Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Help with a new system.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum. Please be patient with me.

We have just moved into a 20 year old house, the HVAC system is near the end of it's life. Just got a quote from a local contractor (thur Home Depot) on a Lennox system. Here are the specs.

Furnace G61MPV-36B-071 95% Eff
HP XP14-036-230
Coil C 48044 TDR (?)
Lennox 5" media filter

Cooling Btuh 36000
EER Rating 12.8
SEER 15
Heating bluh @47F 36000
Region IV HSPF rating 9
heating bluh @ 17F 10000

Is this a good system?

The house is about 2100 sqf with about 600 sqt finished basement.

My price quote was 7995. Is this reasonable?

Thank you in advance.

Don't know wehere you are located but I would look into at least a 15 seer.

Was a load claculation done? It looks like that is a dual fuel setup? If you're going to spend a lot of money you want to buy a COMFORT SYSTEM not just EQUIPMENT. Look here:

HVAC Software, HVAC-Calc for Heat Loss, Heat Load Calculations (http://www.hvaccomputer.com/)

It would be $49 well spent. Frankly, Although their stuff is ok, I don't like Lennox because it's hard for non Lennox servicers to get parts down the road and their parts prices are thru the roof. It's always a good idea to get at least 3 quotes. Just because you go thru HD or Sears doesn't guarrantee a good installer. Consider Trane or American Standard but avoid Carrier and Bryant.

What is your current system?

I agree with daddyjohn. Be sure you get a load calc if you don't have a system like this already. I would not go through Sear, HD or the like as they are just middlemen that will muddle up any post installation issues; get quotes directly from local contractors themselves. I agree that Lennox does not sell parts directly to consumers so you will be dependent on a local dealer for the smallest problem.

Prices are highly localized so the only way to know if that's a good price is get more quotes - which you should always do when laying down this amount of coin. Get multiple quotes from multiple contractors on multiple brands. Think about quotes from Carrier/Coleman, Trane, Goodman, Amana, etc. Getting many quotes will help you find an installer you are comfortable with.

When you get a number of quotes repost for some collective wisdom.

Thanks to everyone that have posted. I assume the contractor did a load rating calculation. He spend about 2 hours at the house to do measurements and calculations. He did suggest the same btu system as I currently have.

I do currently have a carrier system that's 19 years old. It's rated at 8 SEERS and 65% eff on the furnace. We just purchased the house and was looking to save some money on energy cost in the long run. The current system is also a heat pump system with natural gas furnace.

I am in the process of getting 2-3 more estimates tomorrow and will post more as I have it.

I did get a quote on the Train system, but their price is about 1K higher than the Lennox. Is there a reason for that? It's an estimate by the same company.

BTW why should I avoid Carrier? There is a lower bid with Carrier? Anyone have experience with Rheem?

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone that have posted. I assume the contractor did a load rating calculation. He spend about 2 hours at the house to do measurements and calculations. He did suggest the same btu system as I currently have.

I do currently have a carrier system that's 19 years old. It's rated at 8 SEERS and 65% eff on the furnace. We just purchased the house and was looking to save some money on energy cost in the long run. The current system is also a heat pump system with natural gas furnace.

I am in the process of getting 2-3 more estimates tomorrow and will post more as I have it.

I did get a quote on the Train system, but their price is about 1K higher than the Lennox. Is there a reason for that? It's an estimate by the same company.

BTW why should I avoid Carrier? There is a lower bid with Carrier? Anyone have experience with Rheem?

Thanks!

I think you are on the right path by getting many quotes. It is not unusual for known names such as Trane to be higher than most, probably due to many factors in their dealer network.

The only thing I would caution you on is upgrading within the first year of ownership unless necessary. By living with your current inefficient system for the first year you will have no way of knowing if you are achieving savings and comfort. It is not unusual for folks to get new systems and find they have little savings or have somehow lost comfort. Also, new installs are the perfect time to address shortcoming in your existing system (ductwork, system placement, future growth, etc.). Think of it as setting a baseline.

We're getting the system because it's old and that it has a slight leak on the coolant lines somewhere they can't find. Also the furnace is 65% eff. So we want something a little more efficient. Plus the tax credit is nice as well.

We finally got our 3 quotes. 1 is an outlier that's 2500 more than the other 2.

I don't have the quote in front of me, but the Lennox system (as above) is costing us 7995. We also have and Amana quote that recommends a 3.5 ton system v.s. the Lennox only recommending a 3 ton system. The price is 1200 more. So it's 9195. Is Amana a nationally recognized brand that's reliable?

We're getting the system because it's old and that it has a slight leak on the coolant lines somewhere they can't find. Also the furnace is 65% eff. So we want something a little more efficient. Plus the tax credit is nice as well.

We finally got our 3 quotes. 1 is an outlier that's 2500 more than the other 2.

I don't have the quote in front of me, but the Lennox system (as above) is costing us 7995. We also have and Amana quote that recommends a 3.5 ton system v.s. the Lennox only recommending a 3 ton system. The price is 1200 more. So it's 9195. Is Amana a nationally recognized brand that's reliable?

Reliability is an area where there is more debate than hard data, but, yes, Amana is a recognized brand. There is a school of thought that says since there are so many common parts reliability is generally consistent among brands.