Furnace life expectancy, recommened brands

Two questions;

- What's the average life expectancy on a high efficiency gas furnace? My Amana 90 is 17 years old, and my service contract providers are making noise about not covering me. Is it time to replace?

- Is there a general consensus on what brands of furnace you would personally avoid? How about brands you would install in your own house (considering price as well)?. I browsed through over 4,000 alt.hvac posts to see what you folks think, and it seems Goodman aren't well received, and Lennox are overpriced, but not much on what you think are good brands.

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
xModem
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I would look for another service provider.... especially if they start sending out "sales techs", instead of HVAC techs. Unless there is a major problem with the furnace, keep it maintained, and start getting some serious dollars put away for replacement. Yes, its probably real close to the end of its normal service life.

there are several top quality brands.... American Standard/Trane, Rheem/RUUD, etc. Best to find a local contractor that comes highly recommended by family, friends, in-laws, outlaws, church folks, co-workers, etc. Once you have a couple of names, there is nothing that says you can't buy the local building inspector a cuppa coffee and ask him/her if they would trust XYZ company to do a proper job in their family's home. Right now you have the luxury of time.

BTW, Its not about price, its all about who is going to do the very best quality installation, of top quality equipment, by a certified Master Mechanical Contractor. ........OR, you can get it done cheap.

Your welcome

Reply to
Noon-Air

When business is slow....sale...sale...sale

Reply to
daytona°

The company is up in Canada - 21 Degrees. Not sure how widespread they are. The last couple of times they've done my annual maintenance, they've said it's time to replace it. Last time the tech wrote on the invoice "heat exchanger starting to rust."

Excellent information. Thanks!

Reply to
xModem

18-20 years

I guess you never saw this comment: "The installer is more important than the equipment brand"?

Nice try.

Reply to
<kjpro

I guess I read something different than Noon. I&#39;ve also refused to offer service contracts on some systems because of their dilapidated state. If I give an estimate for preventive and/or necessary repairs and the customer refuses to have these repairs done because they don&#39;t want to pour money into something that old, then what other option am I left with? I&#39;m not going to cover labor on a major repair just because I came out and did an inspection. The contract only covers things that I missed during the inspection, that is, it covers the diagnostic fee. But I don&#39;t even want to lose that fee if I already told them that it isn&#39;t gonna last, period.

In some cases parts are no longer even available, in which case I can only offer to replace the unit. Typical life expectency is about 15 years. By some estimates its only 12 years. You&#39;re due for a new unit, whether or not it is presently operating. Brand isn&#39;t as much an issue as the quality of the installation, as already noted. But there are differnces. Some, for instance have better warranties than others. As far as I know all of them will get the job done.

Reply to
hvacrmedic

While I agree that a competent tech is important, the equipment has to count for something. I go to a mechanic. He&#39;s excellent, but he installs a cheap-ass fuel pump. Sure he&#39;ll look after me when I go back, but I don&#39;t want to _have_ to go back.

I&#39;m sure there is equipment you wouldn&#39;t install in your own home. Why should I install it in mine?

Reply to
xModem

If cost is no factor, actually, there isn&#39;t.

But, I prefer not to waste money on a few known EXPENSIVE brands. That doesn&#39;t make them trash, but why pay more for expensive equipment when it comes down to the installer?

Reply to
<kjpro

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Reply to
beentheredonethat

Tell your service provider to go F____ himself unless you are realy fred that it may go down when you needed you be the judge.

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Reply to
Old and Grunpy

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Reply to
Noon-Air

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Goodman are cheap units that last as long as more expensive units.. Thus you are full of shit and out of your league.

There are many other brands on the market that offer

Wrong! You can&#39;t pay more, but you sure can get better!

Then

Trane and Carrier company&#39;s seem to be sold every couple of years. I do believe that Carrier or its holding company own Goodman and its various brand names.The most sold unit is of the Goodman brands though. I would purchase a Trane, Carrier or a Rheem/Ruud long before I would be added to Lennox&#39;s victims list.

Absolute bullshit.

In other words you company hires Salesmen and scrimps on installers and technicians

Seems reasonable...Goodman outsells every other company on earth with cheap inexpensive equipment. Thus when replacement time comes, It may well be Goodmans that have served well and now need new equipment.

I deal multidealership and do not handle Goodman. But one must not ignore the competition. Gibson is another up and comer. Nordyne owned I think. Those Gibsons make Goodman look like premium equipment.

I have replaced very few Lennox and when I do they are over twenty

Lets face it sonny, Your a new boot and have a hell of a lot to learn. Premium among those things to learn is not to advertise your shit here!

By the way even Lennox advertises lifespans to be between 12 and 15 years. Do you know who makes lennox controls? thought not! Same companies that make them for all other companies. You want a long lived furnace...Buy a Chicago Foundries. It is a cast iron Octopus insulated in good old fashioned asbestos and has a #10 coal scoop. They went bankrupt because nobody ever needed a replacement. Which of course brought Engineers to design furnaces to be more efficient and to have a limited lifespan

I suggest that you post the average cost of a repair to Lennox.

Reply to
Don Ocean

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Your Quote

Reply to
Zyp

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As a side note, it&#39;s not resi equipment but I just changed a compressor on a Lennox CHP9 653 rooftop heat pump.Removed the original Copeland CL series (external overloads) 1976 vintage. The building has 4 identical units and one still has the original compressor working! 32 years is pretty good for a tin can. Thanks to Copeland not Lennox.

Reply to
kool

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For a fact! But then again going back 30 years, equipment was better built. Even lennox.. ;-p

Reply to
Don Ocean

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He is in hack-sales. If the furnace blinks, it needs replacement with the brand that is the rape sale of the week. Kind of like trading for a new car the first needed oil change.

Reply to
Don Ocean

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