What size is the furnace?

BTW, the 600 has the automatic humidity control.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

You might also want to reconsider space heating/cooling with a lot of bells and whistles, it is just more "stuff" that can go wrong with it, and makes your repair guy a lot of extra money in my opinion. My house is ~1200 square feet, and a 70,000 btu furnace with a 2 ton AC unit works very well for me. Furthermore, my furnace is a plain Jane 90% efficiency. I'm retired from a well known to you major gas distribution company here in MI, and did service work on all types of gas appliances.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

I'm not going to debate the merits of these three particular companies business plans. Their reviews on social media tell the tale far better than I ever could.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
What size is the furnace?

BTW, the 600 has the automatic humidity control.

70k btu 96% two stage. Our old one was 69k 80%.

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
You might also want to reconsider space heating/cooling with a lot of bells and whistles, it is just more "stuff" that can go wrong with it, and makes your repair guy a lot of extra money in my opinion. My house is ~1200 square feet, and a 70,000 btu furnace with a 2 ton AC unit works very well for me. Furthermore, my furnace is a plain Jane 90% efficiency. I'm retired from a well known to you major gas distribution company here in MI, and did service work on all types of gas appliances.

I think this one has been in use for a while. It’s mostly just the new style motor all seem to be going to, aside from the high efficiency format. Having the chimney as pvc seems so strange.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

I'm not going to debate the merits of these three particular companies business plans. Their reviews on social media tell the tale far better than I ever could.

Goodman may work great for a lot, but my parents went through 3 compressors on theirs before it started working right. That killed it for me even if it was a fluke.
Overall I think this contractor did the best estimate on top of price. I’ll be looking forward to comparing gas bills this winter.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

I'm not going to debate the merits of these three particular companies business plans. Their reviews on social media tell the tale far better than I ever could.

Goodman may work great for a lot, but my parents went through 3 compressors on theirs before it started working right. That killed it for me even if it was a fluke.
Overall I think this contractor did the best estimate on top of price. I’ll be looking forward to comparing gas bills this winter.

Goodman is hit or miss. They’re about the cheapest units available. A great installer can’t make up for lower quality. Trane has the lowest failure rate in the industry. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or misinformed. But of course you’ll pay for Trane. I would find a great installer who will also install American Standard. Same company as Trane (Ingersoll Rand) but not quite as expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

I'm not going to debate the merits of these three particular companies business plans. Their reviews on social media tell the tale far better than I ever could.

Goodman may work great for a lot, but my parents went through 3 compressors on theirs before it started working right. That killed it for me even if it was a fluke.
Overall I think this contractor did the best estimate on top of price. I’ll be looking forward to comparing gas bills this winter.

Goodman is hit or miss. They’re about the cheapest units available. A great installer can’t make up for lower quality. Trane has the lowest failure rate in the industry. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or misinformed. But of course you’ll pay for Trane. I would find a great installer who will also install American Standard. Same company as Trane (Ingersoll Rand) but not quite as expensive.

I had a Goodman I bought in 2007 ish. 3 years old the condensing unit started leaking at a weld. I had it braised and in 2015 it started leaking at a tube on the condenser that cracked. It was R 22 and I junked it and went to another brand. Once and done.....same with Rheem. Personally I only buy American Standard or Trane for my properties.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to run a large trade company these days. Insurance, workmans comp, health insurance, liability insurance and on and on are expensive if you have multiple techs/employees, so they have to charge to make a profit.

I'm not going to debate the merits of these three particular companies business plans. Their reviews on social media tell the tale far better than I ever could.

Goodman may work great for a lot, but my parents went through 3 compressors on theirs before it started working right. That killed it for me even if it was a fluke.
Overall I think this contractor did the best estimate on top of price. I’ll be looking forward to comparing gas bills this winter.

Goodman is hit or miss. They’re about the cheapest units available. A great installer can’t make up for lower quality. Trane has the lowest failure rate in the industry. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or misinformed. But of course you’ll pay for Trane. I would find a great installer who will also install American Standard. Same company as Trane (Ingersoll Rand) but not quite as expensive.

I had a Goodman I bought in 2007 ish. 3 years old the condensing unit started leaking at a weld. I had it braised and in 2015 it started leaking at a tube on the condenser that cracked. It was R 22 and I junked it and went to another brand. Once and done.....same with Rheem. Personally I only buy American Standard or Trane for my properties.

I see a lot of Goodman units that leak from the factory brazing or holes that have been worn in the lines by rubbing against themselves. Especially in their packaged units. I think their biggest problem is that they seem to be hastily manufactured.

