To: D & D Mechanical Refrigeration

Service Tech: Renan Gonzalez

Report about Brighton Home equipment selection.

07/30/2016

Reasons for this report

In recent months some people have questioned my decision to replace the pistons by TXVs at some Goodman
equipments. The reasons that I have given range from the economic costs to the company, to the need to maintain the
equipments installation within the standards required by the construction companies (In this case the Company Brighton
Homes).
As a service technician my main interest is to try to diagnose the problems encountered at the home of our customers
and try to solve them on the first visit, if possible. But at the same time, it is my responsibility to inform the Company of any
situation encountered in the field, if it can represent an economic loss for the Company, if it is not corrected.
This is the main reason for this report. I will address the question of replacing pistons by TXV from two points of view:
1. the information provided for the manufacturer and 2- The facts found during my service in the field. This analysis will try
to show two assumptions: a) The selection of the furnaces used in the different tonnages of Goodman equipment is wrong,
and b) Implementation of change of the TXV has resulted in a solution to furnace selection mistake. Finally I will offer some
recommendations on how to avoid the high costs that this problem has brought to the company.

Part I: What shows the manufacturer's information?

At the time of dealing with this problem to the company, the company gave me a table in which the selection of
equipment is shown. Is something well known that when you want to install a selection of equipment that corresponds to a
particular SEER specification, the document provided by the manufacturer, containing references to document AHRI, should
be used. This document is the certification by the institute indicating that the selection of equipment corresponds to a SEER
number determined.
The first question that arises is: Is it the furnace included in the document AHRI?
See the table provided by the company on the selection of equipment. This is Table I in the Annex. Here we can see
that for a value of 1.5 tons of refrigeration there is a selection of equipment certified by AHRI. In one of the columns there
is the reference number AHRI 5986633. The combination of equipment in this case is:

Condenser Unit: GSX160181F*

Evaporator Coil: CAPF3636B6D*
Furnace: GMS80403AN

This combination of equipment can achieve 14 SEER Efficiency. This is the objective in the case of the Brighton Homes
for this tonnage.
Now look what the manufacturer's documentation tells us about this combination. To do this look on page 26 of the
manual Product specification. (This is the reference 4 in the bibliography at the end of this report.) What we find there?
Consider the following Picture.
Figure 1. 5986633 AHRI Equipment Selection.

As we can see in the figure above, for AHRI number 5986633, the combination of equipment required is:

Condenser Unit: GSX160181F*

Evaporator Coil: CAPF3636B6D*

However, we see that the space for the suggested furnace is blank. Now see the following pages of the manual for other
combinations of the table: AHRI 5986637 page 28, AHRI 5986675 page 30, AHRI 5986679 page 33, AHRI 7489436 page
35, AHRI 5983472 page 40, AHRI 7489478 page 48, AHRI 5753038 page 53, page 62 AHRI 5983664, 5753047 AHRI page
65, page 67 AHRI 5,753,053, 5,753,054 AHRI page 69, page 70 AHRI 5,753,060, 5,987,076 AHRI pagina72.
By analyzing all these pages, what we can find in common? The selection of the furnace is blank. The reason for this is
that the SEER for this combination can be obtained by any furnace that to deliver the required amount of cubic feet per
minute x Ton. In this case it was the company who made the selection of furnace, probably after consulting the Manufacturer
Therefore, the first conclusion that we can arrive is that GMS8 furnace is not a requirement to achieve the necessary
SEER at AHRI document. The selection is rather that the company has made to provide the required air flow. The next
question that arises: Is it correct the selection of the furnace that the company has done?

Is it correct the selection of the furnace that the company has done?
To answer this question correctly, it is necessary to establish several facts. In my analysis, in the field, of this equipment
combination, I found serious problems with the relative humidity in the homes of my customers (See Figure 2). This situation
led me to analyze, using a psychrometer in duct, the system efficiency and the amount of cfms / ton that should be used in
the furnace air flow adjustment.
In order to be not very extensive, I will say that these studies led me to the conclusion that the best selection of airflow
is 350 cfms / ton. Whenever I used this selection, using for this the Magnehelic and blower performance data table, the
relative humidity down properly. At the same time the A/C system was able to maintain the desired temperature by the
customer. I reported it to the company and we began to use this value to adjust the airflow in the systems. The result has
been an improvement in reducing problems due to high relative humidity.

Figure 2. High relative humidity due wrong air flow.

