Okay, so reading the (hundreds of) posts below, I get the impression that when replacing my central A/C, it's important to
make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly.

Only one little problem... *how* do I make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly?

Any particular questions to ask, certifications to check for, etc?

Should I be looking for them to do a complete manual J / manual D / ?? assesment when replacing existing equipment? The
replacement is due to a compressor failure so I'm probably looking at an outside unit plus evaporator coil (should the lines
be replaced also?), but to reuse the existing furnace.

Speaking as a semi-ignorant homeowner, it doesn't seem to me the old unit was grossly under- or oversized - it cooled quite
well but not excessively and did a good job of controlling humidity.

Eric Law

One way, is if they have to pull a permit asked the inspector what he or she thinks about what the job looks like?

At lest you will know the job will operate in a safe manner because they have followed the existing codes for your area.

Another way is hire another HVAC company and have them send out a NATE Service Technician to double check the job. You have spent all that good money to have the job done right so why not A good technician can look over a job and be able to tell you something within a hour or so.

That way if you get a good review from the second company you have a peace of mind of having the job done right..

--
Moe Jones
HVAC Service Technician
Energy Equalizers Inc.
Houston, Texas
www.EnergyEqualizers.com
"Eric" wrote in message g.com...
Okay, so reading the (hundreds of) posts below, I get the impression that when replacing my central A/C, it's important to
make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly.

Only one little problem... *how* do I make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly?

Any particular questions to ask, certifications to check for, etc?

Should I be looking for them to do a complete manual J / manual D / ?? assesment when replacing existing equipment? The
replacement is due to a compressor failure so I'm probably looking at an outside unit plus evaporator coil (should the lines
be replaced also?), but to reuse the existing furnace.

Speaking as a semi-ignorant homeowner, it doesn't seem to me the old unit was grossly under- or oversized - it cooled quite
well but not excessively and did a good job of controlling humidity.

Eric Law

Consider the following:

a.) Ask neighbors and/or anyone knowledgable for names of good hvac
contractors.
b.) Go to BBB, pick, say, 6 contractors in your area with best records.

After this, I worked up specs for the job (given full details, folks
here will help), started calling contractors asking for name of
someone who could render informal estimate, then faxed the specs
to them. They call back with a number.

Then called the 2 or 3 best estimates to do on-site evaluations.

If it's really a simple job and old ac worked fine, old specs
= new specs (i.e. tonnage, btu's).

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeee careful (evaluating the job).

Puddin'

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:30:01 -0400, "Eric" wrote:

Okay, so reading the (hundreds of) posts below, I get the impression that when replacing my central A/C, it's important to
make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly.

Only one little problem... *how* do I make sure the installer is competent and does the job correctly?

Any particular questions to ask, certifications to check for, etc?

Should I be looking for them to do a complete manual J / manual D / ?? assesment when replacing existing equipment? The
replacement is due to a compressor failure so I'm probably looking at an outside unit plus evaporator coil (should the lines
be replaced also?), but to reuse the existing furnace.

Speaking as a semi-ignorant homeowner, it doesn't seem to me the old unit was grossly under- or oversized - it cooled quite
well but not excessively and did a good job of controlling humidity.

Eric Law



"Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens!"
-Friedrich Schiller

"Eric" wrote in message
g.com...
Okay, so reading the (hundreds of) posts below, I get the impression that
when replacing my central A/C, it's important to make sure the installer
is competent and does the job correctly.

Only one little problem... *how* do I make sure the installer is competent
and does the job correctly?

Any particular questions to ask, certifications to check for, etc?

Should I be looking for them to do a complete manual J / manual D / ??
assesment when replacing existing equipment? The replacement is due to a
compressor failure so I'm probably looking at an outside unit plus
evaporator coil (should the lines be replaced also?), but to reuse the
existing furnace.

Speaking as a semi-ignorant homeowner, it doesn't seem to me the old unit
was grossly under- or oversized - it cooled quite well but not excessively
and did a good job of controlling humidity.

Eric Law


Ask everyone you know if they've used (and been happy with) a particular
HVAC contractor, and for how long they've used them.

Eric writes:

Only one little problem... *how* do I make sure the installer is
competent and does the job correctly?

You can only do that by personally understanding the technology yourself.

If you're ignorant of the technology, then you're depending on hiring
derivative opinions of others for advice, but properly selecting an advisor
is also impossible with that ignorance. They all claim competence and
quality and sound believable, or they wouldn't be in business. It matters
not what they say or how they sound, only how they perform. And
performance is only known to you by direct examination.

The only exception to this is if someone you love is an expert, and you can
trust them to be critical in your place.

"Eric" wrote in message
g.com...


Should I be looking for them to do a complete manual J / manual D / ??
assesment when replacing existing equipment?


Yes


The
replacement is due to a compressor failure so I'm probably looking at an
outside unit plus evaporator coil (should the lines
be replaced also?), but to reuse the existing furnace.


I would install new lines... if not, make sure they're the correct size!

I made the mistake, B I G mistake, of going with Sears, the low
bidder. People told me to use a local contractor. That way if there
are problems you can get someone on the phone. Sears, on the other
hand, would put me on hold for an hour then transfer me to another
department, another hour on hold...

Two years later and fifteen pages of complaints and it still isn't
working properly.

Go here to read the horror stories:

www.BrainChampagne.com/Sears.html

Ask neighbors whom they used and what they thought. And if a
contractor talks about saving money by using the lowest SEER system
and bad-mouths the more efficient ones, look elsewhere.

Use someone nearby, not a huge corporation.

Shaun Eli
www.BrainChampagne.com
Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for Smart Minds (sm)