After 21 years, my air-conditioner sounds like a jet engine trying to take off. The first (I’m getting a second opinion) repair company said it is time for a new system - band aid repairs only.

So, assuming my 2nd guy says the same thing, who do we like as the Speed Queen of furnaces and air conditioners? I’ve had a Trane all this time but I have know idea if they are still a quality unit. I’m looking for the Toyota of furnaces, not a fancy Ford or Dodge that will crap out in 5-10 years.

Thanks.

Edited: natural gas furnace

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BB61,

BB61:
You may want to clarify and add gas/oil-fired or heat-pump based.

My son just bought a 1950 rancher with an oil-hot-air system - no AC............watching this thread closely.

I replaced a Heil with a Trane

Mine is an Amana / Goodman unit
Amana outdoor unit, Goodman in the attic

Just had my ac guy out for a check up as it was struggling to maintain daytime temps.

Problem 1, we were double stacked on filters. 2 1in filters on the returns & a 4in box filter on the attic blower. Exacerbated by the fact I didn't know about the 4in filter, so it had been minimum 11 months since it'd been changed.
Problem 2, expansion valve wasn't insulated & was likely not functioning 100% with the high attic temps.

He said it's a good system & we haven't had any issues with it until this week, in the 11 months we've been here. He was getting an 18deg delta between return/supply temps. Said that's about right/average.

We'll see over the next week if it's working better.

I would type out a long post, but too many people are hung up on a brand to understand reality.

The noise you mention sounds like the capacitor has failed. Inexpensive fix if that is the problem, and gives you some cushion to schedule replacement to a time that works better for you.

I've had that same sound issue on two systems.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
I would type out a long post, but too many people are hung up on a brand to understand reality.

^^^^^
I'm willing to listen. I'm looking for quality not brand specific. I was just giving quality examples. We could easily use the GLOCK of home HVAC systems - simple and reliable.

It is not a simple question.

Emerson Climate Technologies makes the industry dominant scroll compressor. You want one, as they are efficient and reliable. Nearly every brand uses them.

Daikin bought the Goodman plant, and transformed it to a reliable Japanese operation. Those systems are cheaper and have longer warranties.

Look, a system is two heat exchangers a compressor and a thermal expansion device. All are quite similar. You can pay for efficiency or features, but the basics are all the same.

I purchased Daikin.

One of our mini-splits is a Daikin. Gets used a couple hours/week & works well

I'd look for a really good well liked reputable long time locally owned and operated company, regardless of what brand they sell.
.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'd look for a really good well liked reputable long time locally owned and operated company, regardless of what brand they sell.
.

I had one,
they did great work at my first house, even helped nurse the system till the buyer signed the contract with a whole house warrenty before it died, then did a great job maintaining our new house once the warranty ran out, put 2 units in my shop,

then the owner had an issue, got shitty with a warranty repair we had,
I had to prove to them it was still under warranty,

afterward he packed up his shit, left, locked the doors and left his help hanging,

now, I have a local guy that is also a customer,

Well, hasn’t been a real long time, but we went with Home Comfort Experts, and replaced both the furnace and the ac with Trane models. Natural gas furnace, and it’s a two stage, at 95% efficiently.
I think we did this around 2019 or so. Would have to look up paperwork. We have been very happy with both, seems like the house doesn’t have ‘cold spots’ anymore, and the ac is nice and cool where we set it. Gas bill didn’t go up either, actually went down on usage.
We just have Home Comfort come out once a year to inspect and maintain. Oh, we also got an air filtration installed to it, so it cleans the air constantly, and our allergies have improved a lot from having that as well. We went with the model with a higher warranty too. The company is very responsive and nice to deal with so far.

I had a Trane high-efficiency gas furnace and AC installed in my old house in 2011, and they were both still going strong when I left there 6 months ago. Well, except for that one time when the dog decided to start peeing on the outside compressor unit. Corroded it to the point that it quit working. The company that had installed it replaced it, then I put a fence around it.

People like to say that it's more about the installer than the brand name . But they never give you any details past that point . Just a lot of rhetoric . I understand that you need a quality installation , but don't cheap out on junk either .I have decades of experience with Trane units and would buy one again in a heartbeat . I'm sure someone will take exception to this post but that's my take on it .

Heard this from a local builder radio guy I listen to on the weekends (for over 30 years) that says most all the equipment today is great.
You just need to find a really good company to install and service it.
A good company also will fit you for the proper sized equipment.
Look more on experience, reputation and quality of service.
We found one near us and we installed Trane and the service has been impeccable.
Like anything we have had a few issues but nothing major and they always respond quickly to take care of it.
We bought a new Trane in 2017, working great ~ mostly AC here in Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
People like to say that it's more about the installer than the brand name . But they never give you any details past that point . Just a lot of rhetoric . I understand that you need a quality installation , but don't cheap out on junk either .I have decades of experience with Trane units and would buy one again in a heartbeat . I'm sure someone will take exception to this post but that's my take on it .

A quality company won't put in shit or mis-fit system.
So it is not just rhetoric.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
People like to say that it's more about the installer than the brand name . But they never give you any details past that point . Just a lot of rhetoric . I understand that you need a quality installation , but don't cheap out on junk either .I have decades of experience with Trane units and would buy one again in a heartbeat . I'm sure someone will take exception to this post but that's my take on it .

<beating head against the wall>

quote:

A quality company won't put in shit or mis-fit system.
So it is not just rhetoric.

Yeah , you just about covered it all ...

My three year old house A/C system took a dump yesterday. So, a call to repair man was first on my agenda this morning.

$460 later, a capacitor was replaced and coolness in the house made life more agreeable in Tucson.

System: Carrier. The cheapest that KB homes could find, it seems.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
My three year old house A/C system took a dump yesterday. So, a call to repair man was first on my agenda this morning.

$460 later, a capacitor was replaced and coolness in the house made life more agreeable in Tucson.

System: Carrier. The cheapest that KB homes could find, it seems.

Was that all he did ?