Furnace Brands and Models

[ET16]

My house has three Bryant Plus 90 furnaces that are about 23 years old. One has been throwing a 33 code that has been difficult to sort out. Our HVAC guy put in a new blower motor, but that didn't fix it. I'm waiting on a return call to see what's next.

It got me thinking about the units more generally; if I were going to replace the furnace(s), what brands and models are good? I looked at Consumer Reports and got some info, but I don't know if it's dated. My HVAC guy sells York, which rates poorly. Any recommendation or experiences?

 

[skyactiv]

Trane or their less expensive alternative American Standard.

 

[Rand]

In General:
Installer is more important than brand.

I would take a goodman furnace with a good installer over (insert best brand here) done by some hack.

That being said they all have lines of product and if a very specific model has bad reviews maybe stay away from that exact model.

In other words if I was shopping for a water heater just because one model of GE has 1star reviews doesnt mean I'd avoid all GE.

 

[KenshinHimura]

Daiken/Amana/Goodman, there is also Lennox/Armstrong air

 

[JohnnyG]

For a 90+ gas forced air, I've had good service from Lennox (with heat pump).
Down here in FL, I had a Bryant (Goodman?) heat pump installed and it's been very reliable. Did lose a capacitor, but that happens in this heat. Cost me something like $13.50 for two of them, shipped to my door. Installed myself.

 

[mrsilv04]

From what I was told from a Lennox dealer, Lennox parts are largely proprietary. A few of the more common parts exist in the aftermarket. They are reluctant to use them, but are gettng to the point where they don't have a whole lot of choice.

That would take them clean off of my list.

 

[fsdork]

I had a Trane XV95 installed in my last house as a replacement for an original (1982) furnace with a cracked heat exchanger. No issues whatsoever with the Trane from installation in 2013 until I sold in 2021. Our current house is a 2015 build and has a single-stage Trane XR95, which seems to be fine so far.

 

[Donald]

Trane.

 

[tyman]

Trane or their less expensive alternative American Standard.

Yup, this.

 

[alarmguy]

Ill be the odd one, what else is new?
We have had Heil builder installed units for going on 16 years now.
Second floor Heatpump
First floor AC/Gas heat.

These units work everyday of the year, we NEVER open our windows and our summers are more hot than Florida. Only saying that because many think Florida owns the heat. The heat pump for the second floor doesnt work as much during winter as the gas heat on the main level heats the second floor.

Love the simplicity of the units and have been trouble free unless you count a condenser fan and relay going bad.
Not really loyal to any company but when a reasonably priced appliance treats me right I stick with them and I will do that come replacement time which I would think might be the 20 year mark.

When we lived in NY, smaller home, way less demands on the system we didnt have as good experience with the Trane AC, little stuff, capacitors ... ect. and was a current system. You cant of course judge a company on one model and I am not.

 

[Schandyman]

My New York house has a thermopride furnace and Bryant central ac condenser

 

[Dave9]

Code 33 high limit means overheat condition, since blower motor didn't help, and assuming it has a not-overly-restrictive, clean filter, could be the limit switch itself failed but at that age I'd also suspect your secondary heat exchanger has rusted out from so many years of condensate, and this is causing burner flame rollout. If you look at it through the sight glass (if present, or cover off otherwise) flames would look less like blue jets, have more yellow to them and be making walls of flame in addition to less well formed jets. I'm sure there are youtube videos showing the difference. Then again, I'd have thought the HVAC tech would have spotted that.

Motor itself is seldom needed unless you hear the bearings grinding/squeaking, or it's vibrating and the mounts are still in good condition, or of course the squirrel cage is reallly caked with gunk and some flew off to make it imbalanced.

Some Bryants have a lifetime heat exchanger warranty, so "maybe" cost effective to pay the labor to replace that (considering you just invested in a new blower motor too), but if it's on your dime then time to replace the furnace. I'd be agitated about paying for a new blower that didn't fix the problem, would almost try to negotiate some discount on labor if the heat exchanger can be replaced under warranty, except I'm not so sure that I'd want the same tech doing the work... maybe a company that can send someone else out instead and still get a labor discount?

Look for leaking brown water, and if it were me, I'd have a CO detector present if still running the furnace.

 

[Rmay635703]

Having trouble finding the auger and auger motor to repair

 

[ET16]

Code 33 high limit means overheat condition, since blower motor didn't help, and assuming it has a not-overly-restrictive, clean filter, could be the limit switch itself failed but at that age I'd also suspect your secondary heat exchanger has rusted out from so many years of condensate, and this is causing burner flame rollout. If you look at it through the sight glass (if present, or cover off otherwise) flames would look less like blue jets, have more yellow to them and be making walls of flame in addition to less well formed jets. I'm sure there are youtube videos showing the difference. Then again, I'd have thought the HVAC tech would have spotted that.

Motor itself is seldom needed unless you hear the bearings grinding/squeaking, or it's vibrating and the mounts are still in good condition, or of course the squirrel cage is reallly caked with gunk and some flew off to make it imbalanced.

Some Bryants have a lifetime heat exchanger warranty, so "maybe" cost effective to pay the labor to replace that (considering you just invested in a new blower motor too), but if it's on your dime then time to replace the furnace. I'd be agitated about paying for a new blower that didn't fix the problem, would almost try to negotiate some discount on labor if the heat exchanger can be replaced under warranty, except I'm not so sure that I'd want the same tech doing the work... maybe a company that can send someone else out instead and still get a labor discount?

Look for leaking brown water, and if it were me, I'd have a CO detector present if still running the furnace.

Yeas, I'm agitated about paying for a blower when I didn't need one. A similar thing happened previously. Same tech replaced a blower on one of the other units to find it was actually the circuit board that was at issue. I'm getting sour on this company.

 

[gman2304]

I installed a new Trane 120,000 btu NG furnace and 4 ton ac in my house when we bought it in 1994. Replaced the furnace due to a small hair line crack in the fire box in 2019 with a new Trane NG furnace. I did replace a bulging start capacitor in the 28 year old ac unit a couple of years ago. If the ac unit ever gives up the ghost, another Trane will replace it.

 

[nthach]

Having trouble finding the auger and auger motor to repairView attachment 85885

I tell my Traeger-head friend that they started out making pellet stoves before smokers. He finds that hard to believe.

 

[nthach]

From what I was told from a Lennox dealer, Lennox parts are largely proprietary. A few of the more common parts exist in the aftermarket. They are reluctant to use them, but are gettng to the point where they don't have a whole lot of choice.

That would take them clean off of my list.

I’m seeing a big push for Lennox around here. I avoid them due to parts and controls - supposedly a Nest or Ecobee t-stat can drive a Lennox batty.

With the electrification of CA but many older homes/buildings that central HVAC is an impossibility unless there’s major renovation involved, mini-splits are popular around here - Fujitsu or Mitsubishi but I’ve seen ads for Samsung HVAC.

Back to the topic, install is important. Pick one of the Trane(Trane/American Standard/Tempstar), Carrier(Carrier, Bryant, Payne) brands or Goodman(Daikin owns them now) for aftermarket parts availability.

 

[CDX825]

As someone that does HVAC my brand choice is Trane/ American standard.

 

[dkryan]

In General:
Installer is more important than brand.

I would take a goodman furnace with a good installer over (insert best brand here) done by some hack………….

THIS!!

All day long………

 

[NormanBuntz]

Over the past 43 years, I've gotten the best service from Trane and American Standard. Carrier would be a close second, Rheem and Rudd would be in the middle and York would be last. I think York was one of the first American HVAC manufacturers to source many of its components from China.