However, even when in many systems, adjusting the airflow and refrigerant charge it led to increased efficiency, in other
systems the efficiency did not improve. In these systems, which generally had a static pressure of 0.50 IWC, it was
impossible to get the airflow stay within the range of 350 cfms / ton. This led me to make an analysis of the manufacturer's
literature in order to determine the cause of the problem. In this analysis, I found that the company selected by the furnace
is incorrect.
To understand my point, let me refer to several authors who agree with me about using 350 cfms / ton to control the
relative humidity:

This is not an unexpected result because the initial 831 cfms airflow estimate is in alignment with the 400 cfms per
12.00 MBtu/h conventional methodologies of lower performing equipment and less efficient houses. It is not

uncommon to find the target cfms range for a higher efficiency house with higher efficiency equipment to
fall closer to 350 cfms per 12.00 MBtu/h.1

The airflow in an air conditioning system is normally 400 cfms/ton in average humidity climates. A different airflow
may be used for other climates. In humid coastal areas, airflow may be 350 cfms/ton, and 450 cfms/ton may be
used in desert areas.2

LOW airflow (350 cfms/ton) is COMFORT & HUMID CLIMATE setting3

All these references show that in humid climates, and higher efficiency house, the airflow should be adjusted to 350
cfms / ton for proper humidity control. Is it Houston, and Texas in general, a humid climate? Yes, it is. The average of relative
humidity is 74% here. So, adjusting the airflow at 350 cfms / ton is required here. This is the reason that in making that
adjustment, air systems I've worked began to have better control of relative humidity. Now, why many systems fail to have
that efficiency? Here is an example to help us understand this.
Let's use the combination of the table with the AHRI number 5983472. The selection of equipment is as follows:

Condenser Unit: GSX160301F*

Evaporator Coil: CHPF3642C6C*
Furnace selected by Company: GMS80604BN.

Now let's look at the Blower Performance Table from Manufacturer Manual. In the table, look for how many cfms obtain
in this furnace for a system of 2.5 tons and a static pressure of 0.50. (See Picture 3.) How many cfms we obtain from this
selection? As you can see, it will be 1160 cfms. Now divide cfms / Tons of Refrigeration
1160 cfms / 2.5 Tons = 460 cfms/Ton

Reference # 1, page 18
Reference # 2, page 1055.
3
Reference # 3, page 9.
2

This is the amount of cfms that would be used for a desert climate. Note that we are using the lower blower speed. So
we cannot, with this furnace, to obtain 350 cfms / ton, required here in Houston.

Figure 3. Blower Performance Data for Furnace GMS8

Now look at Table II. There you will see that in each tonnage, the value of the manufacturer cfms offers 0.50 IWC is
about 450 cfms / ton. The only exception are the units 4 and 5 tons, which have 410 cfms and 394 cfms respectively. So a
careful analysis shows us that this furnace is not a good option for these systems.
Another fact which can be observed is that, in cases of the combinations AHRI 5753038, 5983664, 5753047, 5753053,
5753054, 5753060, using a thermostatic expansion valve is not optional, must be always used. However, in my work in the
field I've never seen that the company is following the manufacturer's specification.
What is the reason, then, why some systems do respond to airflow adjustment? The reason is simple: If the blower
speed, used for certain Tonnage, is not the lower, then we can use a lower speed for 350 cfms / ton. But in doing this, we
are not following the manufacturer's specifications given in the installation manual.
An analysis of Table II show that there is not the correct amount of cfms in almost all combinations made with this
selection of the furnace.
Of course, what we have done so here, it is only a theoretical exercise based on the manufacturer's data. But the
interesting thing is that the facts found in the field correspond exactly with what we have described here.
During this gathering facts I used a psychrometer on duct to see the efficiency of the systems, using the manufacturer's
recommended cfms, and the efficiency obtained using 350 cfms / ton. The result corresponds to what I have set up here:
Whenever the recommendation of the manufacturer is used, the system efficiency is really poor, bringing problems relative
humidity. However, when used 350 cfms / ton, system efficiency reaches values very close to 99% and moisture control is
perfect.
Another fact demonstrated in my analysis of the systems is that each manufacturer recommends the use of TXV in a
combination of equipment, its use also increases the efficiency of the system. But when the TXV is not used, the system
efficiency is poor.
In order to avoid exposure too extensive, I'll leave the analysis of the data obtained in the field, for the second part of
this report. In the second part I will show the readings obtained when the manufacturer's specifications are used, as well as
those always get that appropriate adjustments are made to the system.

