The joys of installing a new HVAC system

 

A short while ago, I noted:

We recently got paid a useful sum of money that's been owed to us for some time.  If we put it in the bank, the inflation rate would reduce its buying power by double digit percentages every year; so we're going to put it to work instead, by investing in major domestic improvements while we can afford them.

We're investing part of that money in replacing our old HVAC system.  It was installed when the house was built, 30-odd years ago, and was on its last legs.  (The last time something broke, two years ago, the local HVAC service company couldn't get new parts to fix it, and had to pay an exorbitant price for a used part [which was passed on to us, of course].  They warned us at the time that the next time it broke, they probably couldn't fix it, and advised us to save up for a replacement system.)  The old geothermal system was also too small, a 2-ton-capacity unit instead of the recommended 3-ton unit for our size of house.  In high summer it ran non-stop for 18 hours a day trying to keep the place cool, and in mid-winter it ran non-stop trying to keep the house warm.  Electricity bills reflected that.

We got several quotes to replace it, and were astonished at the prices currently being charged.  Two years ago, we could have bought a geothermal system for approximately $10K.  Today, geothermal would have set us back more than double that price - far beyond our budget;  so we went for a conventional heat pump system instead, which still cost us almost $12K with the addition of two extra vents and the duct work to reach them.  At the recommendation of the installer, we increased system capacity from 2 to 3½ tons.  The new system also has a much higher SEER rating than the old one.

The installation team showed up bright and early on Wednesday morning.  The first order of business was to remove the old geothermal system, which had been installed in the attic.  It was very heavy indeed, so much so that they had to break it down into component parts and remove them one at a time.  Once that had been done, they tried to lift the new unit into the attic, only to find that it was too big to fit through the narrow hatchway leading up there;  so they had to unscrew the frame surrounding the hatch and take down the folding ladder giving access to it, then use conventional step-ladders to hoist the new A/C unit up there.  A great deal of sweat and sotto voce bad language later, they managed to complete the exchange, with yours truly and our cats as interested observers (and listeners!).

Over the rest of Wednesday and yesterday, heavy footsteps and loud mutterings were heard from the attic as wider ducts were installed to replace the old, narrower ones.  Our two cats did not approve of such continued interruptions from above, and showed their disdain by vanishing under beds and staying there until work ended each day - after which, of course, they demanded treats and extra attention to compensate them for the trauma they'd had to endure.  My wife calls them "furry little socialists", and I think she's not far wrong!

The new system "went live" late yesterday afternoon.  It's humming right along, and is already proving to be very much more efficient than the old one, keeping the house at the right temperature for much less run-time than we saw in the past.

Now comes the added financial pain of getting an electrician to give us a quote to install a larger electrical panel.  We don't need more power to the house, but we need more room for expansion, given that we want to install a generator switch and run a power line to a garden shed in future.  The new HVAC system took up two of our open slots, so there are no longer enough free spaces on the existing panel to accommodate that expansion.  Oh, well . . . our debt repayment windfall won't last long at this rate, but as they say in the classics, it's only money!

Peter