Trane VS. Carrier

[wenle]

Trane XB-13 Seer with Variable Speed, 5 years parts and labor,
Carrier 25HBB3, 13 Seer no VS, 5 years parts 2 years labor. Both 2.5 ton, both are base model, less than $ difference. Both are offered by the same company I feel comfortable with and has good reputation. I've heard a lot of good things about VS, but if you turn the AC on and off alternatively in a day, is it still worth it? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[SoFlaDave]

Variable speed is always worth it. The Trane will have a higher SEER rating because of the VS blower.

[big sky hvac]

Variable speed is always worth it. The Trane will have a higher SEER rating because of the VS blower.

Overall comfort and efficiency will be improved by going with a variable speed motor.

[egads]

Why would you turn the A/C on and off alternatively in a day as you say?

There are a couple of things I have learned here:

Warming up or cooling down your house with a wide temp spread is not efficient. It's not just the air in the house that gets heated/cooled, it's the mass.

Also, A/C uses the least electricity when running more continuously. When that outside unit starts is when it uses the most power. Running not nearly as much.

So adjust your thinking and don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Why spend a bunch of money to replace equipment then pay to run it and not be completely comfortable?

[wenle]

Why would you turn the A/C on and off alternatively in a day as you say? Because we are not home during day time, and won't be back till evening. I thought I need to turn off the A/C when we are not in. And our bill is not high at all. I've heard that leaving it on 24/7 might be more efficient, have not tried it. How could you prove it?


There are a couple of things I have learned here:

Warming up or cooling down your house with a wide temp spread is not efficient. It's not just the air in the house that gets heated/cooled, it's the mass.

Also, A/C uses the least electricity when running more continuously. When that outside unit starts is when it uses the most power. Running not nearly as much.

So adjust your thinking and don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Why spend a bunch of money to replace equipment then pay to run it and not be completely comfortable?

[QUOTE=egads;9881762]Why would you turn the A/C on and off alternatively in a day as you say? Because we are not home during day time, and won't be back till evening. I thought I need to turn off the A/C when we are not in. And our bill is not high at all. I've heard that leaving it on 24/7 might be more efficient, have not tried it. How could you prove it?

[gravity]

i would go with Trane. we sell both carrier and trane and ive had better experience with trane. also that xb-13 should come with 10yr compressor, 5yr parts, and 5yr coil. the a/h should have 10yr parts if you register the products within 60 days on installation. also with the trane a/h you can change airflow characteristics. one cool feature is comfort-R. ask your installer about this

[wenle]

i would go with Trane. we sell both carrier and trane and ive had better experience with trane. also that xb-13 should come with 10yr compressor, 5yr parts, and 5yr coil. the a/h should have 10yr parts if you register the products within 60 days on installation. also with the trane a/h you can change airflow characteristics. one cool feature is comfort-R. ask your installer about this

Thanks for your reply. I chose Trane and they came installed it. Yes it has the warranty you mentioned. However, I don't know what is a/h, and I asked the sales person should I register the system, he said the company will handle that. They didn't mention anything with regard to changing airflow characteristics, comfort-R. I will ask them. Could you also elaborate on it please? Thanks!

[gravity]

u can go online to trane.com and register the product. a/h = air handler. the comfort-R slows the blower speed down at startup. on a call for heat or cool. it will gradually increase to 50% speed in 1 minute.it will then gradually ramp inbetween 50%-80% for 7.5 minutes. if after that 7.5 minutes its still calling for ac or heat it will ramp to 100% aiflow. at the end of the call it will ramp from 50-0% in 3 minutes. this helps in cooling because it will let the coil get cold before it ramps up and at the end of the call it will get rid of the rest of cooling. its the same for heat

[gravity]

do u have some pictures of the installs? did they do a manual j? static pressure test? and what was the final superheat and subcooling charge?

[egads]

When I wrote about constantly changing the stat, I was thinking you were fiddling with it all the time. That is the bad approach I was referring to. Of course you can have a programmable thermostat do set backs for when you are away or sleeping. However, there is a diminishing return if the spread of the setback is too great. In other words, if you come home to a very hot house and try to cool it down it could cost as much as coming home to a house that is already cool.