I have had a suggestion from one of my forum friends for a Franklin unit. I have never heard of this brand, will look into it.

Any others to look for, or conversely, to avoid?

I just finished replacing our AC last month. How large a unit are you looking for and do you have an installer selected?

American standard is the brand I choose. They're owned by Trane and a good compromise between price and quality. I'd stick to a name brand, I've never heard of Franklin. Whatever you do AVOID Rheem. Their quality has gone to crap and they used to be one of the best back in the day.

I am in the middle of making a decision also. I am leaning toward Amana. They have a lifetime compressor warranty,and the price is good.Input from other members would be very welcome.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wcb6092,

We just put in a high end Carrier unit, wifi included, two speed fan motor. Great unit and very efficient.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
American standard is the brand I choose. They're owned by Trane and a good compromise between price and quality.

American Standard 3-ton 17 seer is what I had installed 4 years ago. Perfect so far. I have recommended American Standard to friends who have ended up going with that brand and their experience has also been very positive.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I just finished replacing our AC last month. How large a unit are you looking for and do you have an installer selected?

Who did you use for install?

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I just finished replacing our AC last month. How large a unit are you looking for and do you have an installer selected?

Fairy small house, about 1,500 sq. ft. I think 2.5 or 3.0 ton unit but will look for advice from seller / installer.

No, I do not have an installer selected. Do you have any suggestions / recommendations in our area?

By the way, I sent you an email last week that might have slipped through a crack on your end, or maybe went to your spam folder, re the garage door guy. I never received a reply from you, so I'm guessing that you did not notice it.

ADDED: I just found this online. Looks like some useful information there, but I always wonder about articles like this. Are they really objective? Is there hidden agenda? What connections, if any, does the writer have with any of these brands? Other questions come to mind, but you can see where I'm going with this.

The advice I got when I was looking to replace a heat pump was to find the best installer for the area and go with what he sells. In my case the brand is American Standard and I went with one of the higher end units (SEER 19).

Trane- replaced about 7-8 yrs ago.

See what is most efficient and if you can get an energy audit.
I did an energy efficiency audit for my house--multiple credits or rebates if you replace X,Y or Z.
X = AC, Y = thermostat.....
See what your electric company offers.

example,,
www.ouc.com/residential/save-e...-rebates-information

quote:

By the way, I sent you an email last week that might have slipped through a crack on your end,

Sounds painful...

Sorry, could not help myself....

I replaced a 12 year old Trane with a Daikin 3 years ago. High SEER number, 2 speed fan, yada yada. When it works it works great, but it's had more service calls than my other two Tranes put together since we moved here. In fact the Daikin is out of service again right now awaiting parts (HPCO switch/valve) so we're sleeping in the guest bedroom. Again.

When my other two Tranes finally die off I won't be replacing with Daikin.

I just installed a $14k trane unit...that one hurt

I chose an installer.

Then we talked brands.

Carrier. I have never had a problem with Carrier owing three homes. When we bough our current home in 1992 I had Carrier AC put in and we just replaced it even though the 26 year old unit was still running like a champ and I spent $22 repairs on it in 26 years for a new capacitor.

We went with basic 13 SEER Carrier AC unit this time as going higher efficiency did not make sense in this area considering extra costs involved.

We had it installed by Carrier factory authorized dealer who included 10 years parts and labor warranty, with no service contract needed, for very reasonable cost.

For those recommending American Standard, I know of no company in Central Florida that offers that product. Trane is the American Standard offering here.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I just finished replacing our AC last month. How large a unit are you looking for and do you have an installer selected?

Fairy small house, about 1,500 sq. ft. I think 2.5 or 3.0 ton unit but will look for advice from seller / installer.

No, I do not have an installer selected. Do you have any suggestions / recommendations in our area?

By the way, I sent you an email last week that might have slipped through a crack on your end, or maybe went to your spam folder, re the garage door guy. I never received a reply from you, so I'm guessing that you did not notice it.

