Hi,
I'm at the point where I need to replace my furnace and AC. I had Sears come out and give me a quote. He says the Kenmore stuff is made by Carrier, but because it says Kenmore costs a bit less. Has anyone had any experience with the Kenmore brand, and are you happy?
Thanks!
Umm....not all Sears/Kenmore stuff is Carrier. Some is Tempstar, and some, is Goodman. I suggest that if you believe what the Sears man told you, to go for it and enjoy...make sure they throw in the extended warranty, and labor covereage, as in either case, you will need it. ICP, PArent company of Carrier, and Tempstar, sucks. Period. I personally love the stuff....it makes us a pretty good chunk over the year...the coils leak...period. I have replaced more Carrier coils this year than ever before, and Goodman...well...just google it and you will see.
You want an install that is what you want, need and get what you pay for? Home Depot and Sears are not on your list...and if you are only going with Sears since you can put it on your Sears card, I suggest you look for a contractor that can finance you for less....they exist..I know...we do it all the time.
Financing is not an issue. I've had an independent come out that sells Goodman (didn't like what I saw, although the price is right), a company through Home Depot that sells Trane (I've heard a lot of good things about them), and another HVAC dealer that sells Amana and Lennox. Everyone of them has told me I need something different size-wise. Only the Trane dealer bothered to look at the house to determine thermal load. He's also the only one that suggested replacing the 20-yr. old copper lines. It's all very confusing, and googling hasn't helped narrow it down much. There seems to be some issue with Trane's aluminum coils, but it's hard to say.....most people only post to bitch not to compliment. Leaves me to wonder if it is better to go with a good dealer and not be so hung up on the brand of the product?
I used to work for Sears. I have also repaired some of their equipment. Personally, I don't like the whole thing. I do have some Craftsman tools, which are OK. I don't like how they make and sell off spec parts. For example, a Tecumseh engine made for sears, you can't use Tecumseh points. And the list goes on.
Stay away from Sears or Kenmore, they do not do any installation. They have the cheapest guy in town doing the installation and another electrician do another. At the end if anything goes wrong you will have a hard time getting someone to fix them.
I bought a 4 ton Kenmore a few years back, cost two grand more than Carrier. It took them more than two years to fixed it after the warranty over. The Service Mgr. together the contractor boss came in the weekend to fixed the very bad installation. I have NEVER buy another Kenmore after that.
say.....most
simple rule of thumb, that works in the deserts of the south west. 450 square feet per ton with 8 foot ceilings. 400 square feet if you have higher ceilings. Add a 1/2 ton for every west, or east facing arcadia door. If you have double or better windows your fine. If not consider adding a 1/2 ton.
say.....most
This is Turtle.
Your learning now.
95% of a good running cental system comes from a good installation. 5% of a good running system comes from the brand you pick.Here is some question to answer here and who ever did this better . Pick him to do it and to brand , well what ever.
1) Who run a heat load on the house to determine the size unit and equipment to use ? 2) Who explained every question you had to ask and did not put you off ? 3) The person that was selling you the equipment -- Will he be there when the unit is put in or out selling somewhere else ? The salesman can know about the system but the installer if different is what you get. 4) The Trane dealer that came out. Did he work for Home Depot or a independent Trane Dealership? If he works for Home Depot -- Run him off. If he is a independent Trane contractror and warrenty will be handled by him / his company / not Home Depot / alone. Yes keep him in the running. If Home Depot is going to handle the warrenty-- Run don't walk from this deal. There is some cases where the trane dealer will install the system and turn the warrenty over to Home Depot's Hack to carry out. Then your in trouble.Check the list as to any answering yes to the first three question put them on the list. Then do check out #4 question on the trane fellow for info needed to be good.
TURTLE
P.S. I don't like buying hvac equipment from a third party salesman when you want service from the second part installer. This makes too much red tape to get it worked on. Whoever you buy it from -- Warrents it. You want one company that : Sells it to you, Installs it for you, and warrents it for you. Nobody in the middle to cause the people to point fingers at the other if there is a problem.
alt-hvac Moderated posted for all of us....
(modified text)
Says alot about both Sears & Stumped...
Hi SQLit, hope you are having a nice day
On 03-Jan-04 At About 07:18:06, SQLit wrote to All Subject: Re: Kenmore central air?
S> From: "SQLit"
S> simple rule of thumb, that works in the deserts of the south west. S> 450 square feet per ton with 8 foot ceilings. 400 square feet if you S> have higher ceilings. Add a 1/2 ton for every west, or east facing S> arcadia door. If you have double or better windows your fine. If not S> consider adding a 1/2 ton.
This is not the way to size a system unless you are a HACK. the only way is to run the proper manual J.
-=> HvacTech2
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