New A/C Unit

Have you looked at the cost of a new one? People hate to spend money and I get it, but $2,000 will likely get you a couple more years and could get you 8-10 years.

A new unit is going to be $8,000 or more

It’s stated that the average life of a HVAC unit in the Deep South is 13-15 years, so there is that. But an evaporator replacement of $2K, if that also includes the refrigerant, likely R410A, is a pretty good price, and you could potentially get additional multiple years out of that unit. Judgement call you have to make.

Two stage units have been around for years. A bit more complex than single stage units, but not by much, but a good bit less complex than multi-stage inverter units. Of course two stage units are more expensive than single stage units, but more energy efficient, but it still takes multiple years to recover the added cost via energy savings. Is this your “forever” home or do you plan to move within 5 years?

I would not personally be concerned with the reliability of a 2 stage heat pump system. I seriously considered a two stage HVAC system 3 years ago when I did a HVAC change out on my house, but i didn’t think I could recoup the additional cost of near $4K (Baton Rouge, LA pricing) in energy saving before I was likely to move.

quote:

---

One other thing, there is no capacitor like older units. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It doesn't take much power to get it running it seems.

---

This is true, one good thing is that HVAC can be run on a much smaller emergency portable backup generator without the need for a soft start kit if one doesn’t have $12-15K whole household standby generator….lol.

One negative, as I understand it, repair parts like circuit board, b/c they are so expensive (even if under warranty), are not carried on the service trucks or even at the supply house and have to be special ordered. But every type of HVAC is going to have pros & cons.

LEASTBAY - I’d put a voltage surge protector on that unit, or a whole house surge protector, should you not have one to protect the electronics.

quote:

---

They supposedly installed one. My last one was hit by a lightning strike which I'm not sure can be prevented easily. Probably $10k of damage including boards on my Carrier infinity, projector, and a bunch of networking gear.

---

Yeah, don’t think one can do much about a lighting strike. They probably installed one on the disconnect - I read where many, if not most, HVAC firms now install surge protectors on the condensing unit when installing multistage inverter HVAC systems to help protect electronics - circuit boards.