Determining the Problem with My HVAC System

Blog post 2 of 3 from guest blogger, Kelli.

As my previous post indicated, I'm having an issue with my home's HVAC system.  I first knew there was a problem back in April when I had people over and the house wouldn't cool down one evening (it got about 5 degrees higher than what I set it at). I turned it off and back on the next morning, and didn't think of it again until Memorial Day weekend when the same thing happened. When I pushed my thermostat down a notch, I could hear the outside unit kick on, but the indoor fan didn't make any noise. This same thing has happened three more times since then, but I've been lucky that it hasn't been as hot as usual for June in the South.

After I called my dad to ask him what could be wrong, he encouraged me to climb into the upper attic, which is where my air handler is located.  I immediately found a frozen pipe attached to the air handler, which is definitely a problem.   My system was freezing up, so when I turned it off (and its hot outside), the ice melted and it worked again. I did some googling and figured out this definitely means I had a leak of refrigerant which is why it was getting too cold.

I looked on Angie's List for a company who had a coupon for a maintenance and cleaning coupon - $89 for a Precision Tune-up and Professional Cleaning for your A/C system for only $89! This service includes up to 2 lbs of refrigerant and is normally priced at $327, saving Angie's List members $73%! (for new customer only). I was heading out of town for the week so unfortunately it was a week before they came out to my house. Within 20 minutes, they told me that I had a leak, that it wasn't worth fixing it ($200 for detecting where the leak is, 9 out of 10 leaks are in the compressor which costs $1800-2000 to replace, and $300-$600 worth of refrigerant to replace what was missing because the EPA had drastically reduced supply of R-22 available since it is so bad for the environment).  They were pretty quick to tell me what the problem was and suggest a new system, and very fast to recommend someone to come take a look at what I need. They "only" charged me $45 for coming out to my house that day so my coupon was irrelevant. I scheduled an appointment for the next day with their "Project Manager" aka their Sales guy.

In the meantime, I quickly realized I knew nothing about how much this would cost or what I was even getting into.  I looked online and the Air Conditioning Contractors of America was helpful at understanding the scope of the work needed to be done. The site does a good job explaining the supply of R-22, the switch to R-410A in all new systems, and helped me think through the questions to ask a contractor. From their site, I was also able to search an incentives database (connected to DSIRE, a database from the US Department of Energy) and find out that while I will not get any rebates on my federal taxes for putting in an energy efficient system like I would have in 2011, I DO get a $200 rebate from my energy company if I put in a 15 SEER system or higher (more on this later).  I double checked the info about taxes with my accountant.  There ARE some discounts but they are currently for solar energy and geothermal heat pumps (read: expensive).  I also really liked Energy Star's website from the EPA and found their Contractor Bid Comparison Sheet to be VERY helpful as I started to get bids for a new system.

After this research, I realized I was probably going to want more than one quote. I went back to Angie's List, which now has over 1 million members who write reviews about various corporations. I've used it several times as a homeowner and when I was considering a new vet and a new dentist. You've probably seen some of their relatively low-budget ads on TV since they recently went public. I do like them, but it feels arbitrary as to why some companies have many so many reports and others have none. I also went to colleagues at work and asked as many people for references of good companies, and I cross referenced those with Angie's List. I ended up getting 4 quotes total, as I disregarded the first one - and you'll quickly see why.

