Replacing my 25 year old a/c and heat
 

So my wife and I decided our air-conditioning and he was originally installed in the house that was built, that was about 25 years ago.
Although there was no need to immediately replace that system I figured with my luck it would probably go out on the hottest day of the year, I must say I shopped around until I was blue After getting a few quotes for it to be exact I decided to go with Holiday heating and air. They completely removed the old system and installed the new system in the same day let me tell you these guys are professionals they know what they were doing if you’re thinking of having something done with your AC give them a call the price was right and their work was great and it was an easy process.

25 year old AC unit still working ! New ones life expectancy is 12 -15 years..If it were me not broken keep using it if your unit goes they can replace it in a day.
Just to be safe call your service company get a quote so you won't be take advantage of when the time comes. Just my opinion.

Perhaps but
 

He reports his unit was 25 years old. I'm no expert BUT, his old unit was surely designed to run on the no longer made Freon. Being that old he likely needs to regularly add Freon due to leaks
and the old stuff is getting very expensive and what they are putting in is likely recycled.

Today the minimum SEER rating is. if I recall 13. His probably wasn't even rated but likely started out as 6. His ducts after 25 years surely need some work.

I would expect at least 1/3 lower electric bills.

The minimum SEER rating 1992-2005 was 10. Today it is 13 but most companies install SEER 15. So you are consuming 1/3 less of your HVAC electricity. HVAC is very close to 50% of your total bill. Thus their bill will be reduced 1/6th not one third.

How do I know? I have an electric monitor which evaluates my useage 10,000 times per second.

Interesting fact a SEER is BTUs per watt of electricity.

Since this thread is going into the utilities bill angle I will address my fans.

A monitor has nothing to do with savings. I use it as an insurance against problems. Ever have a freezer break and not notice it? I get an email from the monitor telling me it hasn't run in a hour. Were you out of town during the last hurricane, could not reach anyone and wanted to ensure your renters we're safe, or home ok? Ever wonder if the salesman who tells you that this or that gadget will pay for itself in savings? Are you considering some improvement and wonder if the high efficiency model is worth it? Or do you ever want to bring value to a conversation on TOTV?

Well then a monitor will fit the bill and as a bonus you will be the envy of engineers everywhere.

In reply
 

It is all at best a GUESS. The 1/3 number that I posted comes from one of those home shows.

I'm sure you will agree IF the unit started at 10 your posted information it is not a 10 25 years later.

My point was if not clear years to recover the cost of replacing the unit.

A car costs way more than an HVAC system, and you can save a lot more money by keeping the car for 25 years. But, most people don't. I would never keep an air conditioner for 25 years. A newer model is quieter, more reliable, and more efficient. But, I am an engineer.

:shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug:

I don't blame you, I have heard similar claims for years. I believe that I have some of the best data in The Villages on this subject. Who knows maybe this technology will be commonplace soon or more TOTV members will get it as well. In the interim I am confident in the accuracy of the data that I posted. I hope it is helpful.

:thumbup: I find your posts very helpful and enjoy reading them. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing the information. Please advise how many sq ft approximately, what was the cost? Trust the air handler unit was also replaced? Does the home have gas or electric? What was the brand name of the ac? How many seer? As you can tell I plan to replace a unit soon. Thank you very much also what is the warranty? Txs

When you replace a very old HVAC system, make sure you get a professional evaluation of the size of the air conditioner needed. You may benefit by increasing the tonnage of the unit by a half ton or so. Some contractors will automatically replace your unit with the same size unit without even considering that your system may be undersized and that you may need a larger unit.

Concern
 

We could not get the thermostat number (e.g.75,etc) to match the coolness in the house, (e.g. 77/78 etc.) Called our Air Conditioning guys and they did all the tests known to man and the conclusion was they could not find a problem. Told to watch it at night and it would probably balance. We did and it did. Seems with the high heat in the day it is hard for some air conditioner's to keep both in perfect balance. :clap2:

As for replacing my 25 year old unit as I stated it worked flawlessly and it had no leaks, this gave me an opportunity to shop different a/c companies in the area.
Quotes were all different and a couple of them were ridiculously higher on lesser systems. The reason my system still performed as well as it did was it had its annual checkup. I ended up going with Holiday a/c because they serviced it and their quote was the best I got. I went with a Bryant 16seer dual stage system which was more than I probably needed and that came with a 10 year parts and 5 year labor warranty, Something the other companies wanted to charge me extra for.

Our CYV is approximately 1120 sq ft.
It’s an electric system.
The air handler was replaced.
We went with 16 seer 2 1/2 ton Bryant with a variable speed air handler.
10 years all parts
5 years labor.