My electric furnace is 17 year old. Rudd brand 2 1/2 ton central air and 14Kw air handler.
I had Freon added last year (1 lb.) and again this year (2 lb). It is the old style Freon.
I am considering replacing the a/c unit and a coil to get the newer Freon and better seer.
The one I have now is a seer 10. Anyways I was wondering if I should replace the air handler as well. Seeing as it is 17 year old and electric heat (not using heat pump part) would the fan motor and heating coils be close to worn out? I did not have the heat pump part of the furnace hooked up at the time of installation 17 year ago so the heat was pure electric coils in air handler.
I know silly me...I plan to get a/c unit with heat pump capabilities this time as well and hook it up this time.
Yes it may last a while yet as is but I am fixing to retire next year and am not sure I can afford to change it out then so I think I will do it now while I have the money.
My main concern is if I would be better off to change the air handler as well. Also I want the humidifier removed from the old one and the holes plugged where it was if I do not replace it. I never needed the humidifier in all this time.
The furnace is in my basement and is an updraft. Never had more than enough registers put in the basement to just keep pipes from freezing. Never planned to do more than store stuff down there and i have my washer and dryer down there.
Well now I find myself spending more time down there ( workshop and tools there) and I find the temp down there is 10 degrees cooler than upstairs winter and summer. Not sure what needs done about that but thought I might mention it in case that might help on deciding if I need to replace the air handler or not.

 

Seer isn’t achieved via any one piece of equipment, the rating is done via the AHRI match number.
If you look at the seer sticker on new equipment you’ll notice it says “up to”. Actual will be whatever the AHRI match number shows.
Yes, you’ll need to swap the air handler to get the most efficiency.

 

I agree...... one way to increase efficiency is a variable or multi speed air handler which your old one is not. A properly set up heat pump will drastically save you money in the winter.

 

Thank you for the answers. I figured the newer ones would be an improvement.

 

An improvement in blower motor technology only. Electric heat in your current unit is 100% efficient. Which will be the same in the new unit. So no efficiency will be gained there. The only issue is the cost for such energy.
Very important that the various components of an heat pump be properly matched though. Or all sorts of problems happen.
Ask your installer for the AHRI match number for the selected equipment.

 

thank you I will be sure to ask that the equipment be matched.