Opinions On Unit And Advice On SEER Rating

daveincincy

Hopefully you guys can help me with some last minute decisions.

A/C finally went out after putting a bandaid on it for the last 3-4 years. With rising temps, small kids in the house, and a referal from family, I picked a company to do the work without much shopping around. The unit that's scheduled to be installed is a Westinghouse, 3-ton, 10 SEER unit. The outside unit, as well as the coil is getting replaced for just under $2200 (tax, labor, parts, etc).

Any opinions on Westinghouse? It carries an 8 year warranty, and a 5 year full replacement warranty if the compressor goes out within that 5 years (hope that wouldn't happen).

My concern is the 10 SEER rating. As I understand it, 10 SEER units are no longer manufactured (effective early 2006), but there are still a bunch out there in stock that can be sold/installed. Will this be a problem with parts availability down the road? My father-in-law just replaced his whole a/c and furnace, and went on about how I may have made a bad decision. I think he may have been taken on a bit of a sales ride myself....he went and bought all the bells and whistles for a tiny ranch....a 13 SEER unit (which goes to a 14 SEER with the purchase of variable fan, which he did purchase), humidifier, UV light to kill mold, germs, etc, and whatever else was available.

HVAC Doc

The parts in a 10 SEER unit that you would be concerned about going out ( capacitors, contactors, fan motors) are the same as used in any other unit of higher SEER. Even some compressors are the same. The differences you get into for the higher SEER ratings are the indoor coil, metering device, your furnace/airhandler, and the outdoor coil itself. The main concern you should have before the name on the equipment is the company that is going to install it. Did they size it properly for your home using a Manual J load calculation? Do they back up in wiriting their own warranty on the install itself (not just the manufactures warranty)? It has been said many times over, a quality install is the most important thing since even the "best" equipment is junk if not properly sized and installed. As for your father-in-law, for some folks the bells and whistles are what they want for their added comfort . And, depending on your father-in-laws age, he could very well see the payback on his higher SEER unit for his tiny ranch since he may not have any plans in the next 10 yrs. of ever moving.

Aceinstaller

listen to the doc.

he's got the perscription.