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Utilities

Installing a New Furnace and Central Air Conditioner

July 10, 2017 by Andrew 1 Comment

We bought a new furnace and air conditioner!  As a bit of background, our 1905 house has a working furnace, but the AC is from 1984 and has never worked during our residency.

“Finally!” was the reaction that family members gave us when we told them the news.  Then we informed them it wasn’t for our house but instead for a tenant’s apartment.  Haha, silly goose you should know us better than that.  😛

The units that we were replacing were original to the 1975 building.
You can usually decode the age of a unit by its model number.  This Friedrich furnace, # GDA080NDB, starts with GDA.  G = 1970s, D = Year 4, and A = January.  So the manufacture date for this particular furnace was January of 1974, or more simply put, it was 43 years old.

The outside AC condenser was also original equipment.

Why Not Repair?

About a week and a half ago I got a call from the tenant saying that the AC wasn’t putting out cold air.  I ran through a quick troubleshooting list and found no easy fixes.  The thermostat was set to “cool”, the air handler blower was working and pushing air through the ductwork, the outside condenser had power and the fan was spinning, and the compressor was running.  It was almost certainly a refrigerant leak.  I knew that the former tenant who had lived there for seven years had rarely or never used the AC.  This was likely a long term issue that had not just sprung up since the last season.

I called out an HVAC professional to give me an opinion and prices.  These older AC systems use a refrigerant called R22, a nice ozone destroying cocktail that is being phased out of production in favor of a more environmentally friendly R410A.  R22 and R410A are not compatible.  As such, R22 refrigerant prices have skyrocketed.  It is simple supply and demand.  There are still a lot of old R22 systems that have working compressors, capacitors, and coils.  They just need a top off of refrigerant.

The HVAC technician gave me a quote of $100/pound of R22 refrigerant.  I asked how many pounds would be needed and he said “A lot”.  At a minimum, I would guess five pounds to charge the system.  That’s at least $500 right off the bat, plus you have to factor in the labor and the cost of fixing any leaks in the refrigerant lines.  That is assuming that the leaks are in the lines and not somewhere in the condenser or the coil, both things that are not serviceable.

Repairing the system would have cost around $1,000 and at the end of the day, you still have equipment from the 1970s.  So what does it cost to replace?

Replace

Replacement costs are going to vary WIDELY depending on what equipment you select, but more so on who you select to do the work.  While replacing a gas furnace for another gas furnace is probably in the realm for an experienced DIYer, AC systems are definitely something that you are going to want a licensed and experienced person to come do for you.

I got a few bids from smaller mom and pop shops and individuals who work for bigger shops but also do moonlight work.  While big companies are convenient with their dedicated salesmen, 24/7 phone hours, and flashy new trucks, you are also paying a surcharge on every job for dedicated salesmen, 24/7 phone hours, and flashy new trucks.  The smaller the company, the smaller the overhead.

In the end, I found an individual who moonlights on the weekends.  He had all of the expertise, but none of the heavy overhead.  For the equipment, I selected the no bells and whistles, simplest models of Goodman furnace, condenser, and coil.  Goodman gets crapped on a lot and there is no shortage of hate for it on the internet.  Personally, I believe that all of the different brands are within a few percentage of quality to one another.  The biggest separator in how long something lasts is how well it is installed.  For example, if I installed a top of the line Trane or Carrier model AC system, it probably would last a quarter of the time as the most basic Goodman installed by a professional.

Another common misconception that consumers may run into is believing that they must buy the most efficient furnace or AC unit to save money.

First off, we don’t pay the utilities for the apartments, so there isn’t much to be saved by spending more on a flashier unit.  Secondly, assuming that we did pay for the utilities, the payback time of a more efficient unit might be longer than the actual lifespan of the unit.  Thirdly, the more bells and whistles on a unit means more things that can break.  Service calls and parts can quickly erase any money saved by the higher efficiency.

Finally, simply upgrading from any 1970s unit to a basic 2017 unit will likely be a HUGE increase in efficiency.  If I had to guess, the original AC equipment when it was installed was probably around a 6 or 7 SEER unit.  After decades of use, it had probably degraded to a 4-5 SEER efficiency.  By contrast, the new ‘least efficient’ unit that we installed is a 13 SEER unit.  Likewise, the original furnace was probably a 65% efficiency unit when it was installed.  It too had probably degraded and was operating in the 50-60% range.  The one we just installed was a ‘least efficient’ 80% model.

