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Any brands to avoid?  Any tips at all?

My old unit is 12 years old and is a dual unit electric AC/gas heat.  I likely will go with that type again.

I am interested in the heat pump heater that uses gas below a certain temp, but they run about 40% more and it just isn't worth it to me.

Any advice appreciated.

I'm not sure there's a HUGE difference in brands, but there's a huge difference in installers. I had to buy a new unit for the downstairs last summer and got multiple quotes, and the spread from least to most expensive was almost $4,000 for one unit for the exact same equipment. Same brand, same warranty, same everything. $4k. I went with the low bid-- a smaller contractor-- and got great service.

I ended up with Amana, FWIW.

Bandit, the dual fuel (heat pump/gas) unit is worth the money difference IMO. If you can keep it running 10 years, the payback in electricity & gas over electricity alone will pay for itself.  Do not look at installed (capital) costs alone. the total cost over the life of the product makes the dual fuel a wise choice. The dual fuel unit will only pay off if the outside temperature is regularly <35°F.  If it rarely gets below 35°F, a heat pump or a split system gas furnace is the way to go.

If an install recommends a Goodman, laugh at them and say you want more that 5 years of service because you would be lucky to get that. Rheem is OK if you cannot afford a real HVAC. Amana, York, and American Standard are decent options. As a Mechanical Engineer (now retired), I only recommended and installed Carrier, Trane, or Lennox units.  I personally installed a 5-ton Lennox/100,000 Btuh gas furnace (two speed operation) with a variable speed furnace fan for my house. It paid for itself in lower (35% to 40% AC and 60% lower gas bill) energy costs in the 6 years it has been installed. I paid cash for the unit and a friend with HVAC license and I installed it.

The high efficiency dual/fuel heat pumps are  cost saving -- I wouldn't have anything else, even with a higher cost.   We have a Carrier that we put in when we built the house 8 years ago...not a minutes problem.  We heat/cool 3400 sq ft. for an average of $251 month.    We have propane, not natural gas. 

Thanks guys.

73 I don't think it gets below 35 that often in northern bammer, although the last two winters are an exception.

What makes the dual fuel very attractive is the fact that Huntsville Utilities has a very nice rate for electricity but a bad rate for natural gas.  Thus I am tempted by the dual fuel, but (a) it would take a long time  to pay for itself and (b) I don't know that I will be in this residence for the next 10 years.

I have a 1964 house that is fairly well insulated and has shade trees on the afternoon side (was designed that way I am sure).  I have UV-blocking windows in all but a small bathroom window that faces northeast.  I do have a large glass sliding door in the kitchen that is not UV-blocking but that's probably the largest heat sink.  Well, that and my pet door to the garage.   :biggrin:

My house is 1722 feet split level.  One comment I have had from an estimator is that I probably should have a return upstairs.  He claims it's a strain on the system not to.  My only return is centrally located downstairs.  It's great for downstairs but I agree I need another return.  I can hear the system straining at times.

So far only Sears and Home Depot have submitted bids.  A local company declined to.  I think I pissed the guy off because I had a work telecon going on my phone while I was speaking to him (I can telework up to 10 hours a week without permission).  If he's that sensitive, screw him anyway.   :naughty:

Locals have recommended TRANE and York.  I have a smaller local company coming out Monday who deal in both those as well as Tempstar.  Both Sears and Home Depot were going to install Carrier (though Sears slaps a Kenmore label on it).

I was going to do just three bids, but after reading what Clock wrote I am going to get at least a couple more.   :cool:

Everyone says my house is 3 tons/36K BTU, so I guess that's right.

CO, so far your advice has saved me $1500  :cool:

A local company submitted a bid today and by far are the best option.  They were also recommended by a friend.  Now the only thing to decide is if I want one more bid tomorrow.  I am going to try and decide on a solution by Wednesday.

Thanks all for the advice.   :patriot:

Saved you $1500?  That's great, 'cause that's his exact consulting fee!

 :thumbup:

Hehe...it ended up being more like $2500 actually.

CO it was almost eerie.  The biggest gap I found for a similar (or mostly similar) unit was $3600 (although the low end never nailed it down exactly).  The highest to what I got was $3000.  The low bid just didn't have his shizzle together.

It was cool (no pun intended) how it went down.  The guy came Friday at 10 am (after the low phone bid missed his third consecutive appointment to nail it down). At 10:30 am I accepted his bid and by 3:30 pm I had a new unit.  They almost never turn it around that fast but the cool weather helped tremendously.

Thanks all.

The check is in the mail.  :naughty: