I do HVAC in Iowa. I have a Bryant Evolution Communicating system in my house and I like it. It would be the same as carrier infinity. The benefit of a communicating system is better dehumidification and temperature control. I would not go up too far in size because it will not dehumidify as well. Check your local utility for rebates and too learn more about seer ratings in your area. As far as price I would have no idea what the going rate in AZ would be. In Iowa for a typical 3.5 ton system it would be between 7-10k.

Payne, Bryant, Carrier. Same manufacturer. They’re all good. Installed a Nest thermostat after replacing my unit and electric bill was almost cut in half.

I think most manufacturers use the same compressors ,trane makes there own .You might want to look at units with inverter technology .They are capable of changing Compressor speed and system capacity very efficient

Whatever brand you go with make sure it is a matched system. I work in wholesale HVAC/R you would not believe how many contractors will sell you a high SEER unit with an unmatched coil. You buy a 18 SEER unit but the wrong coil is installed and you are only getting 14-15 SEER out of it. Huge waste of your money. If your old 3.5 ton unit was keeping your house comfortable there is no need to get a bigger unit. As far as brands go most of them are pretty good a good installation by a competent contractor is far more important. Most manufacturers do indeed use the same Copeland compressors including Trane.

Get a few quotes from reputable contractors in your area. In the midwest area I would expect bids in the 7-11k area depending on the SEER rating of a matched condensing unit, coil and air handler or furnace.

They’ll do that when the right air handler won’t fit but the smaller one will. Saw that all the time at change outs.

Condenser/air handler/line set/drain line. Usually a larger return when you’re increasing the seer. It’s not a complete change out if you reconnect to original line set.

Make sure they check/seal your ductwork. Is your insulation optimal? Ask about high-performance registers. My new high seer system was noisy as F with the original registers.

Take a look at mini-split systems. I'm in Florida and running ductwork through the attic makes no f'ing sense to me. Having a system that cools the entire house when only a portion of it needs to be cooled doesn't make much sense either.

They are a lot quieter.

If you have a constantly leaking air conditioning system then yes it is worth swapping out. Especially if it runs off of the old r22.

13 seer is the federal minimum standard. It is relatively easy to get 16 seer without going with high-end equipment. Check with your local utility to see if they offer rebates for doing so. When people speak of a matched system, that means the combination of equipment has an ahri number registered to it listing it's capacity as well as efficiency. I believe you are in the epa's Southeast region so I think the ac equipment is already higher efficiency by default.

Sizing is important for AC systems. Oversizing equipment is almost always a bad idea. During periods of lower heat load the unit will cycle much more frequently. It takes about 10 minutes for the system to completely get up to full cooling capacity. And you can almost equate a an ac system cycling on and off more frequently versus running for longer periods like City mileage vs. Highway mileage for a car. Most brands are pretty good. Honestly the installation quality counts more then the brand.

I see you are in Arizona. I do not know what kind of heating source you have, if it's electric heat strips in an air handler, gas furnace or a heat pump. I am a large proponent of heat pumps as any way you can keep the electric heat strips off you will be saving yourself energy. If your ductwork is located in an unconditioned space like an attic or crawl space. Duct sealing is a prudent move if it is leaky. there is a furnace blower door test that can be done to see how much loss your ductwork has. If you have any other questions or proposals that have been given to you it would be interesting to discuss further.

This thread has not answered the most pressing question:

Getting hot in her what?

I'm going to be in this boat soon. Have a Trane AC unit which is original to this 1980s house.
We lost the blower unit a couple of summers ago due to what I think was a lightning strike a year or two before that. The same lighting strike took out a ceiling fan, some florescent ballasts, and a home theater setup.

Anyway; I've been basically wondering to myself when the ideal time is to replace my unit for optimal savings. I don't want to be under the gun; but the clock is ticking ...
Does anyone have any real advice if there is a good time to price and execute a replacement? Winter? Fall? never?

I’d ask about the warranty on the condenser coil, evaporator coil, compressor, txv, blower and condenser motor. EACH one. Also, those parts are expensive to replace even when they are under warranty. Extended warranties that include labor aren’t a bad idea but require a service agreement. Screwed either way. Lennox had a bad warranty on the condenser coil awhile back because they knew they were susceptible to springing a leak!

Make sure they replace the line set. Increase the size of the return if your going from R22 to R410a.

