Bob, As one who installs them, Trane is still an excellent unit. So is Lennox. Other good brands: Carrier, York, Rheem/Ruud. Here in Myrtle Beach SC, stuff that doesn't hold up as well is ICP (Heil, Tempstar, Comfort Maker, ArcoAire, etc), Goodman, Nordyne.
Stretch
I respect your opinion, so I'll take your word for it. I agree with your assessment of all the other brands. The four you mentioned happened to be the same four brands I was considering back in 89 when I went with Rheem. Maybe the Tranes around me have just had some bad luck.
You know, I have said it before: At one time Heil was a good unit. There are still a bunch of them out there from the late 70s early 80s crankin' away. Especially those "horseshoe shaped" units that, unless you are right up on it and look at the nameplate, could be a Heil, Tempstar, Montgommery Wards, Whirlpool, Sears, etc. I think in the mid to late 80s the quality went way down on the units....
I had my 19 year old heat pump replaced in April 2005. I got
4 bids, all for a Trane 14i (14 seer) system. Home Depot came in $1100 better than the other three. Home Depot also included a condensate pump and Spacegard filter, which the others did not include. The final price was $5900. The contractor they used did a great job.Frank
In my opinion, Home Depot should NOT be competing with HVAC contractors regarding selling central systems and their installation! I don't believe they are doing that in this area! Where are you located? You may be a lucky one, as some installations may turn out to be a disasters!
Do a lot of reading!
- udarrell - Darrell
In our area (Prescott Arizona) Home Depot uses the same HVAC contractor that put in our Trane dual-fuel heat pump. Although I dealt directly with the contractor, I still got the Home Depot discount because of some arrangement they have with them.
I'm in central Delaware.
Frank
You might look at Maytag. I needed a new AC this past summer, and found that Maytag was almost half the price of Trane for the same size and efficiency. It's made by Nordyne and uses the same components as Rheem but is guaranteed by Maytag and includes a 10 year parts and labor warranty. Maytag has been selling AC for 5 years, and so far in my area they seem to be highly reliable. I live in central FL so reliability and efficiency are quite important to me, and I considered every brand and narrowed it to Trane and Rheem, (and American Standard, which is Trane), and then discovered Maytag. My dealer happens to be a Maytag dealer, but HVAC contractors also sell them. I bought a 5 ton heat pump for about $4500, including UV filter, new pad, programmable thermostat, and new, larger copper lines. I went with Freon, but Puron is available also. The 10 year parts and labor warranty was a big incentive, and is a Maytag warranty, not an aftermarket policy. Trane has one for at extra cost, and except for Maytag and Trane, my impression is it is often difficult to find a contractor that will perform a repair for the warranty's allowance.
On 20 Jan 2006 09:32:30 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
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