While the big equipment gets a lot of attention, the quality and longevity of a new install can be greatly affected by the refrigerant lines that connect up the inside and outside.

Known as a line set, these two copper pipes carry the R410a between the outside condenser and inside evaporator coil.  I chose to replace the old lines for three reasons.

  1. They were undersized for the new equipment
  2. They might have leaks in them
  3. Residual R22 contaminants and oil might be lurking inside them that could poison the new system

Unlike the water supply pipes in your house that might also be copper, these refrigerant lines need to be brazed together.  Brazing is a high temperature method of connecting copper pipe.  In terms of heat, there is Soldering < Brazing < Welding.  Brazed joints can withstand the 400 PSI of pressure that is put on refrigerant lines.

Here is a picture of the new evaporator coil hooked up to the new line set.

There is really nothing DIY about this except maybe the condensate drain in the lower left corner.

Here is the old equipment waiting for scrappers to come and recycle all of the metal.

The new furnace is quite a bit shorter than the old one, so the difference in height needs to be made up with some transition ductwork called a plenum.

The inside of the furnace is dead simple.

The three black cylinders along the bottom are the burners.  The two white electrical cables on the left that go to the cigarette looking thing is the hot surface ignitor (circled in purple).  There is no pilot light to worry about, the hot surface ignitor just gets cherry red hot and lights the gas when it needs to.  The other replaceable part is the flame sensor (circled in yellow) on the right side just above the burner.

Here is a picture of the AC system getting leak tested.

These outside condensers come pre-charged with refrigerant, but it is only enough to cover 12′ worth of copper lines.  If your lines are longer than 12′ (hint, they probably are) you’ll have to top it off.  Any HVAC pro worth their salt will fine tune the system anyway.

It took about 16 hours of work to replace all the components.  The total cost, including labor, was about $3200 with the equipment being priced near or at cost.  The nice thing about Goodman, is that you can actually see prices online.  We saved $200 in labor by doing both the furnace and AC at the same time.

With any luck we’ll have no trouble out of this equipment for at least 10 years, hopefully 20.  It is more environmentally friendly, reduces utility bills, and is quieter.

Now we have four more to do and you can guess which one will be done last.  🙂

Posted in: Business, DIY Tagged: plumbing, Utilities

Repairing and Replacing Window Screens – A Small Science Experiment With Sun Guard 90

May 25, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

When we bought our house three years ago, we also inherited a basement full of window screens in various states of disrepair.  Each Summer, I dutifully pull them out of storage and put them in place and each Summer there are more left in the basement needing repairs.  This year, I decided it was time to spend a day to fix them all.  If the temperature forecasts for this summer are at all accurate, we are in for a real scorcher season.

wsi_summer

Frequent readers of this blog know that our central AC has never worked.  The condenser outside is an ’84 Sears Kenmore unit.  You can imagine my excitement when I saw a screen material at the home improvement store that claimed to reduce temperatures by blocking sunlight and UV rays.

IMG_9349

Armed with a gift card, I started an experiment to see if this screen material lived up to the hype or not.

Hypothesis

Replacing existing aluminum screening material in a South or West facing window would reduce the temperature recorded inside that window.

Experimental Method

I gathered up the needed materials,

  • New York Wire Sun Guard Charcoal 90 Screening
  • .14 Spline
  • Spline tool
  • Existing South/West facing window
  • Scissors
  • Utility knife

IMG_9348

After removing the old spline and screen material, I rolled the new sun guard screen over the frame.

IMG_9350

Then I pressed new spline material into place and cut off the excess screening.  I learned the hard way that it is best to keep the screen material somewhat loose.  Over tightening the screening will bend the frame and it won’t fit right into the window opening.

IMG_9351

With the renovated screen in place for a hour, I then placed a thermometer on the window sill.

IMG_9354

You can see that there is a lot less sunlight behind the renovated screen.

