# Best brand of hvac equipment.



## flashheatingand

Frequently, we hear the question of best brand, I think the most critical factor in choosing a brand, is dependent of the local supply houses.
Certain supply houses are more on-top of their game and / or, have a brighter future. Does your town have more than one eh.... Goodman / Amana dealer? Rheem/Rude?, Trane /American Standard? Whomever. The furnaces themselves, apples to apples, are about the same. But, again, the biggest difference between brands has to do with the people.


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## Doc Holliday

I've got the original Goodman manufacturing plants and well as three or four ginornmous (yes, I said ginormous) distribution centers. You need your truck to drive from one side to the other of each building, You'd probably make it on your lunch break from one end to the other. 

I have Lennox, Carrier who is all over with their Totaline stores, Hunton Trane who as well has a relatively new massive distribution plant up in north Houston as well as it's old one down south. American Standard, Gibson, Nordyne, Fridgidaire, Rheem.Ruud, you name it and it's here. 

Is one better than the other? Eh. I don't for Carrier pretty much at all, nor do I like them as much as I like Payne which is like me saying I like American Standard over Trane but at the end of the day and it's no real suprise, install trumps brand. 

I can make the cheapest builder's grade 13 seer anything last longer than a 26 seer million dollar modulating whatever just by installing it properly. You know this already, Flash.


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## flashheatingand

Of course you have all those guys, you live on Manufacturer Row... For us, we need consider if xyz Supply is going to be around in five years or so. Some of them have been consistent, others have high turn over, and other setbacks. Hardly anybody carries at least one of the commonly used h/e's or compressors. So, in BeanTown, maybe Rheem is the best brand, in Appoloosa County, maybe eh....Goodman is the best brand....


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## Doc Holliday

If a small town only has or easily has access to only one or two brands then it still comes down to instsll. If only one ac company is installing and all systems work great for years than the ac company deserves compliments.


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## griz

I'm partial to Trane...:thumbsup:

Good stuff, good customer service & warranty...:thumbup:


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## Doc Holliday

Im on my phone. Ill continue in bit from pc.


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## Doc Holliday

And wouldnt you know it, my internet is down. Good topic, lots to discuss.


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## Doc Holliday

griz said:


> I'm partial to Trane...:thumbsup:
> 
> Good stuff, good customer service & warranty...:thumbup:


Hunton Trane/American Standard is a product of Ingersoll Rand. They make their own compressors called roto-locs (piston I believe) which actually thread into the refrigerant lines inside the condenser. Now while they are good and tend to last for a long time, the newer Copeland Scroll compressor is the, as they say, bomb. Been around for quite some time as well, but overall considered the newest and many believe to be the best. Used in most other brands outside of Trane. 

http://www.emersonclimate.com/en-US...nd_scroll_for_refrigeration_applications.aspx


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## Doc Holliday

flashheatingand said:


> Of course you have all those guys, you live on Manufacturer Row... For us, we need consider if xyz Supply is going to be around in five years or so. Some of them have been consistent, others have high turn over, and other setbacks. Hardly anybody carries at least one of the commonly used h/e's or compressors. So, in BeanTown, maybe Rheem is the best brand, in Appoloosa County, maybe eh....Goodman is the best brand....


As far as supply houses go I can tell you that Century Supply down here is the main Rheem/Ruud dealer, Totaline is Carrier/Payne, Aces is American Standard and Trane has heir own distribution centers as does Goodman. They aren't going anywhere. 

We have quite a few tiny mom and pop supply houses such as Transtar and Parts Plus that seem to be doing okay as well. Johnson, Johnstone, GemAire (which I deal with regularly for stolen equipment guy/Rheem), too many to even know them all.


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## AngusII

Are you talking about for warranty work maybe? In general for non-warranty work there are usually multiple places to get parts for most furnaces. Warranty stuff would be a different story though. I haven't had any problems with any of the major brands. I don't think there are any Haier dealers locally in Denver any more so those customers might be in trouble though. All the brands mentioned above I have no problems with the local supply houses and warranty replacements. Of course none of them have any problems selling parts for their stuff either. I do like the Carrier/Bryant and Rheem stuff as well as the distributors personally though.


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## flashheatingand

Most furnaces and a/c's come with a ten year parts warranty. It's not fair to bill a customer for a part that's covered under a mfg warranty. Will the Acme furnace company have a supplier in town? 

The other thing is location. I think we all like to have the mfg. supply house nearest the job. It's possible that for those who live on N. Mainstreet would be better served by the Bryant Guys and those who live on W. Mainstreet would be better served with Ruud


So, if asked who makes the best gear, I want to


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## Dr Heat

I have been a Heil Dealer for 32 years so Heil is the best hands down. Seriously I like all but Train and Lennox. Train has a nasty habit of changing designs meaning if you replace the venter motor you will need to change the board and the ignightor. Lennox has always been hard for warranty coverage.


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## flashheatingand

You just brought my point out: Somebody goes online and asks which brand is better? Gets two bids one bid is for Heil for $5.00 and the other is for Trane for $7.00 which one is better.

Here in Boise, I would say Trane. Despite the fact that our local Trane supplier also carries Heil. The reason being, their main line is Trane and Heil is the secondary product.

I don't think one brand does a significantly better job than the other, it's just a matter of availability of parts, should something go wrong. In your town, it may be the opposite, or, the Heil Dealer is nearby where the Trane guy is on the opposite side of town.... whatever.

When you boil it down, "all politics are local". Yeah, I know the install is most important, but this whole topic is specifically related to the brands.


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## CompleteW&D

When I was in residential HVAC sales, every single supply house was beating down our doors to sell to us. A by product of always paying our bills on time I guess. LOL I typically sold Carrier, Trane, York and some Rheem. I preferred Trane as did our owner. From a performance and reliability standpoint, we had less service issues with Trane.

Does that mean they are better than the others mentioned here or elsewhere in this thread? Nope.... it just means WE had less issues with Trane than any other brand. Of course, that was back in the mid to late 90's. So a lot could have changed since then.


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## flashheatingand

Back then, furnaces were more meaty. But that's another topic. Weren't there jobs where it would be more practical to you and the home owner to go with the Carrier model? Maybe another job is closer to the Goodman dealer. Finally, I got some bossy nut-job in Michigan, and believe it or not, the closest supply house is a Heil house?

Well, I guess I am just saying that location to job-site, has a strong influence as to which brand is best for me.


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## flashheatingand

Intended as best for "me".


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## Electric_Light

AngusII said:


> Haier dealers locally in Denver any more so those customers might be in trouble though.


Didn't think they're in the business of central HVAC. Is that the same Haier that makes refrigerators, window shaker and appliances sold at the Home depot?


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## accessheating

*Age-Old Discussion...*

We are all biased towards brands that we "like". Each brand has advantages and disadvantages- some just have more disadvantages and others just have more advantages. 
Here is a link to a reliable and unbiased review of most of the name brands in our industry:








______________________
http://www.accessheating.com
boise air conditioning repair, boise heating, boise hvac, boise cooling, repair


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## beenthere

Those reviews are always meaningless. Bryant heat pumps break down less then Carrier heat pumps. LOL... The people don't even realize they are the same units, just a different label and color.


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## Electric_Light

lolol Ruud and Rheem being different. Many even come in the same boxes and the badges are put on prior to shipment.

This isn't even Lexus and Toyota. While they're both Toyota, the products offered are different.


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