Posted: 8/1/2011 12:04:15 PM EDT
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My 15 year old Frigidaire central a/c unit is about dead and am shopping around for a replacement unit. What brands do I need to stay away from? Locally, I have a Lennox dealer (has not returned 3 voicemails left since Friday and today); Carrier dealer (a human actually answered but transferred me to the secretary's voicemail today); and a Trane dealer (a nice secretary took my info and is passing it along to the owner). I have a feeling I will have to choose between a Carrier or Trane. |
| Don't buy either one. Parts are proprietary and expensive. Rheem, ruud, arcoaire. etc are off brands that use off the shelf parts that can be bought at a local supply house. Look for the highest seer rating and a 5 year warranty, get one with a Copeland scroll compressor. |
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Quoted: Don't buy either one. Parts are proprietary and expensive. Rheem, ruud, arcoaire. etc are off brands that use off the shelf parts that can be bought at a local supply house. Look for the highest seer rating and a 5 year warranty, get one with a Copeland scroll compressor. We had a Rheem plant in town, but it's shut down.  I'm better off ordering one of the above and paying for the labor? I need to cool 2344 square feet. Two floors, with the master bedroom only on 2nd floor. |
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The three you mentioned plus Heil are the three I would for sure not want cooling my house. I install and service refrigeration - A/C, been at it for 25 years. I've installed countless arcoaire, rheem, ruud units and have had very little trouble with any of them. I suppose you know better? And honestly, how much is there to a condensing unit anyhow? Carrier and trane like to put microprocesser boards and all kinds of stupid safetys that tend to fail, I like to keep it simple. |
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Don't buy either one. Parts are proprietary and expensive. Rheem, ruud, arcoaire. etc are off brands that use off the shelf parts that can be bought at a local supply house. Look for the highest seer rating and a 5 year warranty, get one with a Copeland scroll compressor. We had a Rheem plant in town, but it's shut down.
I'm better off ordering one of the above and paying for the labor? I need to cool 2344 square feet. Two floors, with the master bedroom only on 2nd floor. Unless you have a refrigerant licence or are a HVAC contractor, you are going to have a hard time getting anything yourself. Locate a local contractor to do your install. Talk to a few and don't always go with the lowest price. Again, the carrier / trane route sucks IMO. Parts are expensive and they break down like anything else. |
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Quoted: Found a Ruud contractor 20 miles away. Just emailed them via their website.Quoted: Quoted: Don't buy either one. Parts are proprietary and expensive. Rheem, ruud, arcoaire. etc are off brands that use off the shelf parts that can be bought at a local supply house. Look for the highest seer rating and a 5 year warranty, get one with a Copeland scroll compressor. We had a Rheem plant in town, but it's shut down. I'm better off ordering one of the above and paying for the labor? I need to cool 2344 square feet. Two floors, with the master bedroom only on 2nd floor. Unless you have a refrigerant licence or are a HVAC contractor, you are going to have a hard time getting anything yourself. Locate a local contractor to do your install. Talk to a few and don't always go with the lowest price. Again, the carrier / trane route sucks IMO. Parts are expensive and they break down like anything else. |
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The three you mentioned plus Heil are the three I would for sure not want cooling my house. I install and service refrigeration - A/C, been at it for 25 years. I've installed countless arcoaire, rheem, ruud units and have had very little trouble with any of them. I suppose you know better? And honestly, how much is there to a condensing unit anyhow? Carrier and trane like to put microprocesser boards and all kinds of stupid safetys that tend to fail, I like to keep it simple. I think he was saying Lennox, Trane, Carrier and the Carrier sub-brand Heil. 
Of the 3 the OP mentioned I would not have any of them except the Lennox because I know the Lennox dealer personally. Actually I know the Carrier and Trane dealers also but they would bend me over. The parts would still be expensive as all get out though. 
With the exception of parts that contain refrigerant (coils, compressors etc.) he could go into almost any good supply house and get replacement parts. He would pay Retail for them but he could get them.
BigDozer66 |
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Quoted: Have a window unit in the master too, if it makes a difference.Quoted: Good luck keeping the upstairs cool without having to keep it extra cold downstairs. If the indoor unit is being replaced he can order the higher horsepower blower for increased airflow. |
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The three you mentioned plus Heil are the three I would for sure not want cooling my house. I install and service refrigeration - A/C, been at it for 25 years. I've installed countless arcoaire, rheem, ruud units and have had very little trouble with any of them. I suppose you know better? And honestly, how much is there to a condensing unit anyhow? Carrier and trane like to put microprocesser boards and all kinds of stupid safetys that tend to fail, I like to keep it simple. I think he was saying Lennox, Trane, Carrier and the Carrier sub-brand Heil.
Of the 3 the OP mentioned I would not have any of them except the Lennox because I know the Lennox dealer personally. Actually I know the Carrier and Trane dealers also but they would bend me over. The parts would still be expensive as all get out though.
