I wish he texted my partner the other pictures too instead of just this video but this was all he ended up sending. It's just shit like this all up in there.
I know we're getting salesman'd at but I think we might fall for it because the first guy quoted like 18-20k to replace the gaspack unit and replace all the duct work and this second guy, their initial quote for a larger 2 stage gaspack unit plus all the duct work was something like 22-23k. But then he calls his boss and his boss is on speakerphone saying, essentially, "please give us work please we're so desperate for work please we beg you" (not in those specific words) and dropped it down to 17k. Then he asked if there was a number that would make us agree and my partner said 15k and he went to talk to his boss and was like, yeah, no, we can do that, if we agree to set up an installation tomorrow. which is kind of a red flag because that's a high pressure salesman tactic. But also the guy on the phone was like "I'm going to do high pressure tactics because we really need the work." I guess because the weather has been unseasonably mild the last two weeks they haven't been getting as many calls, so their work crews have literally nothing to do right now.
Idk, it seems like a good deal but also looking at prices for similar units (3 ton 15 SEER2 gas packs) it's like 5000-7500 for the unit itself. Is 7500 in labor to install it, plus re do the ducts, reasonable? I think... maybe? They said something about having two crews out here to get it done in 1 day so I imagine they have to pay a lot of people?
I am also leaning towards doing it because our current unit is 9 years old and it's apparently been struggling the entire time. The guy today said it needs 1200CFM of air flow, but only having one 16x20 return vent restricts it to at most 700CFM. If it weren't for all that I'd be leaning more towards "let's just tape up all the gaps in the ducts and hope it doesn't break soon," but like, I dunno man, what if we put in all that effort and then it dies anyway. This is too much for me to deal with 
Lmao that explains a lot. The company has a plumbing themed name so i was like "why'd we call these people for HVAC" but my understanding is they have an HVAC and a plumbing department
Does the number they quoted sound like a good deal to you? If you need more info about the house to be sure lemme know
It sounds alright though shopping around is always a good idea. Don't know how you might feel about going ductless though if it's an old house with a furnace then idk along as that one works it's probably worth fixing up the ducts. You do sound like you're in a better position than them tho, if they begging for work they probably begging to get something other than plumbing done for once.
i am intrigued, but, how air move if no duct??
It's an older house and kind of moderately sized but with a sprawling layout (like the house is kind of in the shape of a big backwards L) that might make air flow weird. There's no furnace, it's all in 1 as a packaged gas unit with the A/C and the natural gas furnace outside in the same thing. we're replacing it with another gaspack, we mentioned heat pumps today because everybody loves their heat pumps but the guy said they sometimes struggle to really heat when it's <35F outside, so they use supplemental electric heating then, and all that requires a lot more electrical work to put in
thanks, it's hard to tell if they were just Salesman'ing at me or if they were being genuinely open about their own situation. I felt like they were but my dad was more inclined to think it's a clever ploy to pressure us to have work done immediately
Ductless Mini splits work by moving the refrigerant through compressed lines, rather than blowing the air around. Since you already have space in the ceilings and walls currently occupied by ducts, you can probably get a ceiling cassette style rather than the big wall units.
A lot of these mini split systems are also heat pumps, which are more than 100% efficient at heating down to most exterior temperatures when compared to gas or electric heating.
My boy Technology Connections has some really good videos explaining how heat pumps actually work and how the efficiency curves don't really line up the way you might think. They work fine well below 35f especially if you're getting one that's intended for places that regularly get that cold during the winter. The crossover point where electricity is more efficient depends on the heat pump installed, but it's somewhere between -15F and 0F, definitely not anywhere close to as high as 35F.
Yeah they're a bit less efficient at these extremely low temperatures, but that doesn't really matter and the electrical heating you need on those occasional really cold days can easily be supplied by a strategically placed plug in space heater.
You might also find that replacing your ductwork with a ductless mini split system could be more cost effective, especially depending on your power company's rebates which are often shockingly good. There are also some organizations and programs like the DoE's Weatherization Assistance Program that help homeowners with funding this type of improvement.
Heat pumps work extremely well and are relatively easy to install. My parents live in an old ass wood warmed house and put in two, no longer need to warm it with firewood as much in the winter.
Heat pumps are the go-to here, winter temps go far below 35f. On average about 4f is probably about where we are at.
Heat pumps are typically more efficient than electric heating (the second most efficient option) above -15°F.
Electrification is a good thing and we should all be trying to eliminate stationary gas appliances in our lives.
My heat pump quintupled my winter heating bill two years ago and it wasn't even a very cold winter, MF just struggled unbelievably hard. I took a look at the ratings on the model once and I probably got taken for a ride despite following the recommendations of my power company
Oh gawd. I'm guessing yours is at or below SEER 16? You gotta do the math as well to figure out what temperature you need to switch to conventional electric heating. You might be able to automate this with the humidity as well if you do smart home stuff.
Fuck if I know anything about it, I did what the experts were telling me while managing a newborn and career shift, it was the last place I could put research time
Understandable.
With ductless you move refrigerant instead of air look up ductless mini-split systems.
Side note, you might find the work of Technology Connections helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43XKfuptnik
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Minisplits is the way to do ductless heating and cooling if it's a heat pump, yeah heat pumps have a limit where they switch over to an alternative heating source after a point. Don't know what's the lowest it gets to in your area though it doesn't have to be all electrical if you have a furnace going. So the many splits work by having air handlers that receive the refrigerant and each turn on as needed in the buildings, you install them in each room turn on and let them do their thing as they send refrigerant back to the outdoor unit.
Yeah they need work bad prob have more staff on hand than they need and looking to make sure they get paid