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      02-16-2013, 04:50 PM   #1
whenasked
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Home Warranty Company - HMS Home Warranty

I bought a home in last June 2012 and it came with warranty from HMS Home Warranty. My Home has a heat pump system with electric heat as back up.

Fast forward, my last electric bill was unusually high (Ohio) even though it is winter. I raised a claim with HMS and HMS authorized tech found a leak in my inside air handler unit coil. It was submitted to warranty company for next action.

The options provided to me are :

1) HMS Warranty company to replace only the air handler system(current one I have is TRANE) with PAYNE brand. This PAYNE uses R410a refrigerant out of the box and will need conversion to work with R22 refrigerant as my outside unit (existing heat pump) is designed for R22, Also I will need to pay $200 for debris removal and modification of duct work.

OR

2) HMS will give a credit for $807 so that I can buy my own system.

I did some research and also had a reputable Heating & Cooling system company look at this option #1 (provided above) by HMS Warranty.


I am quoting the evaluation from a reputable company as " It is not ethical to replace the air handler only and match it up to a 7 year old heat pump with R22 refrigerant. We need to do the right thing for the customer and replace whole system with a R410 system. When the heat pump fails he will have to change his air handler again because you can't buy R22 heat pump as the old coils of air-handler can't be flushed of the R22 & reused for R410"

The above company also conveyed, if they were to do this, they will not replace Air handler alone just because of the risk of having future issues at high percentage. Also, based on my research, with consideration to environment, it is recommended to use R410a system when ever possible.

Also I had several telephone conversations with other Heating & Cooling company in my area and they all echo the same analysis as the one I used for second opinion.

Also I got a quote for an equivalent system for $4765.

Hence the amount per option #2 is very negligible for me as a layman to go out in market and purchase a replacement. They also conveyed that Payne is lower tier model and its quality is not that something to be relied upon.

Any HVAC experts here? Would there any be issues if I go with option #1?

TIA
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