Unregistered

I am building a house in the foothills of North Georgia. What do you guys think is the best system for the dollar. Comparing efficency and warranty to price. Also do you know a way to buy direct and save maoney.

Thanks,

Bill

Steve Wiggins

Bill you are about to make a huge mistake. You need to think about utility bills and repair costs later down the road. I think you are focused on saving money on up front price so you can afford marble counter tops and a big screen TV.

BilltheBuilder

What are you talking about? Is that the best advice you have.
Should we just pay whatever the HVAC contractors say. Oh you must be a HVAC contractor. LOL. Please give me some feed back on systems that perform well versus the cost. Please help.

Steve Wiggins

That is like asking a racecar driver what is the best car without any regard to the tires. You see without good tires it doesn't matter how good the rest of the car is. Without a properly designed duct & filtering system you will not get good performance out of any brand of eqiupment.

Bjd

What I would do if it were my home would be a Hydro Aire system, not sure of the outside temps down there but you could get a great system design along with the AC system installed.
The system could be so designed as to carry the entire heating load as well as used to heat the domestic hot water.
No if it were me that would be my system, complex but the best for the buck.

My 2 cents

BJD

Unregistered

Ask 5 contractors what the best system is and you will get 5 different answers. My advice is to consult a licensed contractor who will take the time to learn your personal comfort levels and design a system to match. Ask to see a manual J heat loss / load calculation to prove the equipment being offered is the correct size. Run away from any HVAC contractor that will not provide a load calc, it is the only way to properly size a system.
In the North GA area your two most popular systems will be gas or heatpumps, both will work well in your area. I would suggest a piggyback system, a gas furnace with a heatpump. The heat pump works until you reach a pre-determined outdoor tempature (balance point) at this point your heat pump will not be able to keep up with your homes heat loss. When Balance Point is reached your HP shuts off and the gas furnace is brought online. get a nice air cleaner as well, Honeywell F300...

Unregistered

tHANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.

luxbuildsmall

What's the efficiency of these systems. I know you will get bette efficiency using a boiler direct to a DWH storage heater vs a furnance and a seperate stand alone tank. But how about the "aire" part? Can you get these above 90% AFUE? I