# Does anyone work in HVAC?



## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I'm looking to replace a 2 ton Goodman gas pack, came with the house. 20+ years old. Costs a lot of money every spring to recharge with freon or whatever they switched it to now. I understand the installer makes a big difference, but from a pure build quality standpoint, what equipment would you recommend? Seems like there's negative reviews on all of them, they all have issues, but I'm sure some are better built than others. Lennox and American Standard seem to come up most often, but I have no clue. I'd rather spend a bit more and get something of higher build quality. If it's made in the US I'd pay a little more for that as well.


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## DJLCN (Jul 11, 2017)

j4c11 said:


> I'm looking to replace a 2 ton Goodman gas pack, came with the house. 20+ years old. Costs a lot of money every spring to recharge with freon or whatever they switched it to now. I understand the installer makes a big difference, but from a pure build quality standpoint, what equipment would you recommend? Seems like there's negative reviews on all of them, they all have issues, but I'm sure some are better built than others. Lennox and American Standard seem to come up most often, but I have no clue. I'd rather spend a bit more and get something of higher build quality. If it's made in the US I'd pay a little more for that as well.


You won't go wrong with any of the Trane Technologies brands of HVAC systems, but of the 5 I'd lean more towards Trane, American Standard or RunTru.


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## HarryZoysia (Aug 27, 2019)

American Standard is Trane. I've always bought American Standard and they are a premium unit. With that said, the first 3 ton package unit lasted 12 years-I was disappointed. I replaced it with another American Standard 3.5 Ton. I also have a split 2 Ton American Standard and had to replace the blower motor under warranty. It's 15 now and it's been trouble free since the motor replacement.

I've always heard Goodman is a contractor grade-enough to get you by unit but who knows. I think they all make less that perfect machines these days. They build them cheap and disposable


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

Stay away from Goodman.


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## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

I've got a Carrier Infinity 19VS system I had installed 3 years ago. It was a lot of cash but it's got a 20 year warranty and it's saved at least $75/month worth of power during the hot months due to smart humidity control and both a multi stage fan and compressor. A friend of mine just had one installed at his house this past fall and he's already noticed savings as well.


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## daniel3507 (Jul 31, 2018)

I'll second a Carrier Infinity system. I've really enjoyed mine and so have my parents and grandparents.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I go with Trane for our higher quality installs, but I'm not sure if they're necessarily better than the likes of Carrier or Lennox. It's a matter of market and who's more aggressive in that market. Whichever manufacturer you choose make sure to read the warranty requirement in depth as they're all pretty specific on maintenance requirements, etc. Oh, and pricing isn't the same through all providers .. the higher volume ones can get significant discounts if they keep driving business their way. Shop them around, you may get someone that may want to pass some of those savings on to you. 
Best of luck!


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Carrier $CARR still a Mexican made box?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

We had to replace our 14 year old Goodman HVAC last year and got about 5 quotes from local companies and ended up going with a Trane XR17. It's a SEER 17 unit and we have saved about $60 a month since it was installed over our old unit which I think was 13 SEER. I would definitely look at getting one with a dual stage or variable stage motor as it will save you money in the long run as it will only use what it needs. We ended up going middle of the road from all the offerings as the higher costs of the higher end units didn't justify it. A lot of the companies around here were offering Trane units so we went with the one we felt the best with and they were the cheapest of them all too. During the quote, the guy even suggested standing our air handler up as we had the space and it would create more space in the attic too, so it was a win win. From all the research I did it seemed like Trane's were some of the best out there and have fewer issues. I too have seen that Goodman's are basically contractor grade units mainly used for new home builds. Just do your research and get as many quotes as you can and I'm sure you will find something that works for you. Since ours went out in August, the company we went with lent us window AC units to use until they came out to install the new stuff as we had to wait about a week.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

I had a new Trane put in last week. XV18. It's much quieter, but the noise it makes is definitely different from my old system.

It's my third Trane. All have been excellent. I had a Goodman at one apartment. It was crappy, but who knows why… probably bad installation because the tech found the fan running backwards one day.


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