Air conditioners don't last forever. The good news, though, is that if you have an old air conditioning system, replacing it should save you money. Efficiency has improved a lot since that old hunk of metal and noise was installed in your back yard. Beyond just swapping out the old equipment for new, getting a new air conditioner really needs to involve some thought. Here are five things for you to think about and ask potential contractors. If possible, you should use an HVAC contractor who understands building science and will treat your air conditioning problem using a systems approach. An air conditioner is only one component of many that helps with the heating and cooling of your home. Insulation, air leakage, duct leakage, solar gain through windows, radiant heat problems in bonus rooms, and more all affect the comfort, healthfulness, durability, and energy efficiency of your home. To understand the basics, see our article on Building Science 101. If you ask an HVAC contractor how they're going to decide what size air conditioner to put in, there are some wrong answers that should have you yelling, "Next!"

Here are a few: The first answer is bad because they're assuming the original contractor sized the system properly—and that nothing has changed since. The second is bad because they're assuming that bigger is better. The third is bad because using a rule of thumb based on square footage doesn't work, and they should measure the house themselves rather than relying on your number. The proper way to size heating and cooling systems is to calculate the actual heating and cooling loads for your home. To do so, the contractor has to measure the house completely, get all the insulation R-values, window types, orientation, infiltration rate, duct leakage, and more. Then they put all that into their load calculation software and find out how many Btu's per hour your home needs. The most common way of doing this is to use the Manual J load calculation protocol. Proper sizing is important because an air conditioner does two jobs: (i) cools the air, and (ii) dehumidifies the air.

In a humid climate, an oversized air conditioner will cool just fine but won't dehumidify well. Also, oversized systems go on and off a lot, and all those start-ups and shut-downs will shorten the life of your air conditioner. What happens inside the cooling equipment is only part of making your home cool and comfortable. The distribution system plays a huge role, and the typical duct system has a lot of leakage in it. If you're paying a lot of money each month to run your air conditioner, you don't want to waste that cooling through a lot of leaks in your ducts, do you? A duct leakage test will determine how bad your ducts are. Duct leakage isn't the only problem with getting cool air into your home. Many duct systems don't move as much air as they should because of ducts that are too small, kinked, too long, or have other types of constrictions. At a minimum, your HVAC contractor should measure the total external static pressure and make sure it's within the limits specified for the equipment they're installing.

Ideally, they'll also measure the air flow to each room to make sure your home will be heated and cooled uniformly. Remember, it's not all about the air conditioner. The overall performance depends a lot on how well the ducts move the conditioned air.air handling unit manufacturers in uk If you're serious about getting a new air conditioner installed for peak performance, head over to the ACCA website and download their Quality HVAC Installation Checklist. air handling unit factoryUse it as a guide to choose the right contractor. air temp hvac unitsIn addition to the checklist, they have a nice page on their website on choosing the right HVAC contractor. Getting an air conditioner replaced is a big investment. It's also an opportunity to improve the comfort, healthfulness, durability, and energy efficiency of your home.

It won't happen without your involvement, though, because many HVAC contractors will be happy just to swap out old equipment for new without looking at the bigger picture. Find one who's willing and able to go beyond the box. Even better, get a full home energy assessment. How to Choose a Company to Do a Home Energy Audit Case Closed: Get Those Air Conditioning Ducts out of the Attic is a consumer price guide dedicated to helping homeowners learn about heat pump prices for their home. The information published on this site is kept as current as possible, and continually updated each week, with 2014-2016 heat pump pricing data that we compile from leading online resources, direct interaction with visitors like yourself, as well as HVAC industry data. Split System Heat Pump systems are comprised of three or more main components, a thermostat control, and installation accessories that connect the components and allow them to work together properly. Anytime we refer to a complete heat pump system, we’re referring to the outdoor condensing unit, an air handler with evaporator coil, electric heating strip, thermostat, and a refrigerant line-set to connect the system.

Quick Links: Brands | The price list below is based on replacement heat pump prices for a complete 3-ton system. We needed to set this baseline in order to provide an equal comparison between each of the top rated heat pump brands listed below. The system includes: 3-ton heat pump condenser, 1200 cfm air handler with built in coil, insulated copper line-set, and basic 7-day programmable heat pump thermostat. The combined efficiency of the complete heat pump system is rated at: 14 seer, 8.5 hspf, and would adequately heat and cool most homes between 1750-2250 sqft. Note: We’ve had several people ask us if you MUST buy a complete heat pump system, and in most cases, the answer is yes. The outdoor condensing unit (compressor) MUST be matched to the indoor coil, which are primarily located inside the air handler on most systems today. I won’t say that its required 100% of the time since you may have a component fail prematurely and can get away with just one main component being replaced.

We do however, recommend it 100% of the time, especially if the system is older than 7 years. Before a heat pump system is installed in your home, a licensed HVAC company needs to run a heating and cooling load calculation on your home. They will take several measurements, look at your windows, your attic and all areas of your home to determine heat gain and heat loss. They do this to be sure you have a properly sized heat pump system ranging from 1.5 tons to 5-tons in size. Note: For the purpose of this heat pump price list, we are including a complete unit with the following equipment: 14 SEER Heat Pump Condenser, Air Handler Fan Coil, Electric Heat Strip, (Backup heat) 7-Day Programmable Thermostat, and a New Copper Line-set. The pricing is set to an average manufacturer like Bryant, Heil, Lennox or Rheem. We also assume the installation would be of average difficulty, taking two skilled HVAC mechanical pros, one day to complete. Heat pump systems, just like central air conditioners and other major home appliances, come in several different efficiency ratings which are measure in SEER for cooling, and HSPF for heating your home.

Standard efficiency heat pumps cost much less than the price of high efficiency heat pump systems for your home. In this next price table, we want to share the effect of efficiency, on heat pump prices. Table below is based on a complete, and ARI matched 3-ton heat pump system. Although we have great resources for getting accurate heat pump prices, we also rely on our customers and website visitors to keep us honest and provide feedback with their own information about how much their replacement heat pump cost. We scrub all form data to remove any personally identifying information from the aggregate price comparison tables you see on this page. Share Your Experience with our Visitors We love to receive heat pump system pricing from our visitors! After all, you are the best source of the costs being charged by HVAC companies in your area. Please go to this page and complete the short pricing detail questionnaire. We will remove any identifying information and add your heat pump price estimate to the list above.