Conclusions

To avoid humidity problems, we need to use 350 cfms / ton in adjusting the airflow from the furnace. This implies
the need to select an appropriate furnace for each different Tonnage.
The use of thermostatic expansion valves required, in cases where the AHRI certification specify this.

TABLE I. BRIGHTON HOMES EQUIPMENT SELECTION.

Model Number

Coil Model
Number

GSX160181F*
GSX160181F*

TXV

Furnace model
number

BTU
95F High

EER 95F

SEER

AHRI Ref
Number

CAPF3636B6D*
CHPF3636B6C*

GMS80403AN
GMS80403AN

18000
18000

12.2
12.2

14
14

5986633
5986637

GSX160241F*
GSX160241F*

CAPF3636B6D*
CHPF3636B6C*

GMS80403AN
GMS80403AN

23600
23600

12.2
12.2

14
14

5986675
5986679

GSX160301F*
GSX160301F*

CAPF3137B6A*
CHPF3642C6C*

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

28600
28400

12.2
12.2

14
14.5

7489436
5983472

GSX160361F*
GSX160361F*

CAPF3137B6A*
CHPF3743C6B*

TX3N4

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

34200
34800

12.2
12.2

14
14.5

7489478
5753038

GSX160421F*
GSX160421F*

CAPF3743C6D*
CHPF3743C6B*

TX5N4
TX5N4

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

40000
41500

12.2
12.2

14.5
14.5

5983664
5753047

GSX160481F*
GSX160481F*

CAPF4961C6D*
CHPF4860D6D*

TX5N4
TX5N4

GMS80805CN
GMS80805CN

45500
45500

12
12

14.5
14.5

5753053
5753054

GSX160601F*
GSX160601F*

CAPF4860C6D*
CHPF4860D6D*

TX5N4

GMS81005CN
GMS81005CN

53000
52000

12
12

14.5
14.5

5753060
5987076

TABLE II. BRIGHTON HOMES EQUIPMENT SELECTION, EXTENDED DATA.

Model
Number

Coil Model
Number

GSX160181F*
GSX160181F*

TXV

Furnace
model
number

BTU
95F High

EER
95F

SEER

AHRI Ref
Number

Total
4
CFMS

CFM X
Tons5

TONS

CAPF3636B6D*
CHPF3636B6C*

GMS80403AN6
GMS80403AN

18000
18000

12.2
12.2

14
14

5986633
5986637

761
761

507
507

1.5
1.5

GSX160241F*
GSX160241F*

CAPF3636B6D*
CHPF3636B6C*

GMS80403AN
GMS80403AN

23600
23600

12.2
12.2

14
14

5986675
5986679

913
913

456.5
456.5

2
2

GSX160301F*
GSX160301F*

CAPF3137B6A*
CHPF3642C6C*

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

28600
28400

12.2
12.2

14
14.5

7489436
5983472

1160
1160

464
464

2.5
2.5

GSX160361F*
GSX160361F*

CAPF3137B6A*
CHPF3743C6B*

TX3N4

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

34200
34800

12.2
12.2

14
14.5

7489478
5753038

1419
1419

473
473

3
3

GSX160421F*
GSX160421F*

CAPF3743C6D*
CHPF3743C6B*

TX5N4
TX5N4

GMS80604BN
GMS80604BN

40000
41500

12.2
12.2

14.5
14.5

5983664
5753047

1616
1616

461
461

3.5
3.5

GSX160481F*
GSX160481F*

CAPF4961C6D*
CHPF4860D6D*

TX5N4
TX5N4

GMS80805CN
GMS80805CN

45500
45500

12
12

14.5
14.5

5753053
5753054

1641
1641

410
410

4
4

GSX160601F*

CAPF4860C6D*

TX5N4

GMS81005CN

53000

12

14.5

5753060

1974

394

Total amount of cfms in the Blower Performance Data Table in the manual installation of the furnace, page 39.
Total amount of cfms in the Blower Performance Data Table divide for number of tons.
6
Underlined numbers indicate that models are not in the AHRI document.
5

GSX160601F*

CHPF4860D6D*

GMS81005CN

52000

12

14.5

5987076

1974

394

Bibliography
1234-

Us Department of Energy. Strategy Guideline HVAC Equipment Sizing.

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, Seventh edition.
Trane XV95. Two Stage Condensing Gas-Fired Furnace.
Goodman GSX16. Energy-Efficient Split System Air Conditioner 1 To 5 Tons Up to 16 SEER
(http://www.goodmanmfg.com/docs/librariesprovider6/default-document-library/ssgsx16b72b280022fa6258827eff0300754798.pdf?sfvrsn=0)