When I met with the first contractor who I found from Angie's List (who had about 50 reviews with an A rating), I figured out how they have SO many ratings - not only does this company give a discount for Angie's List members, they told me (1) a good review was written in as part of my price negotiation process, and (2) I shouldn't put EXACTLY what I paid for my system on Angie's List but instead inflate it by $1000. What's funny is that their reviews sound a lot like my experience - "I called because I thought i had a problem, they told me I did and suggested a new system, the project manager came right away and got me all squared away."  Well, this company's Project Manager was extremely pushy and wanted me to make a decision immediately. I had to tell him 3 times that I wasn't going to agree to a price and schedule installation that night before he would leave my house. He told me all sorts of personal information as he tried to convince me that his company was the best, and even tried to explain that I should sign an agreement so he doesn't have to come back out to my house. Once I got him out of my house and talked to other companies over the next week, I realized a few problems with his quote:

-He didn't do a load calculation - didn't do ANY calculation! He should have measured my house, my windows, my duct work, and taken many notes - which he didn't really do. He basically said my old system was the right size for my house, without taking any of his own measurements. The industry calls this a "Manual J" load calculation which is recommended. Other contractors took many measurements (in varying amounts) and taught me a lot about my system -- ie. my return air ducts are 12 inches wide and could be larger, but work fine as they are.
-Didn't look at my circuit breaker for my house or my thermostat to know if either of those needed to change with a new system using different wattage. All three other contractors went to look at my circuit breaker for the house in my garage and showed me what they were looking for.
-Wanted me to sign something scratched out on paper, without even giving me the model number of the unit - and when I asked for it, he texted it to me with a typo so I couldn't even find it! Other contractors wrote down model numbers and pricing, either in email or on paper.

sketchy... in more ways than 1

This first project manager then called me the next day, didn't answer my email which I did want him to answer, sent me 26 texts, and has called or emailed me every other day since then.  Needless to say, I will not be selecting that company, and I do plan on writing an appropriate review of the work they did.

HVAC drama

This post is brought to you by my friend, Kelli, a homeowner in the state to the south :) This is her first of 3 blog posts about her learning experiences with HVAC systems. This is useful information that I wouldn't have been able to share with you b/c I have a furnace/AC set-up, which Kelli describes below.

In the past few weeks, I've discovered that I have severely neglected one of the largest and most expensive parts of my home - my HVAC system, made of a heat pump and an air handler, or what is called a split system. For those of you who don't know, a heat pump is a machine that heats your house in the winter and cools it in the summer.  The air is pushed through the ducts and through an air handler, which cools or heats the air as it goes over a compressor coil ( aka the big expensive part). (Some of you may have furnaces which run on gas - you'd know this because you get a separate bill for gas from your electric bill. You also were probably warned about it from your home inspector.)

As a new home owner, I sort of knew I was supposed to change the filters in my house - I knew these were done when I moved in - but had no idea that otherwise my system needed to be inspected twice per year by HVAC specialists! In part, I didn't know this because my dad is my go-to handyman and he takes care of a lot of that stuff himself, and we never talked about it. Even when my sister mentioned having her system inspected recently, it just didn't click that I needed to do that, too! Silly me.

Two questions for you homeowners:
1) When is the last time you had someone provide regular maintenance and cleaning of your HVAC system? If you don't remember, schedule a tune up! Its much like getting an oil change on your car in terms of preventative maintenance! I haven't done this at all in my house and have no idea when it was done last, and now I have a leak in my system which could have been prevented or detected earlier if I'd had the "check up" done. More on that in a later post!
2)  When is the last time you changed your air filters in your return air handlers? (Most people have these unless they have a fancy filter like a media filter or an electrostatic filter inside/connected to their air handler - which requires some different maintenance.) It's recommended that you change these monthly or bimonthly so you keep good indoor air quality that you're breathing in, and you keep dust and other particles out of the HVAC system so it stays clean!

Here's what my air filters looked like after (gasp!) a year of not being changed:

What once was white...

It was super easy for me to change them. I went to Lowe's since it is right next door and bought 2 for $16 total. I purchased the mid-grade of filters (not the $1 ones but not the $16 each ones either) which have a semi-pleated look. My dad suggested that size, and the contractors I've spoken to says its the best plan. The $16 ones don't really do much more than the $8 ones (even though they claim to help with allergies) but instead can actually limit the air circulating through your house and make it work harder. The $1 do help, but don't filter out the smaller particles that the mid-range ones can catch. One contractor I've spoken to says buy these in bulk and change them monthly to help keep your system working well. Others say every 2 months or even every 3 months.  My return air handlers and my vents are all on the ceilings, which is good news in that dust and dog hair don't get as easily into those systems as if they were on the floor. Just a few things to keep in mind.