You should check out Hvac talk

I have a Lennox system. Mine was part of the class action, but has held up fine for ~7 years so far. I’m in Florida and keep it cool, so it gets a workout every summer. My understanding is parts are expensive compared to others, but I haven’t had to replace anything yet. I’d get multiple bids. You are going to pay for that 15% rebate somehow.

Single stage will be louder than 2 stage. The 2 stage estimate doesn't include filter grills. If I'm spending $20K for AC I'd damn sure get a guarantee for sound level and ability to maintain a specific comfortable inside temp when outisde temp is X. Good luck!

I have 2 5ton systems. I replaced the one that runs just the gameroom. I had 21 different estimates. The range was $5k to $18.5k. That was for a complete system with new ductwork. I would recommend getting a lot of estimates. I could not believe the price difference I got.

Agreed, get at least a couple of more estimates. I’m told that the gross margin is insanely high in most cases.

As mentioned above, all the different brands of ac/furnaces generally use the same parts inside, with slight differences. Lennox makes high quality stuff, but they use more proprietary parts than other brands and are on the higher side of pricing. Generally, any unit should give you at least 10 years of service with little problems if its installed correctly. The installer is far more important than the brand of unit with hvac. Since you have a leak in your system, make sure they run new lineset. That may require cutting some drywall because your furnaces are located in your attic

"Any unit" doesn't apply to Goodman, stay away from Goodman their evap. coils pop like fireworks on the 4th of July.

One thing I always recommend it to upgrade the filter to the max. I run a 5 inch thick HEPA filter (MERV 11) and the factory Carrier UV bulb in the A-frame. The UV bulb is a must to keep down the mold and sterilize basically any germs, spores and viruses that pass through the system rather than acting as a breeding ground. I replace the filter twice a year and the bulb every 12-15 months. The bulb runs 24x7x365.

I have a awesome ac/heat guy that takes care of my house and my rental houses as needed. He knows his shit and has never once charged me a price I was ticked off about.

If you live in my area and need help you can pm me for his #.

At the same time he is getting ready to retire soon, so please pay the favor back for in the future when I need someone great myself.

(while he is thinking about retiring, he is trying to train his son to carry on the business, and hell no, his son is not that good, I will have to look again).

Ronnie nailed it for the most part. The sizing,install, and the contractor that backs up the install is more important than the brand itself. Most folks wait until the unit goes kaput to replace it. You are in the drivers seat since there is not a gun to your head. "Their own brand, "Made in America" That is a rebranded Goodman (there is a STL dealer that sells them at a premium as "emerald" they are called). Most HVAC gear is made in Mexico. Lennox, Rheem/Ruud, York and Nordyne. Trane, Goodman and Carrier(although they are shipping production south in the near future [their coils are already made in Mexico]) are still made in the US. Goodman is a value brand and have their market niche but if you can afford it, go elsewhere. Replacing the line-set is eh. If you have a leak it is 97 times out of 100 the evaporator coil. The only two line-sets I've ever seen leak had a roofing nail go through it or a drywall screw. They are thick where as the evaporator coils are rifled thin for better heat transfer. Make sure you have an AHRI matched system to guarantee* performance. *Ratings do not include how good or bad the ductwork is. How cold does it get where you live? The model number of the furnaces means that they are 100K btu for a total of 200k btu for your house. That is a lot of heat. I don't know your region so I won't speak to sizing but the York bid seems quite reasonable. I would recommend getting one or two more bids for good measure.

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Does it prevent the white crud buildup in the drain pan/line? I have to clean mine out twice a year or the drain line gets clogged.

It might help a little. That stuff is usually algae; unless your pan is made out of metal and it is corrosion? Most pans are plastic now for that reason, the plastic basically lasts forever. Either way, cleaning the pan and adding algae killer tablets or vinegar or even bleach keeps things running. Make sure you have a float switch in case things get out of hand it won't flood your house. On my old house I used to have to run vinegar through and if things got bad, I hooked up the shop vac to the drain pipe outside.

My new house I have annual maintenance on the unit and that included keeping the lines sucked out and adding algae killer. For $75 a year the onsite annual checkup and maintenance is a no brainer.

