Which brand central air unit to buy?

[sixdogs]

I have a Rheem. It's 36 years old. I've replaced a capacitor once in that time.
And, two times was a bit low on freon. Being the old R12 I think.
However most of the AC units are good these days. Just pick a reputable dealer

I don't think most of the units are good these days and that's why I ask. In checking things out I found lots of complaints and very low ratings for makers I thought were good. My 15 year old that needs to be replaced and your 36 year old Rheem appear to be made to different standards.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I replaced an 18 year old Bryant last year. Great unit that gave very little trouble. 2 ton unit. Guy at my church has been in the heat/air business over 20 years. He installed a Goodman and so far so good. How well it holds up who knows. 10 year warranty. I doubt if it will be as good as my older Bryant.

 

[Loadstar]

Why do you need to replace the unit?

Here are some simple tips of the trade
-The less bells and whistles you have the more reliability you are going to see.
-while Lennox makes good units, parts are very different to them. In our area you usually can't just go to a store and get a Lennox part. You have to call Lennox and its a joke. It may be the greatest machine ever but it's worth nothing around here if it doesn't have support.
-York and Lennox have some strange ways to go from point A to point B. Great machines, but I feel sorry for their owners and most dread working on them.
-if something is going to fail, it's probably going to be your new evaporator leaking or your metering device failing. Seems every manufacturer is having issues with one model or another.
-When it comes to tough it is hard to argue a rheem or trane not being on top. From coal mines, power plants, nasty apartments, etc these units are brutes. Each have their generics different sticker/paint same thing.
-goodman is a good unit but often has bad reviews. The problem with goodman is they are easily acquired by hacks. They are units built with same if not better components than the big guys. The problem is often they are installed by people who have no business installing so the unit never had a chance to run properly and eats major components. It's a doomed to failure story.
-if you live in salt spray get the cheapest. (Your unit is 15 so I doubt you do)
-if you have old ductwork or patched together/tarantula/multiple additions, just don't worry about the king of efficiency unit. Unit only does as good as its ductwork. Think about it, it all depends on moving air. You put a carrier greenspeed on old cobbled ductwork you won't see the payoff or benefit you could have seen. Most likely a bottom of the barrel unit would have done just as well but what can you compare it to. All you see is a little cheaper bills so you you think you have the cat by the tail.

I may think of more but I'm about to put my boots on and go battle some Carrier triple split heat pump package units. Ugghhh

 

[RalphVa]

We replaced our old Trane with a Carrier about 5 years ago. The capacitor went on the Carrier this year as well as the Lennox for the upstairs. Reversing valve went out on the Lennox once and had to replace the outside unit once (in 15 years). When we replaced the Trane, both the inside and outside were replaced. More efficient and quieter with a variable speed fan on the inside unit.

Look at both ratings and SEER. Some non-geothermal have high SEERs. The Carrier is about 17. Think the Lennox is only 12 SEER.

We've a ductless unit for the basement that has a 27 SEER. Think it's a Fuji. They're the quietest and don't have any heat coils as backup; so they go down to very cold temps. Can put up to about 7 zones on one outside unit. Mitsubishi also makes ductless units.

Ralph

 

[davesl708]

I don't think most of the units are good these days and that's why I ask. In checking things out I found lots of complaints and very low ratings for makers I thought were good. My 15 year old that needs to be replaced and your 36 year old Rheem appear to be made to different standards.

I went though this 4 years ago and found most brands would not expect their units to last more than 10 years tops.
I went with Geo Thermal ground loop. Best choice I made. With the 30% tax credit the cost was nearly a wash.
My last utility bill was $50.86. Can't beat that. I am total electric with hot tub running 24/7/365.
No noise outside either. Two stage heat system from Water Furnace. Second stage never comes on in winter. Electric backup heat.
Inside unit has 10 year warranty and ground loop has 50 year warranty.
The cost was just about the same as a good high efficiency gas/heat pump system.

The byproduct of the system is hot water. So almost no extra cost to produce hot water.

 

[LD1]

What is wrong with the current lennox? And why not repair it?

Buying a new unit, you will pay for alot of things that are probably still good on your unit

 

[txdon]

I replaced my system this past winter. American Standard (same as Trane) and Carrier (Same as Bryant) both had ten year mfg warranties.

Does the warranty include labor? Our Carrier does not and it cost $150 to replace the $30 capacitor. (I now have an extra handy).

 

[Loadstar]

Does the warranty include labor? Our Carrier does not and it cost $150 to replace the $30 capacitor. (I now have an extra handy).

If it makes you feel better the capacitor probably cost less than $10. And no most warranties don't include labor.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think deciding on what brand to buy is more important on who you use to install it and fix it. Just like buying a tractor, dealer support is everything. Trane is one of the biggest employers here in Tyler, where I live. They bought out American Standard. Trane/American Standard are owned by Ingersall Rand, which is a huge international corporation. I have quite a few clients that work there and one of the biggest things that Trane did when taking over American Standard was to redesign a lot of the components that where made here and buy them from Mexico. The quality is a lot worse and declining. They are trying to make them as cheaply as possible. I have several clients that go down to Mexico about once a month to try and get them to improve on the quality of work being performed, but so far, it's a lost cause.

Having said that, I have a ten year old American Standard unit at my house and when I built my parents house a couple of years ago, we went with Rheem. I feel that at the time I bought my unit, American Standard was still putting out a decent product. Of all the AC guys I spoke with, not one of them would recommend Trane or American Standard. While I know that there are companies in the area that still install those brands, I don't consider them to be the better companies to deal with. As a contractor, I rely on recommendations from other contractors, so the ones I talk to are always highly recommended with good reputations.

 

[Loadstar]

I think deciding on what brand to buy is more important on who you use to install it and fix it. Just like buying a tractor, dealer support is everything. Trane is one of the biggest employers here in Tyler, where I live. They bought out American Standard. Trane/American Standard are owned by Ingersall Rand, which is a huge international corporation. I have quite a few clients that work there and one of the biggest things that Trane did when taking over American Standard was to redesign a lot of the components that where made here and buy them from Mexico. The quality is a lot worse and declining. They are trying to make them as cheaply as possible. I have several clients that go down to Mexico about once a month to try and get them to improve on the quality of work being performed, but so far, it's a lost cause. Having said that, I have a ten year old American Standard unit at my house and when I built my parents house a couple of years ago, we went with Rheem. I feel that at the time I bought my unit, American Standard was still putting out a decent product. Of all the AC guys I spoke with, not one of them would recommend Trane or American Standard. While I know that there are companies in the area that still install those brands, I don't consider them to be the better companies to deal with. As a contractor, I rely on recommendations from other contractors, so the ones I talk to are always highly recommended with good reputations.

Yes many are building from Mexico. You could tell in large commercial units the switch. Large compressors are high dollar and use to be able to take severe abuse. Not so much anymore plus often you can find the exact trane compressor in blue paint with a danfoss sticker on it for thousands less. I would still prefer trane's commercial line over almost anything Aaons are pretty nice too.