I have an older condo with a roof mounted heat pump. I had the heat pump replaced in June, 2008 with a Trane 2 1/2 ton unit per the recommendation of the contractor. 6 months later, I began to use the heat and now have problems. I live in Las Vegas, it is never super cold hear but nevertheless the system runs almost constantly. In addition, the temperature on the thermostat always runs 1 degree less than what I have it set at, i.e. if I have it set at 68, the temperature stays at 67, thus why it's staying on all the time.

Well, the contractor I had install the unit ( who had a clear record with the BBB and the Contractor's Board) went out of business. Now for the first time, I am told that I have a split system and the air handler should have been replaced also and needs to be replaced now. It is inside the unit, mounted in the ceiling.

According to this new contractor who took over the customer list for the old company, I have a 3 1/2 ton air handler and it needs to be matched up to the heat pump. All this for the wonderful cost of $5100. My heat pump only cost $2500. I am very upset and I don't have this much money. My condo isn't worth putting this amount of money into it but I also don't want to lose the new heat pump. Can anyone give me advice on if this sounds correct? I am having a second opinion this afternoon since the contractor tells me if I run this unit, the new condenser will die within minutes. I don't appreciate these hard sell techniques and don't know if this is true or not.

Can anything be done that will cost less than $5100? Please help! Thank you!

Jennifer

:(

NO YOUR UNIT WILL NOT DIE IN MINUTES. Yes you could end up damaging it.

In all cases the indoor unit should be an approved match system with the outdoor unit.

If your indoor section is older than 5 to 6 years it is probably not an approved match, but I would need to know specific model numbers of both indoor and outdoor units.

Contact the local Trane distributor for a name of a Comfort Specialist dealer and get another opinion.

You should also consider a Trane Extended Warranty that will cover all parts and LABOR for either five or even ten years

A little better explanation of your situation in plain english as to why you need to change that indoor coil/air handler is provided in the link below. BTW if a new coil is installed that matches the outdoor unit it might be cheaper than replacing the entire indoor unit. Depending upon how many KW electric heat strips are in your old indoor unit the cost for a new complete indoor unit at dealer level should be around 1200.00-1500.00 at the most so I think the price that was given to you was very high. I would seek out 2 more estimates before I would sign on the dotted line. A new indoor coil only is about 225.00-275.00 dealer cost but it may not fit the old coil box on the old unit. Labor is expensive but like I said before that price quote seems high.

Thank you to both of you for such detailed answers. I now understand what the problem is with the mismatched air handler. The air handler is probably at least 14 years old so it is definitely 10 SEER or less. I now have another snag in my story. The first tech charged the heat pump with more refrigerant and it is currently working. The tech said that the air coming through the register was 80 degrees before he charged it and 110 after. If charging the unit caused the system to work, doesn't that mean there is a leak? I had a second opinion from a Trane comfort specialist, who did say that the air handler should be replaced but he doesn't know where the leak is so he said it made more sense to do a leak test first. It couldn't be done this week due to the weather (snow and rain and low temps in the 30s).

He estimated $3000 to replace the air handler. For HVAC1000, does your estimate of $1200 to $1500 include labor? Should I, if possible, just have the leak fixed or replace the air handler, too? I have to assume I should have it replaced due the mismatch problems.

does your estimate of $1200 to $1500 include labor

No it does not include labor.

Should I, if possible, just have the leak fixed or replace the air handler, too

It is possible the leak is in the airhandler coil or the lineset going from the inside to the outside. It is also possible the new outside unit is leaking but that should be covered under warranty.

You need to do both fix the leak and replace the inside unit.

$3000.00 is a much better deal than $5100.00 for sure.

Some if not all of this can be blamed on the original person that sold you the new outside unit without replacing the inside unit. There are many companys that think you can just replace the outside unit and that was true many years ago. The new equipment in use today makes it a different ball game. At the university where I hold some classes we can get the old and new to almost matchup by changing the operating parameters but to the uniformed it is definitely not recommended or approved by the major manufactures.

I believe you are headed in the correct direction at this time so now all that is left to do is get it done. Post back with your results.

I haven't read anything that you have said about your cooling coil, I assume it is located directly either above or below the air handler, depending on whether you have a up flow or a down flow system. So has anyone said anything about replacing the cooling coil.
As far as the leak goes about 90 percent of the leaks that I find are in the cooling coil itself so it is possible that by changing just the cooling coil to one that works with your het pump might also take care of your leak problem and still work OK with your air handler. The only thing is that you might have to use your heat pump as an air conditioner only, unless it could be wired to work as a heat pump, with the present air handler