Same issue last year. Ended up replacing the furnace and I believe the blower which took care of it. AC was freezing up due to issues with the furnace unit. Both were 20 years old.
AC replacement
- Thread starter ripvdub
- Start date
Had a heat pump near Omaha, too cold for there for it to pay off, was more expensive than gas to operate even with the utility company discount. Replaced it with just a normal AC when it went bad at 15 years. Maybe with the recent gas price hikes it would pay off in Iowa, but I have a feeling electric rates will catch up with other increases soon.
I’m not doubting your experience, but I don’t entirely follow what you’re saying. If you’re using a traditional gas furnace for heat when it gets too cold for the heat pump to operate efficiently it would be the same operating cost as having a traditional furnace/ac setup in that temperature range. Was your heat pump not set to turn off when the furnace was running to heat in those cold temperatures or did you have some type of electric auxiliary heating system (doesn’t sound like it when you mention gas prices). I’m assuming you were using less electricity for the heat pump to cool vs the traditional ac and to warm in moderate temperatures vs using a gas furnace (electric used vs gas used).
Edit: Did your heat pump not use a gas furnace as auxiliary heating? If you where either only relying on a heat pump all winter or using an auxiliary electric heating system I could see where you wouldn’t have seen much or any operating cost savings. In our climate you still need a gas furnace for the coldest days of the year, that’s why it works well to add when you have an ac that goes out, but a functional furnace that can act as the blower and auxiliary heat.
Last edited:
Made decision today to replace furnace & AC after unfixable coil leak on a sixteen year old HVAC system. Got quotes from three Ames businesses; One Hour, C&K and Neighbors. All on similar units but different brands. One hours wanted $10,471 on Ruuud 16 SEER AC and 96% efficiency furnace. C&K wanted $8,346 on a Lennox system. The winner was Neighbors on an American Standard system for $9,249 but with utility rebates and manufatucturer rebates came out to $8,818. All were single stage AC and dual stage furnace with at least 16 SEER. The American standard package together made the AC a 17 SEER. Have to wait until June 20th for installation.
Depends on your water. Hard water where I am and it ate through the lines and fried that thing in 5 years.
I still have the original furnace/ac (22 years old) in my house. With the age of the unit and with utility prices skyrocketing, would it make sense to replace now with a high efficiency unit? or wait until the original dies/needs repairs?
We were in the same situation, 25 year old system, and just decided to replace this year.
We were concerned with getting a new one if ours died in the middle of July or January
I was also advised that in 2023 there will be a change in federal efficiency requirements of all HVAC systems. This will have an impact on prices once it takes effect. https://seer2.com/. That is part of why I chose to do both AC and furnace even though the AC was the only one with the problem.
Before I replaced my furnace a couple years ago, I picked the brains of a couple of our facilities guys at work. They had both previously been lead techs in the HVAC industry. Based on their service experience, they highly recommended Trane over all the other manufacturers on the market. They also talked about running into lots of problems servicing Carrier/Bryant units that were 5-10 years old. Mainly premature secondary heat exchanger failures. Many of the failures were in the ultra-high efficiency (98%+) units. Mid ninty units usually held up fine. Trying to squeeze a couple extra % efficiency usually involved using thinner wall exchangers that are prone to corrosion and failure.
We use Connett Services for our annual maintenance and they seem reasonable. Even though our units are 12 years old they have never tried to sell us new and recommend we get as many years out of our current systems as possible.
I'd lean towards letting it run if you aren't having problems. I've lived in the same house for 20+ yrs, replaced a fan motor and a thermocouple other than that it just runs fine. (As I jinx myself)
My AC and Furnace are all about 20 years old. Been thinking of a heat pump (air source?) but no of no one that has one. Do you like it?
Do you need the power vent? If not, it’s just another mechanical part that can go bad and I would suggest passing on it for a traditional vent.
I had it serviced a couple years ago (A/C recharged). The service tech said the furnace was in really good shape for its age.
i mean you could get another 10 years out of it.... if you are concerned about selling... our buyers just required us to pay for a home warranty $550. thats an EZ W