommended service companies...

the unit was checked last Friday and the tech stated the unit was significantly over charged... some Freon was removed...

the unit seemed Okay until Sunday (but now my son says our lights dimmed more than usual on Saturady)... on Sunday morning I noticed the lights were dimming about every ten minutes...

I called the service company to come back out today (Monday)
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it seems very possible the compressor has been so stressed that it finally died... the unit is 14 years old

but, i'd like to take the unit out another 5 years...

Questiom:
are refurbished compressors an option?

are refurbished compressors a big risk?

could the unit just be out of Freon? I don't think the tech today hooked up the meter... but I'm not sure.

if a new unit is the only/best option, I'm considering a Carrier Infinity or Trane similar system... any thoughts or recommendations...

Thanks,
-Keith-

[beenthere]

Either system will be a good choice.
Don't bother having the compressor changed, that isn't always a inexpensive a way to go as it first seems.

[jesup]

Leaving the fan on can help keep temps more even (increasing comfort and potentially reducing costs, since you don't need to set it according to the "worst" room), but mostly this is in the case of a house that has serious imbalances or poorly positioned thermostat, or if the fan is a modern variable-speed fan (they can run at a low speed continuously using a lot less juice). We run our modern units in fan-on mode, since our house in inherently highly unbalanced from room-to-room in terms of heat loss/gain (lots of windows (75+, many large), differing levels of insulation and exposure to outside walls, etc).

[keith welchel]

thanks for the input...

I've invited several companies to bid on replacing my Carrier 5 ton.

One other question... the main trunk is duct board... should this be replaced... it's clean and no mold... I've heard that these disintegrate over time...

[beenthere]

If its still in good shape, no reason to replace it.