that's what I thought.....thanks!

ps- great breakdown there ;-)

alt.home.repair wrote:
that's what I thought.....thanks!

ps- great breakdown there ;-)

You are welcome! Good luck with whatever system you choose.

Travis Jordan wrote:
You are welcome! Good luck with whatever system you choose.

And don't forget to have your contractor perform a full room-by-room
"Manual J" heat gain calculation before you finalize the system size.
Four tons may be OK, but it could also be oversized or undersized. The
only way to 'right size' it is through a formal calculation. Your
contractor should be willing to do this as part of the contract. If
they aren't, find another contractor.

Travis....I talked to the installer once again, and here are some of
the final numbers....it will be one of these systems that I go with:

1) Trane 13SEER, XR12 series, 10-5-1 warranty, $3495 (+$495 for
10-10-10)

2) Trane 15SEER, XL14i series, 10-10-2, $4395 (plus free electric air
filtering system, a $1200 value..I looked it up online)

I will go with one of these, but I just don't know if the extra $900 is
worth it....it's a higher SEER, its the XL14 series which has dual
blower speeds, humidifier, etc, etc, plus it has the oem 10-10 warranty
(2 on labor).....I know the XR12 is very good as well, so I am
comfortable with that one, but the extra OEM warranty and free
filtering system, as well as the better technology for $900 is
something I am pondering...

any thoughts?

alt.home.repair wrote:
any thoughts?

What's the price on a 10-10-10 warranty for the XL14i?

Please clarify what you are saying about the humidifier...is the
contractor offering a humidifier or an air cleaner with the XL14i?

Note that if you get the air cleaner you want it to be located somewhere
easy to get to for cleaning -- ie NOT in the attic.

I just got off the phone with him, and he said he is willing to do
this, best case:

XR12, 10-10-10 = $3495 + 495 = $3990
XL14, 10-10-2 = $4395
XL14, 10-10-10 = $4395 + 300 = $4695

The air cleaner is an electric air filtering system from trane:
http://www.trane.com/Residential/Pro...rCleaners.aspx

it pairs up with the Handler, inside the closet where the handler would
be, and the MSRP on it is $1200 (again, obviously this is not a good
price, is just msrp, but nonetheless is free with teh XL series).
yes, I will have access to it,since it will be in the closet upstairs
in the second floor of the house.

My wife is leaning towards the XR12 series for $3495, since she doesn't
know how long we will be in the house, and given our financial
situation, etc......But, the more I think about it, the more I like the
value for performance of going with the XL....perhaps it's just my
nature of wanting the best, and not what I need....;-)

what do you think?

alt.home.repair wrote:
what do you think?

Get the warranty regardless of which system you select. It will give
you peace of mind for the next decade.

I think here in Florida these are good prices for both of those systems,
and that you would be happy with either one of them. Don't forget about
doing the heat gain calculation before you firm up the size.

If you or anyone in your family have any allergies the air cleaner would
be worth the additional cost, especially since it will be easy to get to
in the closet. Also note that it would be a selling feature when you go
to sell your home (might get you a few hundred $$$ in pricing at that
time).

Let us know what you decide to do, and how the installation turns out.

Final question:

if this were you, which system would you go with? if money was a
little tight, but you wanted to be in the house for 5 years or more,
what would you do?

again, in your mind, do you think the better components, higher SEER,
and the air cleaner, is worht the extra $900??

alt.home.repair wrote:
Final question:

if this were you, which system would you go with? if money was a
little tight, but you wanted to be in the house for 5 years or more,
what would you do?

again, in your mind, do you think the better components, higher SEER,
and the air cleaner, is worht the extra $900??

The internal components aren't significantly different between the XR12
and the XL14i condensers, and the variable speed air handlers are going
to be the same.

If money is tight now and you expect to have more money later, then go
with the lower initial cost XR12. If you expect money to continue to be
tight for a long time, then go with the XL14i and take advantage of the
higher SEER over the long run..

Remember that in the end what I think doesn't matter, it is YOUR system.

Travis Jordan wrote:
alt.home.repair wrote:
Final question:

if this were you, which system would you go with? if money was a
little tight, but you wanted to be in the house for 5 years or more,
what would you do?

again, in your mind, do you think the better components, higher
SEER, and the air cleaner, is worht the extra $900??

The internal components aren't significantly different between the
XR12 and the XL14i condensers, and the variable speed air handlers
are going to be the same.

If money is tight now and you expect to have more money later, then go
with the lower initial cost XR12. If you expect money to continue to
be tight for a long time, then go with the XL14i and take advantage
of the higher SEER over the long run..

Remember that in the end what I think doesn't matter, it is YOUR
system.

P.S. My math says the difference in price is $705 on an apples-to-apples
basis (same warranty).