What a week... Our 28-yr-old air conditioner blew a few years ago, and
we'd finally gotten tired of sweating like chimps in Borneo, so we were
getting several quotes for a new whole-house air conditioner. Then the
28-yr-old furnace blew (or rather rusted out), so we find ourselves in
the market for both heating and cooling and we have a couple of
questions.

On the cooling side, the old unit is under the deck in a place about 5'
5" high. The old unit itself is about 2' 2" high. Two of the quotes
said that a new unit would need more headroom and need to be moved
further away from the house (adding to the cost) - otherwise, they say,
there won't be enough air circulation, the air conditioner will be
recycling the hot air it spews out, and it will burn out faster. The
other 2 guys say there's enough room and it doesn't need to be
relocated. I guess we should have gotten 5 estimates so we wouldn't
have a tie What do you guys think?

On the heating side, my wife noticed water leaking from inside the
furnace. Our oil company sent someone over, he cracked the case, and
the entire inside is massively rusted out. Since it was already
leaking, he said it could blow completely at any moment and advised us
to turn it off and leave it off until a replacement gets in - so we have
no hot water for at least the next few days. They said they'd try to
schedule us in as an emergency, but they have only one option for brand
(my wife doesn't remember the name, but it wasn't the ones we recognize
- Wiel-McCain, Carrier, or Trane). My wife said the brand they carry
was something like "Ream"...

Are there any brands that should be red flags? I guess for both heating
or cooling?

We had Sears come out and give a quote on the cooling, and they said
that Kenmore is just rebranded Carrier. We thought the independent guys
would come in a lot cheaper, but so far they haven't. Given the
warrantee and financing Sears is offering, it's making them sound pretty
good. Anyone have experience getting Sears to do air conditioning
systems?

Thanks
-Mark

Mark Modrall wrote:

What a week... Our 28-yr-old air conditioner blew a few years ago, and
we'd finally gotten tired of sweating like chimps in Borneo, so we were
getting several quotes for a new whole-house air conditioner. Then the
28-yr-old furnace blew (or rather rusted out), so we find ourselves in
the market for both heating and cooling and we have a couple of
questions.

On the cooling side, the old unit is under the deck in a place about 5'
5" high. The old unit itself is about 2' 2" high. Two of the quotes
said that a new unit would need more headroom and need to be moved
further away from the house (adding to the cost) - otherwise, they say,
there won't be enough air circulation, the air conditioner will be
recycling the hot air it spews out, and it will burn out faster. The
other 2 guys say there's enough room and it doesn't need to be
relocated. I guess we should have gotten 5 estimates so we wouldn't
have a tie What do you guys think?

On the heating side, my wife noticed water leaking from inside the
furnace. Our oil company sent someone over, he cracked the case, and
the entire inside is massively rusted out. Since it was already
leaking, he said it could blow completely at any moment and advised us
to turn it off and leave it off until a replacement gets in - so we have
no hot water for at least the next few days. They said they'd try to
schedule us in as an emergency, but they have only one option for brand
(my wife doesn't remember the name, but it wasn't the ones we recognize
- Wiel-McCain, Carrier, or Trane). My wife said the brand they carry
was something like "Ream"...

Are there any brands that should be red flags? I guess for both heating
or cooling?

We had Sears come out and give a quote on the cooling, and they said
that Kenmore is just rebranded Carrier. We thought the independent guys
would come in a lot cheaper, but so far they haven't. Given the
warrantee and financing Sears is offering, it's making them sound pretty
good. Anyone have experience getting Sears to do air conditioning
systems? Thanks -Mark


I would keep shopping around, Goodman units can usually be bought for
less and they will do the job as well as the others.
Brand name means little, - as it is a quality install that counts!

What state are you in and large city do you live near? That will
indicate SEER levels & Efficiency levels of furnace that you need.

They must do an accurate Manual J heatgain heat-loss calc. Then do
everything you can to reduce those loads before you select equipment size!
That is the optimal way to save money! - udarrell

--
Air Conditioning's Affordable Path to the "Human Comfort Zone Goal"
http://www.udarrell.com/air-conditio...tent-heat.html
For HVAC Techs:
http://www.udarrell.com/ac-trouble-s...ubcooling.html

Mark Modrall wrote:
What a week... Our 28-yr-old air conditioner blew a few years ago,
and we'd finally gotten tired of sweating like chimps in Borneo, so
we were getting several quotes for a new whole-house air conditioner.
Then the 28-yr-old furnace blew (or rather rusted out), so we find
ourselves in the market for both heating and cooling and we have a
couple of questions.