After letting the thermometer settle for five minutes, I took a reading. I then moved the thermometer behind a regular window adjacent to the renovated one.  After five minutes to stabilize, I checked the thermometer again.

IMG_9358IMG_9361

Sun Guard screening recorded at 82° F.  The control window recorded at 90-91° F.

Conclusion

The Sun Guard screening does prevent sunlight from entering the house and helps keep the interior cooler than a regular window.  After seeing these results, I plan on replacing all of the South and West facing screens with this type of material to help keep our house cooler.  I suspect that this type of upgrade would also be beneficial for lowering AC utility bills if you had this type of setup:

outside hot – screens – windows – ac conditioned space.

Posted in: DIY, House Tagged: summer, Utilities, window

The Yearly Internet Bill Reset

May 19, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Every year our internet bill goes up when we roll off the promotional rate, so every year I call Comcast, our service provider, and find what new promo rate I can get us on.  See last year’s discussion here.

This year, we rolled off the 25 Mbps for $30/mo and went up to $50/mo.  I called in, and the only cheaper plan was a 3Mbps for $40.  I could however triple our speed for the same price.  So that’s what I did.  For the next 12 months, we’ll be paying $50/mo for 75Mbps.  We won’t come close to using that kind of bandwidth, but we might as well get more for the same amount of money.

5337948448

Call to Comcast, 15 minutes.

Next year, things should get more interesting because we’ll be going from two choices, Comcast and Frontier, to three.  Metronet, a fiber optic company, will start laying line this year.  While I don’t know their prices, I do suspect that the added competition will be good for consumers.

Posted in: Technology Tagged: Internet, Utilities

The Numbers Don’t Lie

December 1, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Ahh, the afterglow of the shopping event of the year.  This year we splurged on a new mattress for our guest bedroom.  It was past time to replace the mattress of unknown age that I picked up at a second hand shop.  Spending money on items between you and ground is something that I am less frugal about.  Shoes, mattresses, and tires are just some of the things that I will gladly shell out a little extra on.

This year, Lowes’ Black Friday deal ended up sucking me in.  They had a deal on LED lightbulbs for a buck a piece.  I couldn’t believe how cheap that was, and yet I was a bit wary.  Two years ago we shopped for TVs during Black Friday and from that experience I knew that manufacturers make special product models just for BF.  These special productions runs usually cut corners and produce an inferior product.  Two years ago, we ended up getting a name brand regular tv model on clearance for the same price as a BF generic.  A decision I do not regret.

So color me unsurprised when I went into Lowes (on Monday, I’m not crazy enough to go on Friday) and saw that the expected life of these super cheap LEDs was only 2000 hours.  Most LEDs have expected life 5-10 times as much for 2-3 times the price.  Still, I loaded up a cart and swapped out most of the CFLs in our house.

Now for the math, was it the right decision?

Most of the CFLs replaced were 13 watts and had been installed about 3 years ago (~1/3 of expected life).

The LEDs are 9 watts and our electric rate $0.0912087/kWh (taken from our last utility bill).

I wanted to find out how many hours of life I needed to get from the LEDs to break even at $1.  The difference between the CFLs and LEDs was .004 kWh.

MSP8721cb2i2d25760d00b000016gh1c326i430384

MSP8761cb2i2d25760d00b000067gbig87288cfi5i

2741 Hours

Damn, I screwed myself.

The good news is that if you are replacing a higher wattage bulb, say a 60 watt incandescent, the math works out favorably.  In that case you only need to get 215 hours of life out of these cheapo LEDs to break even.

I guess I can console myself with the fact that the replaced CFLs were already 1/3 into their stated lives and CFLs contain mercury.  Also, I did pass those CFLs onto neighbors who replaced incandescents.  Yay for the world, boo for not doing the math beforehand.

Posted in: House, Technology Tagged: Utilities

Picking an Energy Supplier

March 23, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Do you want to save $50-$100 bucks in five minutes?  Of course you do!  Keep reading to learn how.

Did you know that you can shop around and choose what company you buy energy from?  That’s right, you don’t have to purchase your electricity or gas from the company that pipes it to your door.  Our municipality just negotiated a new two year contract on behalf of residents for electric and after seeing the results of said negotiations I was left with more questions than answers.

