Home A.C. dead! Anybody have experience with a heat pump?

[Mr.Kenny]

Our compressor went out on our air conditioner; its a self contained unit outside. (ducting runs into it)
Thinking about a heat pump; but what would you do?
Right now it has a 4ton unit and it really needs a 3- 3.5 ton.

Local wholesaler won't sell to handy guys like me and I just cant seem to buy a unit without calling a $ervice company. So I'm looking online at ebay....is 'Goodman' any good?

The local heating and air guy$ want to replace my whole $y$tem, furnace and all. I am beginning to think this business is a racket.

BTW: It's hot here in SW Missouri!

[Mistress]

I'm sorry you have no air conditioning.

[BamaMB]

If the rest of your unit is is good shape, try to find some one willing to replace the compressor. If you replace the whole unit and go with a heat pump, you will need an air handling unit inside with 220V power for aux heater located inside. Will this be a problem? Heat pumps work well in the south, but they have a hard time extracting heat for the outside air when temps fall below 30F.

[Diesel4me]

yes, Goodman units are good.

[t walgamuth]

you might also check out grainger.

tom w

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Mr.Kenny

Local wholesaler won't sell to handy guys like me and I just cant seem to buy a unit without calling a $ervice company. So I'm looking online at ebay....is 'Goodman' any good?

The local heating and air guy$ want to replace my whole $y$tem, furnace and all. I am beginning to think this business is a racket.

I agree with this. I wanted to replace one of the gas furnaces in the rentals and it's not possible to purchase one from any of the supply houses........too much risk of "gas" to sell to the average joe.

No problem.

Found one of the Goodman units on e-bay, 60K IIRC, for about $550. Shipped to a terminal near me for $110. A bunch of piping, electrical switches, and ductwork for $200. and I've got a brand new 90% efficiency furnace for about $850. The yokels would hit me up for $2500 minimum.

And, I took my time and built a proper cement plinth on the concrete floor for the unit and did all the piping to the outside of the house over again.

Can't help you with central a/c, however.

[TwitchKitty]

Central AC units are built "off the shelf" like PCs. For instance Goodman doesn't make the compressor and probably not the condenser or evaporator either. So you really need to look at the parts you get. Having said that, Goodman had a reputation as a low end system a few years ago. Don't know about their recent systems.

You are right about HVAC being a racket but no more than plumbing, real estate, insurance, transmission repair, etc. It cost a hell of a lot of money to live these days and the customer pays for everything.

[Dee8go]

Experience with heat pumps? All bad. Never warm in the winter, never warm in the winter. Get something different if you have to replace it anyhow.

[jhal]

Could also be a bad capacitor in the start or run circuit. There is a place down here in central Fl that sells to the public. It is Budget Heating and Air Conditioning located in Tampa. Their phone # is 813-885-7999. Flat rate shipping to the continental U.S. is $149.00 for systems. They sell a lot of new stuff on e-bay under the same name. Good prices and quality brands. Worth a look. Have used them before. They sell heat pump package units that should be fit where your old unit is. Hook up the duckwork and make sure the circuit breaker matches the requirements of the new unit. Change breaker if needed, it will probably need a smaller size since you are going to a little smaller unit and it should be more efficient. Existing wire should be ok if amperage requirement is the same or less. Good luck, John.

[jhal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-5-ton-13-seer-heat-pump-package-unit-RQNJA042JK000_W0QQitemZ260001432042QQihZ016QQcategoryZ20711QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
Here is the link for a new 3 1/2 ton, 13 SEER Rheem package heat pump unit for $1849.00. Not cheap, but cheaper then retail.