Hello All,

I just bought a house that was built in 1977, and it still has the
original heat pump and air handler. The heat pump is working just
fine, but obviously it is 27 years old and will not last forever. My
question is, should I plan to replace this heat pump as soon as I can
afford it, or should I continue to use it until it dies?

Obviously the efficiency of the newer units are much better, but
somehow I doubt if I bought a brand new unit today that it would last
27 years and keep going like this one has.

I am not sure hoy many ton this old model is, but I have a picture of
the label that is on it he

http://scottandjenn.com/tiki/tiki/ti...hp?imageId=261

If anyone has any thoughts, I would be glad to hear them. My thinking
is to replace it as soon as I can afford to buy a new one, because we
are planning on staying in this house at least 10 years, which would
provide an ample time to get the return on investment. At the same
time though, I think we all hate to pull out something that is working
just fine, when we could spend the money elsewhere on the house.

Scott

(Scott Fuhrman) wrote in
:

http://scottandjenn.com/tiki/tiki/ti...hp?imageId=261

Scott:
I think you are on the right track. My house also was built in 77.
In 92, after many years of OK service, I decided to replace it, even
thought it was still working. I did this chiefly to 1) do a
methodical search for a contractor and similarly 2) prevent us from
having to make a quick decision on a unit because this one died in the
peak of heating season.

I had 4 contractors out and told them I wanted a heat loss/gain
calculation for my house to make sure the new unit is sized properly,
and that I would not accept bids without such sizing. Wouldn't you
knoe it, one guy came out, checked the istalled unit and gave me a
price on the spot. I told him I hoped the door didn't hit in the but
on the way out.

The remaining 3 did a good job, and all calculations were within 300
btu of one another. I ended up buying the top of the line Carrier (5
ton - the old one was undersized at 4 tons) with a scroll compressor
as opposed to a piston compressor. The Carrier salesman was able to
offer me some rebates from Carrier and our local utility company that
amounted to over $1100. This enabled me to get the higher end unit.

Also my unit is freon charges, but now you can get puron charged
systems, that are a lot cheaper to refill.

I am glad I did it this way without pressure and was able to get a
unit sized properly for my house. I'd say go for it while you have
the luxury of choice.

Each one will have to decide how/where to spend his/her hard earned
money. Some people will move to a newer house just because they think
their current house is getting "old" and will be more troublesome in the
future. As for me I rarely replacing something before it breaks. For my
previous house, the house inspector told me before closing that the old
furnace has about 3-5 years of life. It was an 18 years old house at the
time. I lived in that house for 13 years and eventually sold the house
with the same furnace. Replacing the fan motor was the only fix I had
for the furnace.

I'd suggest do your homework and get an idea how much it is to replace
it. keep an eye for the good sales price and replacing it only when the
trouble occurs. In the mean time save your money somewhere good to
accumulate a few more bucks of interest.

FC

Scott Fuhrman wrote:
Hello All,

I just bought a house that was built in 1977, and it still has the
original heat pump and air handler. The heat pump is working just
fine, but obviously it is 27 years old and will not last forever. My
question is, should I plan to replace this heat pump as soon as I can
afford it, or should I continue to use it until it dies?
(snip)
http://scottandjenn.com/tiki/tiki/ti...hp?imageId=261

If anyone has any thoughts, I would be glad to hear them. My thinking
is to replace it as soon as I can afford to buy a new one, because we
are planning on staying in this house at least 10 years, which would
provide an ample time to get the return on investment. At the same
time though, I think we all hate to pull out something that is working
just fine, when we could spend the money elsewhere on the house.

Scott