Getting a quote to replace a 20 year old 3 ton Trane AC unit with a 3.5 ton Goodman unit. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with this brand good or bad.

Thanks.

I have a 3.5 ton Goodman unit as a replacement for a 3.0 ton Trane. It works just fine. I have not had to make any service calls in the 7 years I've had it. They are identical to the Amana brand, and come down the same production line and had the same warranty. I'm happy with mine.

I had a Goodman furnace, it lasted 13 years, but I replaced every part in the thing. Control board, vacuum switch, ignitor, and flame sensor off the top of my head. Luckily I can fix myself and have access to RE Michels.

At 13 years I decided I would decide when it goes instead of it leaving me freezing or sweating. I replaced it while it was still working to avoid and emergency call.

I replaced my Trane with a Goodman unit two years ago. I lost the Trane to some sort of electrical fire within the unit. The Goodman was highly recommended by my neighbors. I've been happy with it.

They are good to go. Just make sure you have a good installer. My parents house had Goodman put in new back in the late 90's and both units are still going.

Never heard of it until my company rented an apartment for use for business travel...the whole complex uses Goodman and they seem to work pretty well.

Huge corp. We sold Janitrol years ago. Made by Goodman. Did not have the name recognition of the big names. But many installer would use them and they worked very well I thought.
As mentioned the installer is paramount not the equipment imho.

I bought one online (heat pump) to replace an office unit last year.
My A/C guy that installed it seemed to think it was as good as any others and it's been working for 1 1/2 years, so far without any problems.

Goodman used to be considered low end product but now days they offer everything from inexpensive to high end.
In the end the installation and proper design is key.

I'm curious as to why you re increasing the size of your unit.
Is your current unit not able to keep up with the cooling/heating load of your house?

Many installers like to oversize their equipment when in fact it's better for you r house to have your hvac run longer ( will pull the humidity out better...

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I'm curious as to why you re increasing the size of your unit.
Is your current unit not able to keep up with the cooling/heating load of your house?

Many installers like to oversize their equipment when in fact it's better for you r house to have your hvac run longer ( will pull the humidity out better...

You are correct.

Upstairs unit for about 1600sf. Current unit does have trouble keeping up in the summer time.

Downstairs unit is next, its a 4 ton and both quotes recommended 5 ton replacement. Going to hold off on that one though for at least a few months.

They're good to go. As said before it's more important to get a great installer. Have had one in my house for 5 years or so. No problems at all. Just make sure you register all the components AC unit and heat exchanger to get the full warranty going. They are registered with separate warranties.

My hvac sub contractor and friend told me there is a lot of rebadging in the industry now with some consolidation that's been happening in the last 10-15 years. Can't remember which ones they all are but there is one unit that is badged 3 seperate names.

Yes, buy a Goodman and support the Houston economy. Their Corporate HQ is in Houston off the Post Exit of Loop 610. They have 6 plants in the Houston area too (2 in TN as well).

My previous stint in Houston, my home had dual Goodman's. I lived there 4 years and had a good experience.

They also own Daikin and Amana.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I had a Goodman furnace, it lasted 13 years, but I replaced every part in the thing. Control board, vacuum switch, ignitor, and flame sensor off the top of my head. Luckily I can fix myself and have access to RE Michels.

At 13 years I decided I would decide when it goes instead of it leaving me freezing or sweating. I replaced it while it was still working to avoid and emergency call.

I had a Goodman A/C and in 8 years replaced many items and when there was a hole in the evaporator coils, I replaced the entire system.

You got 20 years out of a Trane, get another Trane!!!! Or American Standard that is built in the same factory but less money.

Where do you live, state?

My biggest concern with going to a larger system would be, will the existing ducting support the additional airflow needed for the increase?

Memphis TN area. One contractor said no bigger than 3.5 tons due to the size of the lines and the other said a 4 ton would be ok. I think a 3.5 ton will be fine.

My advice is to get some 'other' suggestions before going with someone who's making ASSumptions.

How about a company that will do a Manual J to size the equipment RIGHT. Then do a Manual D to make sure the ducting is adequate. Instead of all the guessing?

Yeah, the existing 3-ton doesn't maintain temperature when it gets hot.
Has it lost capacity?
Running low on refrigerant?
Has it been running in tip top shape?
Is it trying to make up for an inadequate system on the first floor?

WHY are they reusing the existing line-set?
Is there no way to run 'new, clean, properly sized' lines?

If the lines are not sized correctly or if the ducting is too small, all you will have is a larger system costing you more to operate but leaving you with the same capacity.

I'm not really happy with mine. I bought a house that had about a 6 month old Goodman system.

About a year after I moved in it froze up due to low refrigerant. It's a pinhole in the a-coil that can't be repaired.

The a-coil is under warranty, but not the labor or refrigerant. They want me to pay 1100 to replace it with a unit they say commonly has a-coil problems.

I'm still pissed about it. I just paid a friend of mine to put two pounds in because I knew it was probably getting low.

I'm just going to keep installing 150 worth of regrigerant a year until I decide to replace the whole system.