The new two year fixed opt-out rate is for 5.6¢ per kilowatt hour (kWh) plus an additional 0.1¢ city imposed fee on top of that for managing the aggregation program.  That rate is for raw energy, and that energy still has to get from where it is generated to your house, and that is the distribution charge that you pay to your electric company.  In our case, we have Ameren.  Ameren’s website has a list of suppliers that you can purchase from so I did what any good nerd would do and opened up a blank spreadsheet and got to work.

Here is the result of a lunch break’s worth of internet sleuthing (click on it for a PDF version).

Electric Suppliers

Most of the suppliers were more costly than the negotiated aggregate rate.  I would kind of hope that the collective bargaining power of 30,000+ households could beat an anonymous internet quote.  With that said, there were two suppliers that offered better one year fixed rates than the default Homefield Energy.

MidAmerican Energy offers a 4.54¢/kWh one year fixed rate with no cancellation fee.  Viridian Energy offers a slightly higher 5.49¢/kWh one year fixed rate with a cancellation fee.  Both options beat the city negotiated rate.

Apples to Oranges

I hear you saying, “Okay Andrew, this isn’t a very good comparison.”  These lower rates are one year vs two year, and that is true.  In order for it to balance out, rates in the second year would have to increase to 6.7¢/kWh for MidAmerican Energy.  A number that is hardly even seen on the price matrix as of today.  I would peg the probability of such a rate increase in one year’s time as very small.

“Well, what about the environment Mr. Smart Guy?!”  Each energy supplier has their own breakdown of how their energy is generated (MidAmerican, Homefield Energy).  Coal, one of the worst polluters is also one of the cheapest forms of electric generation.  So how do Homefield Energy and MidAmerican Energy compete in terms of ‘greenness’?

Energy Supplier Greenness

 

Taking coal and natural gas together (arguably the two worst polluters) pins Homefield Energy as the dirtier supplier with 72.33% of their electrical generation coming from those two sources.  So in this case, it is not a matter of paying more to Homefield because they offer cleaner electrons.  In fact, MidAmerican has about 30% renewable energy (in the form of wind) compared to Homefield’s dismal 6%.

A Penny or Two Matters

So MidAmerican is cheaper and cleaner, but does it really matter to John and Jane Doe consumer?  I mean, it is only 1.06¢ difference per kWh.  According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA, the average U.S. residential utility customer used 10,908 kWh in 2013.  Multiply that usage by the cost difference between these two suppliers (.0106) and you end up with $115.62 in savings per year.  Not too shabby for spending 5 minutes on an enrollment website.  We personally stand to save about $58 based off our usage (5514 kWh) in 2014.  Alternatively, we could spend an extra $50 and go with Viridian’s 100% renewable one year rate at 6.49¢/kWh.

Aggregate Contract?

At the end of my hour traipse through different electric supplier’s websites I am still left with the question of why our municipality agreed to the contract that they did.  There are cheaper options available and there are greener options as well.  Heck, for a cash strapped city that is always claiming to look for more revenue, it doesn’t take much creativity to set the opt-out rate at MidAmerican’s low price of 4.54¢/kWh and then add on a surcharge of 1.06¢/kWh to bring it up to their current contract rate.  The city would pocket about 3.9 million dollars!!

34,131 households * 10,908 kWh (average annual usage) * $0.0106

The precedent for adding a surcharge is already there, they currently add one and nobody has raised a fuss.  A spokesperson for one energy supplier said that less than 10% of customers opt out of aggregate contracts.  Most people simply don’t care.

Perhaps MidAmerican couldn’t generate enough electricity for 30,000 households.  That still leaves the possibility of using Viridian’s one year fixed rate @ 5.49¢/kWh.  Not only is it 50% renewable, quite an improvement over 6%, but if the same money raking strategy was employed here the city would still be able to generate over $400k in revenue.

34,131 households * 10,908 kWh (average annual usage) * $0.0011

I may be missing a piece of the puzzle, but it seems to me that there is a drastically better solution available than the one that has been presented to the public.  The current 0.1¢ surcharge to manage the aggregate program is estimated to generate about $370,000.  I spent a lunch break and found a better rate.

Posted in: Savings Tagged: Budget, tips, Utilities
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