On the cooling side, the old unit is under the deck in a place about
5' 5" high. The old unit itself is about 2' 2" high. Two of the
quotes said that a new unit would need more headroom and need to be
moved further away from the house (adding to the cost) - otherwise,
they say, there won't be enough air circulation, the air conditioner
will be recycling the hot air it spews out, and it will burn out
faster. The other 2 guys say there's enough room and it doesn't need
to be relocated. I guess we should have gotten 5 estimates so we
wouldn't have a tie What do you guys think?

On the heating side, my wife noticed water leaking from inside the
furnace. Our oil company sent someone over, he cracked the case, and
the entire inside is massively rusted out. Since it was already
leaking, he said it could blow completely at any moment and advised us
to turn it off and leave it off until a replacement gets in - so we
have no hot water for at least the next few days. They said they'd
try to schedule us in as an emergency, but they have only one option
for brand (my wife doesn't remember the name, but it wasn't the ones
we recognize - Wiel-McCain, Carrier, or Trane). My wife said the
brand they carry was something like "Ream"...

Are there any brands that should be red flags? I guess for both
heating or cooling?

We had Sears come out and give a quote on the cooling, and they said
that Kenmore is just rebranded Carrier. We thought the independent
guys would come in a lot cheaper, but so far they haven't. Given the
warrantee and financing Sears is offering, it's making them sound
pretty good. Anyone have experience getting Sears to do air
conditioning systems?

Thanks
-Mark

Personally I would not choose Sears.

I suggest asking around among your friends, neighbors and co-workers and
ask for their experiences with local contractors (who might be doing the
"Sears" work anyway.) Don't worry about brand names, there are really few
brands, but lots of names. If you have a good contractor, let the
contractor make the recommendations based on what is best you're your needs
and in that area. A good contractor will not recommend second rate
equipment.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

SEARS CHARGES A MINT FOR REPAIRS

If you call them to service your furnace with air they charge travel,
that I can understand but they charge travel TWICE one for furnace one
for air then discount the second travel a little. gee for walking to
the truck and changing tool kits..........

any company who gouges like this deserves to go out of
business!!!!!!!!!!!!

they also change part numbers and do other things to make 3rd party
service difficult........

SEARS IS A RIP OFF!

On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 14:34:26 GMT, Mark Modrall
wrote:

What a week... Our 28-yr-old air conditioner blew a few years ago, and
we'd finally gotten tired of sweating like chimps in Borneo, so we were
getting several quotes for a new whole-house air conditioner. Then the
28-yr-old furnace blew (or rather rusted out), so we find ourselves in
the market for both heating and cooling and we have a couple of
questions.

On the cooling side, the old unit is under the deck in a place about 5'
5" high. The old unit itself is about 2' 2" high. Two of the quotes
said that a new unit would need more headroom and need to be moved
further away from the house (adding to the cost) - otherwise, they say,
there won't be enough air circulation, the air conditioner will be
recycling the hot air it spews out, and it will burn out faster. The
other 2 guys say there's enough room and it doesn't need to be
relocated. I guess we should have gotten 5 estimates so we wouldn't
have a tie What do you guys think?

I'd move it. Obstructing ventilation seems like a bad idea and that
sounds pretty obstructed to me.


On the heating side, my wife noticed water leaking from inside the
furnace. Our oil company sent someone over, he cracked the case, and
the entire inside is massively rusted out. Since it was already
leaking, he said it could blow completely at any moment and advised us
to turn it off and leave it off until a replacement gets in - so we have
no hot water for at least the next few days. They said they'd try to
schedule us in as an emergency, but they have only one option for brand
(my wife doesn't remember the name, but it wasn't the ones we recognize
- Wiel-McCain, Carrier, or Trane). My wife said the brand they carry
was something like "Ream"...


Might be time to consider a separate water heater. it'd likely be
cheaper to operate than your boiler in the summer.