Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Goodman Spinoff

Seeing the other thread got me thinking...

I've got a Goodman 3 ton unit that's 12 years old. It's been serviced twice a year for the last 4 years. I'm not sure what kind of maintenance was performed prior to us buying the house. It seems to do ok when it's not blisteringly hot or cold. But on days like yesterday, it seems like it can't keep up. Just had it serviced today and the only thing the service tech mentioned was that it was "a little low on freon." I wonder if it might be undersized for my house. The climate controlled area is a little less than 1600sf. So, all you Aldeer experts, please chime in and tell me what I need to make this house a dang iceberg in the summer while still being able to keep the ice off the inside of the windows in the winter.

Nothing's gonna keep up right now. If it cools 15-18 degrees below outside temp you're getting all it's got. Heat pumps suck in the winter in my opinion.

I'm in about the same boat roadrn. I do my own maintenance, like clean inside and outside could. But what really helped me was I got a 120 volt window unit from Lowe's and turn it on during the hotdays when I get home from work. Since it's cooling the air that's getting pulled through the return, the bedrooms are cooler as well. It would be cheaper if it was 240 volt, but this was easier.

Did he add refrigerant to it?

3 ton on 1600sqft doesn't sound undersized to me based off of the old timer method, but a gazillion different things can factor into what size you need.

Tinfoil over the windows helps a little. Its so hot down here. It'll melt new blinds by the end of summer

Are you on a foundation or do you have a crawl space? Check into spray foam insulation. I think they can spray down into existing walls now. That stuff is amazing. Put more insulation in the attic. Old windows can let a lot of air out as well.

Yes. He said it was such a small amount that he didn't charge me for it. I guess he was being straight up because the price didn't change and this was a re-up on the yearly maintenance contract. He did mention that the unit in the basement is a 2 ton. Is that ok to have a mismatch like that?

Sitting on a full basement. I may look into adding some insulation to the attic. We've got that fluffy, loose stuff that kinda looks like the polyfill you'd find in a stuffed animal. The windows are 12 years old. Would that be considered "old" for purposes of energy efficiency/ AC effectiveness?

If it is a split central unit leak may just be A-coil you could replace for about a $1000 and should include re-use old freon or new substitute freon. They have a leak sensor and can tell you and show you location of leak. Not all repairmen will want to tell you A-coil inside replacement is option. New insulated windows and added insulation in all walls and ceiling too would help in older homes. New central unit would be more efficient if you got about 10k or want to pay on it for about 5years and everything is new, may or may not be built better.

It simply isn't worth it, IMO, to replace an r22 coil in any system, especially a 12 year old goodman. There's likely not many AC units in America that couldn't fix, but that doesn't mean they all need fixed....and I don't recommend to use any of the r22 "alternatives", haven't seen one yet that impressed me.