Boomer23
Well-known member
I have some bids for a new install of a 5 ton central air unit for our two story, 2,400 sf house in coastal Southern California. The house is over 40 years old, has a gas furnace and has never had A/C installed before. We have a 5 kW solar PV rooftop and with TOU rates, even with car charging, we should have about $200 or more to spend on A/C power use before we owe any electric bill for the year.
We have lived in the home for 34 years and haven't felt the need for A/C until the last three summers. We are home a lot during the daytimes, but we don't expect to cool the house below 78 degrees, and probably start cooling in the afternoons.
I'm looking for recommendations from anyone who has experience with these units installed in the last few years in this or a similar climate.
Each of the bids is for a 13 SEER, 5 ton unit, one each from Trane, Goodman and Maytag. Bids range from $4,400 to $5,900 installed.
The Maytag has a longer warranty at 12 years vs the 10 years for the others, and is reported to be a much quieter operating compressor/condenser. From what I've read online, Goodman is pretty much entry level stuff and is only recently making decent products after some years of poor performance. I haven't read much either way about Trane units at this SEER level. I'm inclined to lean towards to Maytag. Are there other products that you would recommend we look at?
Also, given that we're interested in saving energy as a family policy, is it worth paying a couple thousand more for higher SEER ratings, and is 16 SEER a reasonable target for this region? Or since we are only about 10 miles from the coast and don't intend to cool below 78 degrees, should we just go with a 13 SEER unit.
I know that's a lot of questions, but any thoughts from anyone who has experience with similar systems would be appreciated.
We have lived in the home for 34 years and haven't felt the need for A/C until the last three summers. We are home a lot during the daytimes, but we don't expect to cool the house below 78 degrees, and probably start cooling in the afternoons.
I'm looking for recommendations from anyone who has experience with these units installed in the last few years in this or a similar climate.
Each of the bids is for a 13 SEER, 5 ton unit, one each from Trane, Goodman and Maytag. Bids range from $4,400 to $5,900 installed.
The Maytag has a longer warranty at 12 years vs the 10 years for the others, and is reported to be a much quieter operating compressor/condenser. From what I've read online, Goodman is pretty much entry level stuff and is only recently making decent products after some years of poor performance. I haven't read much either way about Trane units at this SEER level. I'm inclined to lean towards to Maytag. Are there other products that you would recommend we look at?
Also, given that we're interested in saving energy as a family policy, is it worth paying a couple thousand more for higher SEER ratings, and is 16 SEER a reasonable target for this region? Or since we are only about 10 miles from the coast and don't intend to cool below 78 degrees, should we just go with a 13 SEER unit.
I know that's a lot of questions, but any thoughts from anyone who has experience with similar systems would be appreciated.