Amana owns Goodman, which also produces Everest. Amana is on the selling block yet AGAIN (perhaps they sold, might of missed it).
American Standard (now changed their name to Trane, which dropped their plumbing division line) owns Trane. American Standards bilder grade is Ameristar. Trane has a builders grade as well. Company used to be "GE".
Lennox Industries owns Lennox International (Dave Lennox as you know him) also owns Advance distributor products (who makes coils and air handlers for other "non Lennox industries" brands as well. Also own Allied Air, which manufacturers Whilrpool, Concord, Armstrong and Air Ease. Also owns Excel comfort systems which manufacturers Ducane and Lennox's oil furnaces as well as the builders grade AirFlow.
Nordyne, which owns and manufacturers miller mobile home equipment, also manufacturers Tappan, Fridgedaire (sp?), Maytag, Westinghouse and Gibson (sure I'm missing a couple there).
"Carrier" manufacturers Bryant and Payne. Their oil furnaces used to be manufacturered by a company in Canada.
Carrier also owns ICP, who manufacturers Tempstar and Heil.
Dunkirk, out of New York, used to manufacturer Carriers and Lennox's boilers, not sure now.
Burnham (boiler manufactuerer in Pa) owns Thermopride, who also used to produce Trane oil furnaces (not sure if they still do).
Rheem and Rhuud are made at the same facility, same company and they also have some "builder grades" as well.
Johnson Controls owns York, who had bought out Coleman. Stylecrest now "owns" Coleman's mobile home division. They also have another line which is at the tip of my tounge, but can't come up with it.
Kenmore, installed by Sears is usually Tempstar and Heil.
Have Comfortmaker as well, which I can't recall who else is in bed with them.
Not sure what Haier has come out with. They moved to Columbia S.C and was supposed to come out with a "super cheap" central unit that would make Goodman look expensive, that was a couple years ago, but hadn't seen anything from them.
I know I'm missing some (many actually), early in the AM and this is from memory.
Tdog, my honest opinion...
Unlike other mechanical products that are sold in the U.S, your HVAC system is most dependent on the quality of installation and service by the company you hire. There are many things a contractor does that the homeowner does not see or know about which can make the installation one of quality, or one that is substandard which can increase the chances of causing problems down the road (and I think of an HVAC system as a "living, breathing" body, something "wrong" in the system can take years for it to show up as a major problem). First couple of examples that comes to mind is if a vacuum is actually pulled in the sytem or if nitrogen is used or what kind of solder the guy is using. When it comes to service work, when a contractor has to replace a compressor, some contractors don't replace the filter drier (which come to mind), which you the homeowner would never know about.
That said, and beleive me, warranties in the HVAC business can be a "smoke and mirrors" game (particularly online). The most important warranty you can get is one which includes labor and from a company who stands behind the work they do, and will make any problem "right". When people hear "warranty", they usually think "free", which is far from the case. Average time homeowner lives in their home is 7 years before moving. Average time before a major component (such as compressor or heat exchanger in a furnace) fails is 13 years. Some warranties are transferable, some are not.
Keep in mind, a reversing valve about 1/5th the cost of a compressor. However, labor wise, that reversing valve will run you at least half the cost of a compressor in labor.
Personally, I always like the comparison of the HVAC business to the Auto business when it comes to warranties. Which has the better warranty, a BMW or Hyundai (sp?)? There is a reason why some auto manufacturers have increased their warranties. There are also many things that may not be included in that warranty, or rules and stipulations that the car owner must abide by to keep that warranty valid.
If you feel comfortable with the contractor using American Standard, use him. You aren't buying equipment, you're buying a service. Your contractor feels good about American Standard and the service he recieves from that manufacturer. Guys who do good, quality work in both service and installation usually do charge more. They also stand behind their work, and they will make sure you're satisfied. That said, some companies have a huge fleet of service techs, and are on call 24/7. A smaller contractor may only do service himself. On a 95 degree day, if you have a problem, the question is how fast can your system be serviced? Overhead for larger companies is enormous. They've also been in business for a long time, and you know where they are at. Common sense should tell you that their rates may be a little more.
And yes, some guys will ripp you off.
May sound strange, but my honest opinion is to stay away from the guys who have the cheapest service rate out there. I've seen too many go out of business (they usually get or stay in business from rental property owners because they do it cheap and can get the work to keep busy). Why do you think they have the time to do large rental properties and nothing else?
That is not to say that every tech who does service for rental properties does substandard work, just a generalization that I've observed.
Seriously, if one HVAC line was that much better than all the rest, ALL the contractors would be using that line.
That said, some quotes will vary because of what is being quoted. SEER rating (EER rating is actually more important), HSPF rating, variable or non variable speed, what type of t-stat, ductwork, new copper lines, electrical...the list can go on and on. A quality contractor will point out to you what he's quoting you and why he's quoting you what materials. My point is to make sure you're comparing "apples to apples".
