Need Help Choosing Replacement Central Air System

16 years ago

We need to replace the 20 year old system that heats and cools the third floor of our house about - 3rd floor is about 1500 sq feet.

We are in the north east with an oil fired burner for hot water and heat. The third floor is right under the roof with a very small attic above so the rooms get a lot of heat during the day from the sun. (we are also looking at adding an attic fan to help vent the hot air out of the attic)

The old system is a 2.5 ton Goodman outside and a 2.5 First Company air handler in the attic that is also providing heat via hot water from the furnace thru a hydro coil. The circulator for that coil is in the First Company air handler and not in the basement at the boiler. The unit needs to be replaced because the drip pan under the condenser coil on the inside unit is rusting out and would be very expensive ($2,000) to repair.

Duct work will support up to a 3 ton system.

I have proposals from 3 different suppliers for three different replacement systems.

#1 - American Standard - Proposal includes Allegiance 14 outside unit (4A7B4030) 2.5 ton 30,000 BTU unit and an internal variable speed Air Handler (4TEE3F31) 2.5 ton 30,000 btu.

#2 - Bryant/First Company - Proposal includes Bryant Legacy outside unit (116BNA030) and a First Company 30HBXB-HW air handler in the attic to handle both the heat and cooling.

#3 - Carrier - Proposal includes Carrier Performance Line outside (24APA736) with a variable speed inside unit (FE4ANB36) - these are 3 ton units.

#1 and #3 did not say yet how they plan to handle the heat portion given that the circulator is currently in the air handler. Not sure if they plan to place one in the attic or in the basement at the furnace.

There are some space issues in the attic in terms of fitting the replacement in after the old one is removed. #1 and #2 are sticking with systems that will fit in the existing space while #3 is proposing to turn the unit 90 degrees to allow more space for the unit and to service it and that proposal include the cost of adapting the duct work to the new location.

Any comments on the 3 proposed solutions? Ignoring any price and/or service differences, do the specs of any of the 3 systems stand out (either positive or negative) to guide the decision.

Thanks,

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

baldloonie
16 years ago
1 and 3 would need externally mounted hot water coils and the pump as you say. Be nice to have the all in one unit from First Co. The Bryant quoted can do 16 SEER but not on a mismatched air handler, probably more like 14 SEER. The variable speed blowers on 1 and 3 are nice as well. The Carrier is a 2 stage outdoor unit that rates up to 17 SEER and would qualify for the $1500 tax credit and maybe other utility or state incentives. The A-S proposal is the builder model, not the Allegiance. Not quite as nice of a unit. The system quoted is 14.75 SEER, if a different air handler is used, you'd get over 16 and a tax credit. Pretty dumb of him to quote you the 4TEE3F31.
sjordan14
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the comments. On the A-S proposal, their website identifies the model number as being an Allegiance model, what am I missing. Why is the 4TEE3F31 a dumb choice? Is it because of the SEER numbers of the combo. There is a reason for that choice as we have a very limited space in the attic and that is the unit that will fit in the space being vacated by the existing unit. I'm also confused by the "dumb" comment because I thought that you also said that the variable speed blower made it a nice option. Bottom line, if it were your house, which would you choose?
Related Professionals
Gaithersburg General Contractors · Mason City General Contractors · Lewiston General Contractors · Winona General Contractors · Manchester General Contractors · Billings General Contractors · Leominster Home Remodeling · Minneapolis Home Remodeling · Sioux Falls Home Remodeling · Medford Home Remodeling · Sedalia Bathroom Remodelers · Hilton Head Island Bathroom Remodelers · Longview Bathroom Remodelers · Peoria Bathroom Remodelers · Watertown Bathroom Remodelers
iggie
16 years ago
A couple of years ago we encountered a similair situation on a unit the pan had a leak caused by a rusted spot. The customer lacked the funds for a pan replacement. We repaired the hole with epoxy, in fact we coated whole bottpm of pan with epoxy. We explained to the customer what was done. So far it,s lasted 2 years and shows no sign of a leak
sjordan14
Original Author
16 years ago
Baldloonie - you are correct, the AS outside unit being offered was not an Allegiance, but was in fact their base unit. This was confirmed by AS customer service. The main difference appears to be the warranty which is only 5 years on the base unit for everything other than the compressor. My local guy says I can get an Allegiance 15 for $400 more and that will get me the better warranty.