Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
Thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned, I went with the 13SEER and it's a Heil. The HVAC guy I deal with is practically a neighbor and his kids have gone through school with mine, so hopefully that relationship will maybe account for not being taken or overcharged for things I'm not very familiar with. He did come back a day after installation and we filled out a form that extended the warranty from 5 to 10 years. For peace of mind I decided to bite the bullet and replace everything because I think the contractor who initially built the house for us, we're in a development, cut alot of corners (the building inspector didn't catch). We'd never had a house built for us and there is so much we learned after the fact that we could have asked to have upgraded (like heating and AC). My wife insisted she needed 10 ft cielings on the first floor but we didn't even know there was such a thing as two zone heating and AC, so that one unit really works when it's on.
I am curious about why you recommend not covering the unit in the winter? Just seems like a simple thing to keep the snow and leaves off, but again, what do I know about this stuff.
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It sounds like your in good hands,the friendship that you've made is a good piece of mind.Good.
It's funny how hind sight is always 20/20
meaning after you built you're house.
As for covering the unit...First off it's a yes and no kind of thing,covering the unit with one of those PVC/plastic covers I strongly recomend not putting one on.Because now you've just created a dry shelter for mice during winter and if the compressor has a crankcase heater you've now provided a heated condo for them.Mice have to chew on thing to keep their teeth sharp and clean and you have plenty of wires in there for them to chew on
If your compressor has a sound deading cover the mice will not hesitate on that as well.
I get a ton of calls in the spring due to wires chewed in half and grounding out and have found mice on top of capacitors and grounding out and getting fried as a result.
Condensers are made to with stand the seasonal elements and to cover them up your just wasting money,yeah they look nice but these condenser's are made to be out side.
If your unit is on the side of your house by the roof line then I would highly recommend placing a piece of plywood over the top with a cinder block or bricks on top to hold it in place for the winter,this will help protect it from large amounts of ice or snow falling or sliding on it and damaging the fan or unit.