With the exception of parts that contain refrigerant (coils, compressors etc.) he could go into almost any good supply house and get replacement parts. He would pay Retail for them but he could get them.
BigDozer66 I think you're right, I misread the guy. |
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Quoted:
Have a window unit in the master too, if it makes a difference.
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Good luck keeping the upstairs cool without having to keep it extra cold downstairs. If the indoor unit is being replaced he can order the higher horsepower blower for increased airflow. It does, if you do have a problem with not enough A/C in the upstairs, make sure you let your contractor know. |
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Quoted: Appreciate your help. Is a 4 ton plenty for my house? IIRC, our current unit is only 3 ton. Quoted: Quoted: Have a window unit in the master too, if it makes a difference.Quoted: Good luck keeping the upstairs cool without having to keep it extra cold downstairs. If the indoor unit is being replaced he can order the higher horsepower blower for increased airflow. It does, if you do have a problem with not enough A/C in the upstairs, make sure you let your contractor know. The original homeowner added on and did not upgrade the A/C unit for the additional rooms. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
The three you mentioned plus Heil are the three I would for sure not want cooling my house. I install and service refrigeration - A/C, been at it for 25 years. I've installed countless arcoaire, rheem, ruud units and have had very little trouble with any of them. I suppose you know better? And honestly, how much is there to a condensing unit anyhow? Carrier and trane like to put microprocesser boards and all kinds of stupid safetys that tend to fail, I like to keep it simple. I think he was saying Lennox, Trane, Carrier and the Carrier sub-brand Heil.
Of the 3 the OP mentioned I would not have any of them except the Lennox because I know the Lennox dealer personally. Actually I know the Carrier and Trane dealers also but they would bend me over. The parts would still be expensive as all get out though.
With the exception of parts that contain refrigerant (coils, compressors etc.) he could go into almost any good supply house and get replacement parts. He would pay Retail for them but he could get them.
BigDozer66 No. A good supply house will protect his customers and his own ass by NOT selling to gen pop. |
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Quoted: if you want a long lasting system with the toughest compressor and the best condenser coil in the market buy a American standard or trane. if you want a cheap piece of crap buy a goodman, ruud rheem whirlpool or other bottom tier equipment Found an Amereican Standard dealer in town too. Left a voicemail. |
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When you break it down an A/C is all subcontracted parts that are put together in one unit by a manufacture.
Bristol, Copeland, or American Standard make the compressors. GE, Emerson, or AO Smith make the fan motors Someone else makes the coils, contactors, safety switches, etc... They are all this way. So what it boils down to is warranty when it comes to the actual equipment. More important than warranty or equipment is the installation and sizing, I have seen units last 25yrs with a good, clean, proper install. |
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Appreciate your help. Is a 4 ton plenty for my house? IIRC, our current unit is only 3 ton.
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Have a window unit in the master too, if it makes a difference.
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Good luck keeping the upstairs cool without having to keep it extra cold downstairs. If the indoor unit is being replaced he can order the higher horsepower blower for increased airflow. It does, if you do have a problem with not enough A/C in the upstairs, make sure you let your contractor know. The original homeowner added on and did not upgrade the A/C unit for the additional rooms. A proper heat load calculation will tell you, the A/C contractor should be able to help you. Off hand I would say yes you do need more tonnage but without more details it's impossible to know. |
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When you break it down an A/C is all subcontracted parts that are put together in one unit by a manufacture. Bristol, Copeland, or American Standard make the compressors. GE, Emerson, or AO Smith make the fan motors Someone else makes the coils, contactors, safety switches, etc... They are all this way. So what it boils down to is warranty when it comes to the actual equipment. More important than warranty or equipment is the installation and sizing, I have seen units last 25yrs with a good, clean, proper install. You should save this page and repost it for every " what a/c unit should I buy " thread. |
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if you want a long lasting system with the toughest compressor and the best condenser coil in the market buy a American standard or trane. if you want a cheap piece of crap buy a goodman, ruud rheem whirlpool or other bottom tier equipment Ditto. After much research my folks went with a Trane. I have an Amana currently (put in by the builder), but when it goes that's where I put my hard earned money. |
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Surprisingly, the Lennox dealer called me and was at my house in 5 minutes.
After inspecting the home, he quoted me $6K for a 4 ton heat and air system installed. Have the Trane dealer dropping by sometime tomorrow and will see how much it will cost. ETA: The Lennox dealer also has 40 years experience installing and it comes with 1 year labor and 10 years parts warranty. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted:
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The three you mentioned plus Heil are the three I would for sure not want cooling my house. I install and service refrigeration - A/C, been at it for 25 years. I've installed countless arcoaire, rheem, ruud units and have had very little trouble with any of them. I suppose you know better? And honestly, how much is there to a condensing unit anyhow? Carrier and trane like to put microprocesser boards and all kinds of stupid safetys that tend to fail, I like to keep it simple. I should have quoted the Original Poster. I could see where that was confusing. I did mean the Lennox, Trane, Carrier, and the Heil. Any of there offshoots would have to be included in that also. |