ADDED: I just found this online. Looks like some useful information there, but I always wonder about articles like this. Are they really objective? Is there hidden agenda? What connections, if any, does the writer have with any of these brands? Other questions come to mind, but you can see where I'm going with this.

I did a lot of research into this topic before replacing our old Bryant/Carrier 5 ton unit. This is what I found.

• Regardless the brand, the compressors in most residential AC systems are made by one of two companies (Copeland or Bristol). The coils are made by one of two companies as well (I forget the names).
• Carrier/Bryant will by far be the most expensive brand. Much of that is due to advertising/marketing, but their equipment is also touted as the most ‘technologically sophisticated’.
• Amana does have a lifetime warranty on the compressor, but you’ll pay an additional bump in cost for it, and the Amana condenser will be paired with a Rheem air handler (Amana and Rheem are owned by the same company).
• The basic warranties are virtually the same regardless the brand (i.e. 1 year parts and labor, 10 year compressor).
• Regardless the brand or company doing the work, the markup on the job (parts and labor) will be significant at this time of year.

The last unit I put in 15 years ago was a Carrier 16 SEER, 5 ton, dual speed compressor, computerized communicating system, that cost me $10k. I bought into the hype about efficiency and energy savings. Never again. That system never worked as well as it should have and had three compressor failures during the time I owned it (two replaced under warranty. Thank god for the extended warranty I bought.). The system was super complicated, and many service guys struggled dealing with it. Anything that failed on it was two to three times more expensive to repair than a simple, single speed system. But it did save me a couple bucks a month in energy costs to offset the hundreds in repair costs.

This time around I went a different direction based on conversations with a few AC guys. I bought a Goodman 14.5 SEER single speed system. I purchased that system myself from an internet wholesaler (Budget AC Supply in Davenport, essentially Haines City), and my father picked it up for me on his way back from Tampa (they slid it into his truck with their forklift). Condenser, air handler, 10kw heat strip, UV light (a throw in) ran ~$2500. Then I hired a guy who works for a local AC company to come in on a Saturday to install it for me (ran ~$1500 which included the Ecobee 3 thermostat I added). And yes, he is licensed to do AC work, but ‘no’ I can’t refer him to you as he has asked me not to refer him to others. I only had access to him because he’d done service work for me previously through his full-time job. So I was good to go for ~$3800. I got quotes ranging from $6k to $8k using the same Goodman equipment, and north of $10k for Carrier/Bryant equipment, just to add a bit of perspective.

Will the Goodman system cost me a bit more per month in energy costs over a $10k+ Carrier super efficiency system? Probably. Will it cost substantially less to replace any failed parts in the Goodman system versus the Carrier/Bryant system? Absolutely. Will the Goodman system be far easier for service techs to deal with? Absolutely. Did the Goodman system save me $2-$3k upfront on install? I think you can see where I'm going with this.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
By the way, I sent you an email last week that might have slipped through a crack on your end, or maybe went to your spam folder, re the garage door guy. I never received a reply from you, so I'm guessing that you did not notice it.

You have mail.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
For those recommending American Standard, I know of no company in Central Florida that offers that product. Trane is the American Standard offering here.

There are 3 American Standard air conditioner dealers listed for 32801 (Orlando), they all have 4.6 stars or better on google reviews, I just picked a random Orlando zip code. Here's the American Standard dealer locator.

https://www.americanstandardai...ind-your-dealer.html

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
For those recommending American Standard, I know of no company in Central Florida that offers that product. Trane is the American Standard offering here.

There are 3 American Standard air conditioner dealers listed for 32801 (Orlando), they all have 4.6 stars or better on google reviews, I just picked a random Orlando zip code. Here's the American Standard dealer locator.

https://www.americanstandardai...ind-your-dealer.html

And all of them will offer Trane equipment, which is the same company. Trane is huge in Central Florida. When I went shopping equipment, I found the American Standard references in company ads, but in every case, they offered me Trane equipment. Additionally, I tend to dabble in real estate, and in all the residential property I've looked at throughout Central Florida over the past ten or so years, I may have only come across one or two American Standard AC systems.