My husband and I are looking at condos and recently saw one we really like, but the central air seems noisy. The real estate agents also agree it’s quite noisy.
The unit is in a closet with slat front. The unit says Concord model 2AC13L42P-1A. (The first character might be a “Z” instead of a “2”.)
Is this brand or model known to be noisy? What are some that are known to be quiet?
The living unit is 2000 sf.
Never heard of Concord before so it’s probably just a run-of-the-mill generic furnace/ac.
The big brand names (Carrier, Bryant, etc.) sell units that are designed to run quiet and promote them as a feature. More money though for the brand names.
Hmmm…you have to figure out if the blower or compressor unit is making the noise. You might be able to replace the blow motor with something quieter and save thousands over a whole new setup.
Sometimes even a quiet model is relatively noisy when the duct work is contributing to the problem, or when there just isn’t room to buffer the sound. A given am’t of air going through the system is going to create a certain am’t of noise. The only thing you can do is explore sound insulation options.
Slatted doors are not always needed if the unit has the proper returns, but might be needed. An HVAC professional can help you figure this out. If you can lose the slats and buffer the area with modern sound insulation materials, you might want to go this route.
Is the compressor the part that’s up on the roof? The noisy thing is inside the closet, would that mean it’s the blower?
I’m thinking that IF we make an offer, probably we should have two inspections done – the regular one, and another by an HVAC guy.
Unless you’re in a really tight spot financially, it might not make sense for a noisy air handler to get in the way of buying the home.
You’ve got a (probably) 4-ton air conditioner for 2000 square feet. The air handler needs to be able to move a lot of air for that much space, and moving that much air is probably going to make some noise.
What kind of noise is it? Rushing air? Buzzing/rattling? Big motor humming away? Rattles and buzzes are just a matter of tracking down what’s loose and tightening it. It is possible that the blower motor’s dying and you’re hearing the rumble of a worn-out bearing, or the fan itself is off balance.
Concord is sold by, but not necessarily made by Lennox.
ETA: The compressor is the outside portion of the system. The air handler is the part inside the closet. Assuming you’ve also got a furnace, the gas burners will be inside the air handler.
Getting two or more estimates for both quieting the system and for replacing it would be a good idea. Assuming there aren’t any oddities in your building, you can probably get a new (and likely more energy-efficient) system for under $10,000. There are often tax credits and rebates from the local electric utility as well to sweeten the deal.
It’s a brand new system in a brand new condo. It’s just loud rushing air, it doesn’t sound like anything rattling or buzzing. But everyone agrees it is louder than would be expected.
The condo in general seems to have been constructed very well. But I don’t know anything about A/C.
If the condo is empty right now, it is going to sound a lot noisier than when there are furnishings and such in place.
Nobody is living there, but it has been “staged”, i.e. there are furnishings and some rugs.
My house had the original A/C system put in around 1980. It failed and a new one was installed sometime in the early 2000’s. The new one is a lot noisier, enough so that you have to turn up the TV a notch or two. I find it irritating. I’ve wondered if it’s something that’s common in newer systems, like maybe faster airflow helps efficiency somehow. Or, the new one might just be a really cheap one. The noise is just the white noise of airflow.
If it is indeed just the sound of rushing air, and you can’t hear any motor noise, then it sounds like the registers are too small for the volume of air going through them, or the system is too powerful for the duct configuration. More sophisticated air handlers have variable speed fans, so you might be able to reduce the speed (via internal settings).
Right. It’s what is euphemistically referred to as “builder’s grade”, and less charitably as “the cheapest shit money can buy”. The systems usually have the worst energy efficiency available, and they generally install the smallest (and therefore noisiest) ductwork possible.
I had some more thought about this - the problem is almost definitely the ductwork (Give Harry Buttle, er, Tuttle a call). There could be leaks in the intake or trunk duct, the former of which would be exacerbated by a dirty air filter.