Air Conditioning - Nw AC and increased electricity usage

About 6 weeks ago I did install new 3 ton Goodman SEER 13 condensing unit. All works OK but my electric bill doubled. Do you think it could be related or I have some other electrical problem? Settings for humistat and thermostat were left same as before replacement. Any ideas?

10Sam

Well yes, an a/c consumes a lot of power and doubling of a power bill is not surprising in the least.

Tell us how much your bill was before and after the a/c install and what is the amperage of the unit which can be found on the outdoor unit name plate and how much you pay for electricity per kWh and how many hours you think it runs per day.

Depending on the amperage of your unit it could be in the range of 2500 watts.
If so it would consume 30 kWh/day if it ran 12 hours/day.
If your power was 6cents/kWh it would take about $1.80/day or $54.00/month.

Did you have A/C before?

What your cooling degree days this year vs last year? Some area this year had a steady heat wave..

You did the install yourself, everything?

Like said just what did you have before???? It has been a hot year. Also a seer of 13 if you run the AC a lot is like the bottom of the line. That is why they have 2 stage units That go on up to a SEER of 19 now

I had old SEER 10 condensing unit which died. It was replaced with SEER 13.
When I mentioned double usage of electricity I mean double usage in kWh units.

10Sam

I'd then call the dealer back and have them check everything..

Was this installed by a dealer or DIY?

DIY installation. Unit purchased from supply shop.
Wonder if unit itself could have some defect from beginning?

10Sam

IIRC Goodman 13 SEER condenser units are shipped with a new orifice to use in existing evaporator units. Did yours and did you install it as in the install docs?

How did you hook up the system?

Proper steps been taken?

I have a feeling there can be a numbers of things wrong.

Are you EPA??? Who did the freon check????? Whats the amp draw?????

If you hooked this system up yourself you are pretty much on your own!

There is a legal and moral obligation that only certified and licensed techs do this kind of work.
Whoever sold it to you is obliged to see that it is installed properly.

We do not support diy installs here and I would suggest you call Goodman to see if they will help.

Easy guys,

Yes, I'm certified and I did quite few installations in past with different SEER rating equipment. I'm not doing this full time thou. This is first time I have such problem. In same time period I did installed other two Goodmans without any problems.

No there was no additional parts, valves orifices etc. supplied with new unit.

10Sam

Sorry if I sounded harsh.. Just too many people are trying to DIY a system. and not do the right steps.

Did you not change the indoor Coil or metering device or TXV?

Run nitergien while brazing?

Did you pump the system down to 500?

Is new system R-410a?

Take a temp, pressure reading for superheat/subcooling?

I'd go back to the supply house. My local Goodman dealer requires that you install a TXV if you are going to use a 13 SEER unit with a 10 SEER Coil. It's a situation that they really don't recommend. The cost of the indoor coil is so low compared to the condensing unit that it's almost a no brainer to replace it. Freon charge could be high as well, high head pressure would cause compressor amps to rise. One of my favorite no **** stories happened on a new install I did for a friend. The unit ran beautifully for a year, then didn't work the next spring. Suction pressure was very low, head pressure looked about normal. It ended up being a piece of solder that busted loose and got hung up on the orifice. Everything worked perfectly after I took it out.