Advice on a AC unit for my rental property (rentals, heat pump)

[vvnreddy]

HI All

MY property management company called me and told me that my lower level A/C stopped working and need to be replaced. I have no idea about the central A/C units. She told me some brand called AIRE FLO. I am not getting any reliable consumer opinion on the web. Consumers consistently rated most of the brands bad on

Search and Compare Air Conditioners, Boilers, Furnaces and Heat Pumps

But consumer reports rated American Standard higher on reliability and cost seems reasonable. any opinion ?

Thanks much,
vvnreddy

[ji603]

If it's a rental, get a base low level builder grade AC. The higher seer units are more expensive than the payoff in energy savings.

American standard is a Trane piece of equipment minus the expensive name. Aire-flo, I am not familiar with... But as people will say, the quality of the install counts for more than the name on the box.

I stick with lennox, carrier, trane, and york.

[vvnreddy]

Thank you! Aire-flo is the cheaper brand manufactured by Lennox. Carrier and Trane are fairly expense as well.

So far sort of the decent ones I can gather are American Standard and Rheem. But if there are cheaper ones that can last longer, I would go for those ones. Like you said, saving energy is not the priority.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by vvnreddy

Thank you! Aire-flo is the cheaper brand manufactured by Lennox. Carrier and Trane are fairly expense as well.

So far sort of the decent ones I can gather are American Standard and Rheem. But if there are cheaper ones that can last longer, I would go for those ones. Like you said, saving energy is not the priority.

"Lasting longer" isnt really a priority either - all the major brands will run for 10-15 years, after that, you're running on hope. As a landlord myself, my #1 priority is servicability & parts availability. Goodman is the brand for the cheap seats - the parts used are generally not proprietary & widely available, and anyone who can read a set of gauges & an ohmmeter can service one. Lennox/trane & american standard use a lot of their own special parts & only the tranewashed are able to repair them when they die. You don't want your tenants to be without A/C waiting for parts in the summer here, even if repairs are covered under warranty. (and fwiw, most of those "long warranties" only cover parts, not labor).

[asufan]

Aire flo is much more cost effective. I have Trane in my personal residence and put an Aire Flo in one of my rentals last summer. That's the way to go unless it's a luxury rental

[vvnreddy]

Thank you all. My property management lady called and told me that the servicing company prefers the Aire Flow. I am also leaning towards that. My thought is if these guys do a lot of Aire Flo, they might have those parts too with them. Hopefully I can negotiate additional warranty with the installer

[wit-nit]

You get what you pay for. Get a good quality unit that lasts. American Standard or Trane I would suggest. They have a 10 yr warranty and low cost maintenance. It's a business tax deduction you know.
PS: you may want to upgrade the insulation too.