I just replaced two complete systems in my condo with York: 2 ton and 2.5 ton, 16-17 SEER with 95% efficiency gas furnaces. It was a complicated job with difficult access to a 4 story roof for the condensers and interior attic spaces for air handlers/evaporators. After rebates from York and a $600 rebate from my local utility, it only cost about $11k. York’s reputation is mixed, but they’re now owned by Johnson Controls and from what I researched their current quality is good. What really sold me though is that the York distributor for the southeast where I’m located included a 10 year Labor & Material warranty at no cost.

Also recommend you confirm the sizing of your ductwork. The contractor that installed my systems found one of the return ducts was undersized impacting the effective tonnage of the unit

The pan is plastic. Yeah, I've got a float switch. I watched my AC guy do the clean out once. He says they recommend putting nothing but hot water as most anything else will corrode the metal. But I've also read the UV lights will degrade plastic and filters. So I don't know? I currently hookup my shop-vac to the outside line and start pouring water in the drain pan. I usually do this at the start of spring and the end of summer, but if that UV light would prevent the buildup in the first place, I'd probably install one. My other home in Florda never had this problem, but I know it didn't havea a UV light either. UV is supposed to be deadly for living things. I'd sure think it would work.

Yep the light would definitely damage the filter over time. The light has a metal shield below it to prevent damage.

Good luck! Replace the line set, leaking or not. It’s part of the refrigerant cycle and important entire system is new.

Hey all-

Hoping to get some straight answers here. I live in the D.C. area, and we are adding a 1000 sq ft addition. This area needs conditioning, so we are discussing a heat pump right now; I inquired about a furnace, but the plumber indicated our gas line could not supply the BTUs required, as we already have an existing furnace and gas water heater.

Does this check out? I had preferred a gas furnace but the BTU supply threw me for a loop. In general I am aware that heat pumps will cost me a little more in electricity and they aren’t great in the winter. So not the best choice if it gets cold below 30 degrees...

It does occasionally get pretty cold here; I'm being told by the HVAC guy that the heat pump is sufficient for heating in the winter here. But what I understand about heat pumps is that unless you have a super mild winter, the thing is not going to cut it. My issue is that we're just doing this for the addition, and one of those rooms is our bedroom. If it's not gonna be warm enough, my wife's not going to be too happy. We don't have a backup furnace (I mean, we DO, but it's not connected to the same space,all new ductwork is going in for the new space only)

Further, I'm concerned about our electric bill, which is already like $300/month (the house isn't that big). I definitely don't want to double it or anything crazy, and if the heat isn't going to be enough, AND I have a much higher bill, that's not acceptable.

I'd look into one of these...

https://www.fujitsugeneral.com/us/residential/technology/xlth-low-temp-heating.html

I wonder how often a heat pump goes into defrost mode in your area. Basically, goes back into cooling mode, taking the heat from inside your house to melt the ice on the condenser. Using the the auxiliary heat to compensate. Not efficient at all.

Heat pump is plenty fine for this area. As somebody mentioned, you have a heat pump with an auxiliary heat source. In my case, propane heat. I think mine is set to cut over to aux heat around 22-25 degrees. Before I moved to Naptown, I had a heat pump in my prior house in Montgomery county and never had an issue.

Your electric bill is crazy! Do you have electric heat or something now? As hot as this summer has been, running the pool and and the power for the boat and I have not cracked 400/month. When the pool is shut down I was more in the 150-180 range a month. Full disclosure, I have heating oil for the first floor and heat pump/propane for the second flood.

Thank you so much for the response! Our "emergency heat" (HVAC guy's term) is set to cut over at 25-30 degrees, and is unfortunately not propane, but electric strips. I'm not loving that; those are basically resistance coils that get energized and air is blown over them, which heats up and is blown into the space. But that shouldn't be terribly often - and plus, the rest of the house is heated by a second zone with a regular, but incredibly inefficient, gas furnace.

I double-checked my electric bill - and I was WAY off. It's more like $220 or so/month. I expect it to go up obviously, but not by double.

It could just be a terminology thing, but auxiliary heat and emergency heat are not the same thing. Auxiliary heat is a secondary source that augments the heat pump and emergency heat is just the heating strips in case your heat pump goes down. This is a pretty good explanation https://beachairobx.com/heat-pump-auxiliary-heat/

I would ask your hvac guy what your auxiliary heat source is. It sounds like they are talking an electric source. Ask them if you have enough for a gas two stage as GoodOmens mentions and what I have. This setup works incredibly well.