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The Daring Dufas[_7_]

On 12/15/2010 4:43 PM, wrote:
On Dec 15, 12:41 pm, The Daring
wrote:
On 12/15/2010 8:14 AM, The Home Guy who is clueless about HVAC wrote:

The Daring Dufas used poor usenet style by improperly full-quoting:

The finest equipment in the world is worthless if installed
improperly.

You totally missed the point.

What's wrong with the customer buying a new furnace through one of those
national retailers / wholesalers, and then contracting a local HVAC
company to install it?

How would that result in improper installation?

The customer would save the 50%+ markup charged by the local HVAC
company for the furnace.

No HVAC company will guarantee any equipment they don't supply. Me and
my friends have installed used or new equipment supplied by a customer,
usually commercial, with the explicit understand that nothing is under
any warranty. You're not going to get any high end name brand equipment
unless you go through an authorized dealer.

So, who wants high end name brand eqt? I've had 36 years of
experience with
Ruud and all I've had fail is one AC compressor. I replaced just the
compressor, not
the whole condenser. And I installed a hard-start kit on my current
system that is still
running after 26 years. Consumer Reports survey had Ruud/Rheem as
lower incidents
of repairs than Trane or Carrier, though they said statistically the
differences were not
meaningful. And you can buy Rheem/Ruud online.

Not saying that I would do that or advise doing it, just that it can
be done.

If you do, the manufacturer
is going to take action against whoever supplied the equipment when they
find out. Your savings are an illusion.

TDD

If you can work on your own stuff, go for it. I do more repair than
replace myself. A lot of HVAC companies will replace a whole condensing
unit rather than the blown compressor because it's easier and they make
the same profit quicker. I had an old fellow I know call me when another
company came out to his house and told him his old Carrier condensing
unit had to be replaced. The only thing wrong was a burned out condenser
fan motor. The fan motor was a two speed which slowed down at night when
the outside temperature dropped making the unit very quiet. There was
also a sound insulating cover over the compressor. It was the most
expensive unit produced by Carrier when he bought it years before and it
was very well made. It had stainless steel hardware and there was no
rust on it anywhere. It had a factory sight glass and liquid line dryer.
It had an anti short cycle timer and both high and low pressure switches
tied into the control circuitry to protect the compressor. I told the
fellow not to let anyone tell him he needed a new unit when that one
could be repaired because it was built better than most of the new units
I'd seen. Simple maintenance can keep an HVAC system running trouble
free for a long time, especially if it was properly installed and setup.

TDD