a sea of confusion

[meeksy]

Interesting email there, RM, but afraid you have the wrong guy. I'm neither pompous nor an engineer, just someone looking for information from professionals. Thanks to everyone on this site who helps regular people like me.

Good luck with your anger management.

[refrigeration mafia]

Thank you for allowing me to vent my frustration at you meeksy.

Do you live in a climate where you use your AC more or your furnace more?

How long do you plan on living in your home?

What are your utility bills like now?

What do you dislike about your current equipment?

Do you have any hot or cold spots in the home?

Does anyone have allergies in the house?

What is your budget like for the project?

Is the current ductwork exposed in the attac or basement or is it embedded in the walls?

Do you have an attac or basement where new ducting can be easily installed?

[alpo8484]

We call them flex monkeys up north. Does Kent Hrbek endorse Trane? You'd be crazy to replace hard pipe with flex.

[beenthere]

Originally posted by bornriding
Just my opinion, of course, but VS drives not wirth the money, unless slightly lower humidity is a major deal with you. VS systems costs much more, will costs much, much more to repair, and I don't think, will last as long.
But they will give you better ( by a little ) humidity control.


Anyway, I am a 'keep-it-simple-stupid' person.

Ask your contractors what would be the price to replace VS blower. No motors will lasts forever

[Edited by bornriding on 03-03-2005 at 12:20 PM]

On retros, we are able to lower the humidity by as much as 10% same size equipment as the old, and they can set their stat 1 to 2 degrees higher, thats a big savings.

Also the motor is not that expensive, its the module.

You can change out the motor or module.

As i think dash said, get an extended warranty, and your pretty well covered.

[Irishmist]

meeksy: these are all good questions. WHY AREN'T YOU POSING THEM TO THE CONTRACTORS WHO PROVIDED THE QUOTES??!! It is both unreliable and unfair to expect us to put ourselves in the position of the people who have both seen the job and performed calculations. It is in YOUR best interest to pose these questions to them.

All of us in the field have had questions put to us like, "why is abc company wanting to do it this way?"

There is absolutely no one better to address the specific question than the person who was the basis for raising that question. If the ANSWER then is not clear, you can seek third party input for clarificaton, but your questions need to be directed to those that caused them to be raised.

I can tell you I would be somewhat miffed, if I had come to your home, performed a load calc., provided you with a proposal, and then had you come to me and say, "Oh by the way, I went to a talk hvac web site and those guys said it should be done THIS way." Give ME, the contractor, the opportunity to address your question.