I don't disagree with the Keep It Simple S, principle. Gas furnaces are not the best for the environment, but gas is mostly pretty cheap in North America (New England I think has some quite high gas prices).Interesting.We did a remodel last winter. Our hvac guy, who we really like and has been in the business for 40 years, really loves the Bosch heat pumps. We had two installed for a two story, 4000’ sq ft home. A 5 ton and a 4 ton.
So far they have been great and have had zero problem keeping the house comfortable. I did install a natural gas furnace back up that kicks in at 20f, but that’s cause I’m paranoid. I am quite certain I didn’t need to do that.
We live in the usda zone 7 btw.
I talked to my buddy who has worked in HVAC for 20 years. He says he hates three things right now. First, heat pumps. Second, Carrier’s different blends of Freon. Third, smart thermostats. These all give him the most pain.
He basically told to me to stick with my gas furnace as long as I could, stick with the lowest SEER AC unit I could find, and he recommended only one smart thermostat worth getting. But the brand escapes me right now.
However I don't agree with lowest SEER AC:
- electricity is not cheap in many places (like New York/ New England) and increasingly is "tiered" by usage (California)
- summers are getting hotter. That's a consistent story I have from many friends and relations in the eastern half of North America. And I know people in Vancouver BC who happily lived without AC for decades. After the recent Heat Dome experiences, they are now installing it (also it can help filter out wildfire smoke). A more efficient AC won't have to work as hard in really hot temperatures and may keep you more comfortable.
(to give you an example. London England the average June-August temp is probably around 70 F. 2 summers ago, we managed over 100 for a couple of days. Tubes (subway trains) are not air conditioned generally. Office and cinema AC is not really up to the challenge. Very few homes would have air conditioning of any sort)).
- you are likely only going to do this once in the life of the home. So you want a degree of "future proofing" and that is what more energy efficient appliances do
So I would say SEER 15 at least. And SEER 18 possibly. Beyond that the incremental savings are probably not worth it.
Statistics: Posted by Valuethinker — Tue Jun 04, 2024 3:25 am — Replies 30 — Views 1527