Carrier, Trane or American Standard?? (Dallas: rental homes, how much, house)

[bookworm2768]

We will be replacing a zoned HVAC system on a home we are purchasing and, while I will also be posting this question on the home forum, I wanted the opion of Dallasites on which brand has worked well for them. Dallas weather being what it is the AC takes some real abuse and I'd like to buy a brand that has shown to hold up well. At this point we have two HVAC guys pushing us towards Carrier and Trane and myself wondering why not American standard. I'd like to get an efficient unit (16 Seer units, variable speed furnaces) but am not so sure that a top of the line unit (19 seer) is in our budget.
Carrier Specific question: The HVAC guy we have spoken to so far (the one pushing carrier) only sells the furnace/condenser unit in package prices and will not give me a break down of the cost of each piece seperately. Is this normal for Carrier??

Any answers (including personal opinions) will be very welcome. Thanks!

[lh_newbie]

Really, you need to buy ANY unit in a pair. The SEER rating is for specific paired units. You'll find that certain HVAC contractors only carry one or two brands, so they'll say that their brand is the best. I have yet to see any research saying one brand is better than the rest. They all use the same basic technology. The most important thing is to ensure you don't buy an oversized unit for your home, or it won't run efficiently and will have a hard time running long enough cycles to pull the humidity from your home.

Ensure if you are getting a variable speed air handler that you also have a dual stage compressor on your outdoor unit to get the benefit. Dual stage compressors are nice - because they will run in "low" mode 70-80% of the time and efficiently pull the humidity from your home.

And finally, make sure your contractor ensures you don't have leaky ductwork. That can decrease your overall efficiency tremendously.

Good luck! If you need another quote - PM me, I can pass along our HVAC contractors name. Nice guy, great prices, doesn't try to push what you don't need.

Brian

[nsumner]

About 99% of the home inspectors, HVAC contractors that I have dealt with recommend the following in order or preference.

1. Trane
2. Carrier
3. Lennox/Goodman/AS/etc...

Naima

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by nsumner

About 99% of the home inspectors, HVAC contractors that I have dealt with recommend the following in order or preference.

1. Trane
2. Carrier
3. Lennox/Goodman/AS/etc...

Naima

Ok, so this is me being technical... have you really dealt with atleast 100 different inspectors and contractors to get that 99%? I don't see some of the big brands on there (York, Amana [guess amana]). In fact, several contractors I have spoken with say that while Trane makes a fine product, they spend so much marketing their product that they feel it's overpriced and can get a Carrier, Lennox, Goodman, Amana, etc product of equal quality for a much more reasonable price.

Brian

[nsumner]

Brian, I like it when you're technical!!! That is an excellent point. I have sold around 300 homes in the last few years alone and yet I don't deal with a different inspector every time (eventually you run into the same one) because sometimes they are new construction homes. Just like many other systems, it's all in the upkeep, many people don't have their units serviced when the season change or don't change the filters often enough making them worth twice as hard or just have the wrong size unit for the size of the home.

In a few of our rental homes, we installed Goodman units and haven't had any major problem with them in years too but we also are very strict about the maintenance too.

HVAC systems are such a big expense, I am not an expert so I too have to rely on the professionals and yes it's true that Trane are very expensive.

You know that saying "if it's the most expensive so it must be the best"...

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by nsumner

You know that saying "if it's the most expensive so it must be the best"...

Hehe, yup, that is exactly where I was going. Good call!

[challenge01]

I agree I would say Trane is the best. I bought a Trane 16 seer two years ago for my house and it decreased the electric bill by half. Tranes are expensive units, but I was able to get a great deal on them since I knew the Hvac specialist. I made a check out to Trane and paid his crew very little to install it. I was really surprised to see how much people really mark up the prices. I am currently renting out the property with the Trane unit and my tenants have said they were very happy with the elec. bills