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dovetonsils

Existing Fan Coil in tight crawlspace

dovetonsils
10 years ago

I was wondering if anyone has encountered this situation before. Our house was built in 1983 and we�ve owned it since 1985. Early on, I recognized that the house had a "time bomb" of sorts in that the crawl space is very tight (about 18" to the bottom of the joists) and contains the fan/coil/heater for the heat pump. We replaced the outside unit once in 1999 but we did not replace the inside portion at that time. We also replaced the blower motor twice and had the coil cleaned a couple of times. Each of these times the technician was complaining about how tight it is and we got charged extra. .

Although we never replaced the inside unit, our heat pump is very efficient and we are completely satisfied. However, even our new outside unit is getting old and I am worried about the next change out. We will probably be faced with getting an R410 system which requires a new inside unit. The "time bomb"? I be darned if I can figure out how you would get the old fan/coil/heater out of the crawlspace and get a new one in. You even have to get it under a steel girder.
We could also go to with a replacement R20 "dry" unit and re-use our refrigerant. I am not sure it makes sense to do that since the inside coil is over thirty years old. I also suppose that we could get someone to dig the crawlspace out a little deeper around the coil box so that it can be removed and a new one installed. Does that make sense?

Ironically, my current system was built to last. While I have had to replace some mechanical and electrical parts (fan motors, capacitors, relays, etc) over the years, I have never had a refrigerant leak in 30 years. I think the builder never anticipated that the EPA would require the inside unit to be changed.

Any thoughts or comments?

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