I had a Goodman. Found it easy to work on and easy to get parts for. I did replace a lot of parts over 12 years:

-Inducer vac switch
-Hot surface ignitor
-Flame sensor
-Board
-Blower motor
-Inducer

All of the above was ~$500 in parts free labor cause I know how to diagnose and fix stuff. All above parts were available for pickup at R.E. Michels and/or Amazon prime. Probably $2,500 in retail repairs, maybe more over 12 years. Seems excessive to me, over ~$200 a year or more in maintenance.

Out of curiosity, Excam or any HVAC techs, what would the above repairs cost on a furnace if each repair was a separate trip?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I had a Goodman. Found it easy to work on and easy to get parts for. I did replace a lot of parts over 12 years:

-Inducer vac switch
-Hot surface ignitor
-Flame sensor
-Board
-Blower motor
-Inducer

All of the above was ~$500 in parts free labor cause I know how to diagnose and fix stuff. All above parts were available for pickup at R.E. Michels and/or Amazon prime. Probably $2,500 in retail repairs, maybe more over 12 years. Seems excessive to me, over ~$200 a year or more in maintenance.

Out of curiosity, Excam or any HVAC techs, what would the above repairs cost on a furnace if each repair was a separate trip?

I have a 2 ton Rheem at one place that was installed in 2010 and has nickeled and dimed me a lot more than that......3 blower motors, the condenser fan motor, several capacitors...…..etc.....

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Goodman may work great for a lot, but my parents went through 3 compressors on theirs before it started working right. That killed it for me even if it was a fluke.
Overall I think this contractor did the best estimate on top of price. I’ll be looking forward to comparing gas bills this winter.

My last Bryant (i.e. Carrier) Evolution system, the system to end all AC systems according to the salesman, and a system that was insanely expensive, went through three compressors, two or three hard start kits, and two circuit boards during the time I had it. The only fond memory I have of that machine was the extended warranty which about got worn out right up to the point I junked that system. According to two HVAC repair techs I know, use, and trust, 'all' new HVAC systems are cheaply made and not built for long term service like the older machines were. I know of numerous people who've installed Goodman systems locally, and to date, haven't heard of any issues anyone has or is having with them. That would tend to jive with the market reports I researched online before installing my current Goodman heat pump system last year.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Trane has the lowest failure rate in the industry. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or misinformed.

Instead of conjecture, can you provide us with some industry or market related data to back up those claims? When I tried to research the topic of reliability by brand before buying a new system last year, Tranes reliability didn't appear to be any better than a number of the other big brands, and in some cases, not as good. If you've run across info I haven't, please share.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Skip the Goodman quote. If one thing is for sure, it's hard to find a competent installer... even harder to find one who sells Goodman. They are out there, but you'll look for a long time to locate one. As most competent companies don't want to get an automatic label (bad rep) for selling Goodman.

Interesting. The three largest HVAC companies in Central Florida, who I would argue do the lion's share of new installs, 'all' carry and install Goodman equipment. I would rate all three arrogant and over pricing, but very competent. Guess things are rather different where you live.

That's new construction and not retrofits.
Different animal.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
What size is the furnace?

BTW, the 600 has the automatic humidity control.

70k btu 96% two stage. Our old one was 69k 80%.

Increase in efficiency allows for a smaller furnace.
69k 80% = 55,200 btu
70k 96% = 67,200 btu (too large)

60k 96% = 57,600 btu

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

A great installer can’t make up for lower quality. Trane has the lowest failure rate in the industry. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or misinformed.

Bullshit. Trane is not superior to a great installer/service tech.
Show me a system with multiple failures and you'll have yourself a jacked up install.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I had a Goodman. Found it easy to work on and easy to get parts for. I did replace a lot of parts over 12 years:

-Inducer vac switch
-Hot surface ignitor
-Flame sensor
-Board
-Blower motor
-Inducer

All of the above was ~$500 in parts free labor cause I know how to diagnose and fix stuff. All above parts were available for pickup at R.E. Michels and/or Amazon prime. Probably $2,500 in retail repairs, maybe more over 12 years. Seems excessive to me, over ~$200 a year or more in maintenance.

Out of curiosity, Excam or any HVAC techs, what would the above repairs cost on a furnace if each repair was a separate trip?

Hard to know without a model number.

BTW, flame sensors don't need to be replaced unless the porcelain is broke.

A couple of points..

- I’m surprised you were even quoted a 13 SEER system as these don’t even meet current building code minimums...I would suggest something in the 15-17 SEER rating

- agree that a 3 ton unit is probably too large for you size home.

- have you looked at your attic insulation? In your area I would recommend at least R-50

- a Manual J load calculation is the only way to go. I would never consider replacing a unit without doing one (and ask to see it so that you know it was done).