Things that make you sad, angry, or upset.

[Blizzard]

Just replaced mine a few weeks ago! I think I wrote about it here... mine was 16 years old and some no-name Chinese brand that the builder installed when my condo was built. I ended up replacing it with a Mitsubishi heat pump that so far is a MASSIVE upgrade in terms of cooling, noise, and energy efficiency. The standard warranty was 6 years labour, 10 years parts, and I paid an extra $155 to extend the labour warranty out to 10 years.

My install was less intensive because I also had all the hookups, but I did have to swap a breaker since the new machines operate on a different amperage than the old ones.

Nice, what size did you get and would you be comfortable sharing how much you paid?  We're looking at probably either just another 12,000btu or maybe 15,000btu if available to just go up slightly.

I got another 12,000 BTU unit. I asked about upgrading to an 18,000 BTU machine but was told that it was impossible since the refrigerant conduits in the wall were sized for a 12,000 BTU unit and wouldn't be able to carry a sufficient amount of coolant for a larger unit. So there would be no additional cooling capacity with a bigger unit, only additional heating capacity. Since I already have baseboard heaters everywhere and had just an A/C before, the heating capacity of the new machine will be only for efficiency purposes rather than necessity. Even if I can use the heat pump for 70-80% of heating depending on exterior temperatures, I'll save a bunch on my Hydro bill.

I paid $4,050 + tax including install, less a $936 subsidy from Hydro Quebec which I should receive in the mail in the next few weeks. I would definitely shop around because the quotes I received varied wildly, anywhere from $2,200 to over $5,000.

[Johnnymac]

Just replaced mine a few weeks ago! I think I wrote about it here... mine was 16 years old and some no-name Chinese brand that the builder installed when my condo was built. I ended up replacing it with a Mitsubishi heat pump that so far is a MASSIVE upgrade in terms of cooling, noise, and energy efficiency. The standard warranty was 6 years labour, 10 years parts, and I paid an extra $155 to extend the labour warranty out to 10 years.

My install was less intensive because I also had all the hookups, but I did have to swap a breaker since the new machines operate on a different amperage than the old ones.

Nice, what size did you get and would you be comfortable sharing how much you paid?  We're looking at probably either just another 12,000btu or maybe 15,000btu if available to just go up slightly.

I got another 12,000 BTU unit. I asked about upgrading to an 18,000 BTU machine but was told that it was impossible since the refrigerant conduits in the wall were sized for a 12,000 BTU unit and wouldn't be able to carry a sufficient amount of coolant for a larger unit. So there would be no additional cooling capacity with a bigger unit, only additional heating capacity. Since I already have baseboard heaters everywhere and had just an A/C before, the heating capacity of the new machine will be only for efficiency purposes rather than necessity. Even if I can use the heat pump for 70-80% of heating depending on exterior temperatures, I'll save a bunch on my Hydro bill.

I paid $4,050 + tax including install, less a $936 subsidy from Hydro Quebec which I should receive in the mail in the next few weeks. I would definitely shop around because the quotes I received varied wildly, anywhere from $2,200 to over $5,000.

You'll probably find that the heat you get from the heat pump is enough to heat your place almost fully.  It's our main source of heat for our main floor bungalow that is about 1,200 square feet.  Typically the only heater we have on outside of the heat pump is the small wall mounted convection heater in the bathroom and even then it's only on when we shower or if it's super cold out.

Our next door neighbor has been quoted $3K for his all taxes in, installed, with a 10 year warranty.  We're waiting to get a quote from the first guy we had come look at it last Friday, I think the units he typically install are LG and Gree, we currently have an LG and would be open to a change.

[Johnnymac]

So got a quote from the guy who came last Friday to look at our unit for repair and to replace the unit with a similar LG unit it'll be over $4,400, and to upgrade to the next level up LG it's over $5K.

So booking some quote tomorrow from a hand full of companies with different heat pump brands.  Got to figure out what is the best "value".

Was googling about mini split heat pumps and one brand kept coming up called Senville, you can buy their units from Home Depot, Amazon, etc.  So I went on their website to research their products and see if there are any local installers.  Turns out there was and the price he quoted over the phone knowing that electrical is already sorted, for their "Elite" series it's $2,800 plus HST and is eligible for the $400 rebate from the province. That's with a 10 year parts warranty.

The stats look pretty great SEER2 rating of 29.4, EER2 of 14.2, and HSPF2-4 rating of 14.5.  When compared to our current unit which has a SEER2 of 25.5, EER2 of 14.1, and an HSPF of 11.5.

So unless another company beats that I think this is the route we'll go. 

[GreatBigAbyss]

I always found it kinda weird that houses out east don't have forced air HVAC systems.  Like, just having air moving around the house even if heat or AC isn't actually on just improves comfort.  Also, being able to chill all rooms in a house is kinda nice. 

I suppose the advantage of electric baseboards (or ceiling/floor heat, whatever) would be you could heat certain rooms as needed.  But then, when it comes to chilling, having a single mini-split system in the living room doesn't really help you cool the bedrooms all that well. 

[Tortoise]

I'm sure historically they didn't need A/C out east, so there was less of a need for forced air.

[Oliver]

I always found it kinda weird that houses out east don't have forced air HVAC systems.  Like, just having air moving around the house even if heat or AC isn't actually on just improves comfort.  Also, being able to chill all rooms in a house is kinda nice. 

I suppose the advantage of electric baseboards (or ceiling/floor heat, whatever) would be you could heat certain rooms as needed.  But then, when it comes to chilling, having a single mini-split system in the living room doesn't really help you cool the bedrooms all that well. 

I think a large part of it is that historically we did not have natural gas here and our electricity was reasonably cheap so baseboards just made sense.

What's unfortunate is that in a lot of older houses they ended up removing ductwork from the days where you would heat with wood or coal, and put in electric baseboards. The same thing has also happened in rural houses where they ditched oil and replaced it with baseboards. Luckily that wasn't the case for us and we were able to install a ducted heat pump when we moved in.

Some older homes really have Frankenstein systems - a mix of the old ductwork, plus baseboards for rooms that need extra heat, and then mini-splits for cooling.

[Johnnymac]

I'm sure historically they didn't need A/C out east, so there was less of a need for forced air.

I tend to think it's what Oliver stated and the history of needing AC.  I grew up in the 80's and 90's and we never had AC in our house and I don't remember any of my friends or relatives having AC either.  It wasn't until the 00's before AC became a household standard in the Maritimes, or at least that's what it seemed like.

It's similar to when my wife talks about buying cars in Labrador City when she was younger, none of them came standard with AC but all of them came standard with an engine block heater.

[Johnnymac]

So today was quote day for mini splits, in the last day I have had 8 different companies come and give quotes.  Any of the quotes from "bigger" companies all ranged in the $4K-$6K range, the two smaller companies both came in around the $3K mark.

I had some specs that I wanted to be met and one of the bigger companies stated they didn't have any that matched those specs and asked if I could send them the ones that did that I have had quotes on.  Of course they are lesser known brands, but both manufactured by big name brands in GREE and Midea.  When I told him the prices that I'm getting quoted from the small guys of course they start to talk about how great their service is and how it can be hard to find someone to service/repair lesser known units.

I told him that in my experience with appliances, it doesn't matter which one you pick, all of them have a life span of around 10 years.  I also told him that rarely if ever have I run into a situation where I'd pay a 33-100% premium in order to get better service from a company, it just never happens and often times it's a major let down.

Decision should be made in the next 24 hours and then hopefully we can get our ailing unit replaced in the next week or two.  At least the major heat wave is over and it's cooling down nice at night.