Talk of The Villages Florida - New construction - only single stage HVAC systems are available

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)

- The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)

- - New construction - only single stage HVAC systems are available (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/new-construction-only-single-stage-hvac-systems-available-360070/)

Don’t mix up “Stages” of a unit with Motor Speed

Quote:

Originally Posted by ttodd (Post 2446341)

There's been lots of discussions on some other threads about the benefits of dual stage or variable speed HVAC systems and I was pretty sold on this idea. I did just learn that as of Jan 2025, the only option is the Carrier Performance 15 Single Stage system.

This decision appears to be driven by EPA mandate which requires a phase-out of HFC refrigerants (like R-410A) in favor of newer, lower-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants—beginning in 2025.

As of January 1, 2025, manufacturers will no longer be able to produce new HVAC systems that use R-410A. The two most common replacements are expected to be:
* R-32 and
* R-454B

So in anticipation of the potential for supply issues during this transition period, it seems that TV just simply decreed that these variable speed units are just not going to be offered.

However - when Iook at the website for Sunshine AC, these units are absolutely available. It's my understanding that systems with the old R-401A refrigerant can still be installed in 2025 as long as the system was manufactured prior to 2025.

Hopefully the powers that be will soon again allow for more upgraded systems to be become available.

Not sure about any of the Refrigerant rules or issues……..but the one thing you did in this post, and that many of the replies are doing, is mixing up the numbers of “Stages” in a unit, in other words, how the unit actually is built to cool a space, with the “Speed” of a unit’s motor, which is normally “Single Speed” or “Variable Speed”. Newer and more efficient (SEER rating) units are usually Variable Speed, but you can still find decently efficient Single Speed units around. For the Fla climate, variable speed is probably a better choice. Good luck in any case!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ttodd (Post 2446341)

100% of the time you are told something is or isn't available its because what ever they are putting in front of you is what they make the most money on.

We ordered the upgraded stainless steel appliances, but they installed the bottom-of-the-barrel Home Depot crap in the house. We were charged about three times what we could have paid had we sourced the appliances ourselves.

The AC unit they put in our 2,200 sqft home is an absolute joke. It's only a 3-ton unit that pretty much runs ALL DAY LONG. In Florida, the rule of thumb for AC is one ton per 500 sq ft. We expect that this undersized unit will destroy itself in a couple of years, and then we will be installing a correctly sized 5-ton unit.

For those of you building a new home, don't buy any of the upgrades. They use the cheapest materials and charge through the roof. Buy the basics that you want and can't add later - extensions for example - then go buy quality stuff once the home is built.

We were in the house less than a week before the "upgraded" stove and dishwasher were put to the curb, the fridge was placed in the garage, and new high-quality appliances were delivered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrref (Post 2446357)

Just curious, where did you get this information? I know that you can get the Carrier Infinity Greenspeed variable speed unit because a neighbor just had one installed this week. Four of us had them installed in the past couple of weeks. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to install an old R410 system after 1/1/2025. There is no reason why the Villages would be preventing you from paying the extra money if you wanted that system unless they are making some bulk deals with the HVAC companies doing their install.

LOL, that is exactly what is happening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrref (Post 2446360)

Thanks for the information but I don’t believe any of the companies installing for the Villages has a large stock of heat pumps built before 2025 sitting In a warehouse specifically for the new builds but who knows? Anything is possible. All I can tell you is when several of us replaced our units using Sunshine, regardless of the model, the units came from one of Carrier’s distribution to Sunshine. Then once the unit was physically there and inspected, the installation was set up.

My garage door openers just installed in my new home have 2023 serial numbers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joecooool (Post 2446621)

My garage door openers just installed in my new home have 2023 serial numbers.

That's different. Devices like that are often made in bulk.

Think about it. Let's say for example, the Villages is working with Sunshine, SunKool and other's who are doing the new builds. It's almost 7 months now since 1/1/2025 and the Villages probably has built and or finished 1,000+ homes since January. It seems unlikely they would have purchased and stored all those systems on the hunch there would be a supply chain issue. And why would they need to lay out all that money if they didn't have to?

Something just doesn't make sense. Either the Villages, as someone said, is selling units they make the most on or they don't want to spend the money on changing the standard paperwork.

If it were me and I was told I couldn't get the system I wanted because of some "BS" reason the Villages gave me, I would call Sunshine or SunKool for example and ask them if it's possible. Given the fact that I know of several friends who moved into Middleton in the past year or two who got the Carrier Infinity upgrade and we know of several existing homeowners like myself and my neighbors who got systems in the past couple of weeks from Sunshine no problem, and now all of a sudden you can't get it tells you something is not right.