 Years ago, the Norfolk Traffic Court was conducted by a judge who was very intolerant of accidents. He often expressed his feelings by saying “that a person killed accidentally was just as dead as one killed on purpose”. We experience similar feelings when we hear frequently from people who are victims of a growing problem in our industry...
…that began on Jan 23, 2006, when the U.S Dept of Energy mandated that all new cooling units would have a SEER rating of 13 (for a definition of SEER, click here). Formerly the minimum SEER rating was 10. 13 is almost a 30% increase in efficiency and represents among other things, a serious change in design.
On the plus side, the mandated increase has many benefits, not the least of them being a substantial decrease in the annual amount of energy required to operate the nation’s cooling systems. On the minus side, there is a glaring problem when it comes time to have an existing condenser with a SEER of 10 or less replaced.
That’s because the outdoor unit (condenser) is only half (although the most expensive half) of a split-system. The air handler, refrigerant lines and evaporator coil, constitute the inside half of the system. Working in tandem, the outside and inside units must be matched in size and efficiency for best results (and to avoid damaging the new unit that may result in costly repairs, to say nothing of frustration and inconvenience).
In order to produce a SEER of 13, manufacturers had to drastically redesign their systems. The new units are considerably larger in physical size and require strict adherence to connecting the condensing units to matching fan coil units, using the correct size refrigeration tubing with the correct refrigerant charge, if the desired results are to be obtained…and therein lays the potential for fraud or scams.
Frauds and/or scams are harsh words and need careful definitions. They have nothing to do with pricing. All legitimate licensed contractors can charge whatever they wish for the materials and services that they provide and perform and it is quite common for job costing to differ greatly from company to company. You must determine if the service or product a company offers is worth the money. The decision is always yours. Pricing is not a scam. A scam on the other hand is defined as a fraudulent action, intentional, through miscommunication or through ignorance.
Having said that, let’s face it…replacing a HVAC condenser is not (and should not be) a casual matter. Air conditioning systems today are expensive. Having to replace a working indoor unit, just because of the requirement that it does not match the new condensing unit seems on the surface, an unnecessary addition to an already expensive project.
However, failure to replace an indoor unit, or mismatching components, can:
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1. Significantly reduce a new air conditioner's or heat pump's performance. |
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2. More importantly, installing a new 13 SEER outdoor unit with a "10 SEER" indoor coil can result in severe damage to the compressor. Installing a new 13 SEER outdoor unit with an old style, indoor cap tube coil for a 10 SEER system would be ignorant at its best and nearly criminal at its worst. |
And that’s where the “fraud or scam” enters the picture. Many contractors (and homeowners) are so obsessed with getting the lowest price…either thru ignorance or incompetence, will try to use part of the existing system (indoor fan, evaporator coil, or refrigerant tubing) with predictable, disastrous results.
In fact, so many defective compressors from comparatively “new” units are now being returned “under warranty”, that several manufacturers and distributors are currently considering requiring proof that the new condenser was matched with the proper indoor coil and tubing before honoring the warranty.
We can’t over emphasize here, the importance of choosing a reliable contractor when it comes to matters of health and comfort for your family (to say nothing about your pocketbook). It’s far more important than the brand of equipment, for no matter how well made a piece of equipment is or who manufactures it, the comfort, reliability and energy efficiency it provides is still in the hands of the company doing the installation. And we would also add this familiar caveat: “Look very closely at that bid for work that seems too good (low) to be true…it probably is not true”.
So how can you distinguish between the legitimate contractor and the scammer BEFORE you spend your money? Well, here is one way. Our web page “Choosing A Quality Contractor” is an “Instant Refresher” course…will give you a quick guideline to all the things to look for and need to know to make and intelligent decision. Click here.
Then find out EXACTLY what they propose to do and get it in writing! Don’t be satisfied with someone telling you “Oh, we do that too”.
Like the judge said, “being killed accidentally, is no different than being killed on purpose”.
Note: Some people complained that they did not receive the graphic of the Perfect Technician in our last newsletter. You can read the entire description and view the graphic by clicking here.
While Climatemakers main objective is to provide to our customers, the optimum HVAC services possible, our  secondary goal is to provide through our website and newsletters the best most complete information available in order that you may be fully informed.
Right now, while it is fresh in your mind, do you have any suggestions as to how we can improve our newsletter, our website or do you have a subject you would like to see discussed in a future newsletter? It’s real simple…just click here. I value the feed back from our customers so highly that I personally read every corporate email and would love to hear from you.
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