On the other side of sore

Today I'm feeling almost back to normal. After carrying and mixing 80 lb bags of concrete on Saturday I was extremely sore until this morning and my bruises are starting to fade. I had four amazing friends (whom I have given unexpected super hero nicknames in this post) come help me to haul, mix, pour, and level concrete! On Sunday, my friend, The Supreme-Concrete-Hauler, said he felt like someone beat him up in his sleep. I'm going to be ripped by the end of this project. Well, maybe not if I keep eating like I have been. I made banana baked french toast, a delicious egg bake, and pizza for our sustenance... and we certainly needed it. At first we were mixing the concrete in the holes because there were 3 of us doing mixing at a time, but in the afternoon when there were fewer people, we mixed the concrete in the wheelbarrow. It was much easier that way and my new wheelbarrow looks well-used now.

We were able to mix 2 bags at a time in the wheelbarrow. Tip: Make sure you rinse the concrete out of the wheelbarrow if you're taking any sort of break between mixing loads because concrete can dry pretty quickly. Luckily, The Master-Leveler would do the leveling while The Mixing-Hero and I stirred up a new batch of concrete so that concrete wouldn't dry in it.

A shout-out to the worker at Home Depot who loaded both loads of concrete. I gave positive customer feedback on their online survey... here's hoping I win the $5000 gift card. HD trip count for the day was 3 trips. Here's the truck being weighed down by a ton of concrete and a wheelbarrow.

The tools and hoes were in the cab of the truck. The Extreme-Errand-Runner got a kick out of my "Hoes, be quiet back there" when they clanged around on our trip back. Unfortunately, the wheelbarrow tire wasn't inflated enough for transporting the concrete the 1st load of concrete. Fortunately, my neighbor lent me his bike tire pump before unloading the 2nd load!

The holes passed the "Footings" inspection!

That is all! :)

Phew! Done digging holes and I feel like superwoman!

Thirteen of these

later...

and phase 1 of deck building is done. It's the demolition phase, so I'm pleased to announce that my backyard looks worse than ever.

Dirt pile and dog

Holes and hole covers (chairs, dog house, etc.)

I dug 12 of these holes to be 22 inches square and 24 inches deep (four are 28 inches deep... one of which Steve handled). This includes dealing with downpours that required removing some mud and cutting roots.

Phase 2 is creating concrete footers! But not until after phase 1.5 - hole inspection... coming this week. Let's hope they pass!

Halfway done digging holes!

I've worked really hard the past 2 days digging and measuring holes for my deck footers. These are impressive holes: twenty-two inches square and between 24 and 28 inches deep! I have 6 holes completely done and three partial holes dug. I'm taking a break in the heat of the day, but may work on them more later tonight. So far I haven't broken any nails, but I do have some blisters forming.

ps. This is my 100th post! 2 accomplishments achieved :)

2 ft of concrete

I began digging holes for my deck footers soon after getting my permit. Fortunately, only one of my footers conflicted with the posts of the old chain link fence. Unfortunately, one footer conflicted with a post. That post was set in two feet of concrete!!!
I started to dig around it and realized at one foot deep that it wasn't moving at all. My coworker lent me his heavy concrete breaking tool.

It's pretty awesome, but would have taken me forever to do. Steve, however, dominated that concrete! Here's what's left:

And not only did he do that, but he hauled it out of the hole on his own and then dug the hole to 28+inches deep and 22"x22" square. Twelve more holes and I'll be ready for 1st inspection! Well, I have one other pretty much completed and some others partially done, but a lot of digging still left to do.
This deck will not be going anywhere when it's built on that much concrete. And it's going to be awesome!