Furnace Went Out - Which New One??

[Turk]

It's a very good company we're going with that will install it and we'll go with the 95% Goodman. 10 year warranty. We'll stay MAX 8 months to 3 years, so this is the best value.

$1,100 in tax credits + $350 local gas company + $500 off from the installer.

He gave me the amount, then I asked "Is there a cash discount??" He calculated $70 lower!!

It pays to ask...

 

[JustinH]

How much was the total, do you mind sharing?

 

[StevieC]

Our goodman A/C compressor is undersized for our house because the previous owners of the house were cheap.

It's over 10 years old and works its heart out in the summers and its working fine.

It seems well built from looking inside.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
We'll stay MAX 8 months to 3 years, so this is the best value.


This is the first time that you've mentioned this...

Your answers would have likely been different had this information come out a little sooner.

 

[duaneb9729]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
I'm interested in hearing Duane's opinion on Rheem/Ruud. I spectated on the HVAC newsgroup years ago and they were very well respected at that time, especially from a "bang for the buck" standpoint.



I used to be very against Rheem or Ruud products, and our company was a Rheem Dealer early in our history, and there are tons of them installed in new home projects.

But to be honest the problems encountered with the units were really installation issued which harmed the furnace.

Rheem and Ruud really dont have much of a dealer network, not much in training goes on, at least locally. And they seem to sell the boxes to any one who has money.

For a couple of years I was the "field service advisor" for the local Rheem Distributor, and got to see lots of Installed caused problems. Normally I got involved when the contractor walked away, then the distributor would send a guy and the traveling Rheem rep and myself would go out to jobs and see what we could do for customers.

The customers sometimes would be livid, but those other guys would take that flack while I figured out what was causing the problems. It was a good learning experiance.

I had the opportunity to tour the plant at Fort Smith, Ar.
They do build an ok product. But for our company its just not good business to be lumped into the same installer group as other Rheem or Ruud dealers.

Its sort of funny, we started out as a Rheem Dealer, I thought the product was tough to sell, but it really could have been my youth and inexperiance, we then became a Trane dealer, Selling the product was Much easier, and the education opportunities were awesome, the draw back for us was when the furnace became two to three years old and had a problem, rather then buy a hot surface ignitor, we were forced to buy some sort of upgrade kit, that would set a customer back 200 to 225 dollars!

Now just a short time ago I sat across from them telling them how great these new furnaces are! And to this day Trane still operates like that, and to me it seems dishonest.

My history goes on and on lol, sorry if I droned on here, Thank you guys

 

[BearZDefect]

duaneb, I enjoy reading your posts - your stories and knowledge as a professional are valuable.

And I can agree that most problems are caused by installers - subcontractors that are careless and sloppy. Our house reveals such evidence with most every problem that pops up.

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

Armstrong.
They use brand name parts available everywhere.
Amana has a bunch of proprietary parts only available through their dealer=$$$

 

[UNC017]

The place where I work uses a whole lot of Ruud package units for heating and cooling assembly areas, temporary buildings, lab spaces, etc. Some last decades, but one of my lab areas has had two furnace units that failed in just a few years, and had numerous service calls turned in even before conking out for good. And just looking at the units, they do have some good components (Copeland compressors, GE motors, name brand contactors, thermocouples, etc.) but the whole thing looks like they assembled it by picking and choosing from those vendors parts bins and putting it in a cheap sheet metal box, whereas a Lennox, Trane, York, and Carrier (in that order) look more like the system was engineered for all the parts to work together optimally.

 

[The Critic]

I have an American Standard unit in my parent's home. They bought as part of a package, when we redid all of the ductwork and replaced the furnace and A/C units. Not sure on the cost, but I think it was well over 10k for everything.

 

[duaneb9729]

Thank you Bear!

Xcelerationrules, the only two proprietary parts on Amana furnaces are the draft inducer motor and the furnace control board, the same as all the other manufacturers. And in the last eight to ten years most of those have five year warranties on them, and the top of the line equipment has a ten year warranty, so you could be out some labor cost should there be a issue.

440magnum, I agree with you regarding Rheem furnaces. The furnaces in your lab area that failed, were those sealed combustion furnaces? If they were 80% furnaces drawing air for combustion from the lab, IMHO no matter what the brand they weren't destined to last long. Of course I am picturing all sorts of nasty chemicals being used in the lab.

I tend to shudder when I go into a beauty parlor to look a furnace, and look down the burners only to see the back of the furnace cabinet! And the same thing goes for commercial buildings.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: duaneb9729
Thank you Bear!

440magnum, I agree with you regarding Rheem furnaces. The furnaces in your lab area that failed, were those sealed combustion furnaces? If they were 80% furnaces drawing air for combustion from the lab, IMHO no matter what the brand they weren't destined to last long. Of course I am picturing all sorts of nasty chemicals being used in the lab.


They are outdoor self-contained package units with ducting to the interior- no indoor air used for combustion at all. The failures were all control system components, AFAIK the burners themselves are fine. Unit 1 ate a couple of main boards, both units got to where they would erroneously trip the flame roll-out sensor, don't know what finally caused maintenance to put a padlock on the gas line to unit #1 immediately after answering the service call and then replace it later in the week (that one made us exchange worried looks at the other furnace...). Unit #2 finally lost the combustion air blower (draft inducer) last winter. Just problem children all around. Never had a problem on with the AC side of them though- and that's a much harder job in that building.

FWIW, its an equipment staging and assembly lab- no chemicals involved there. We'd have better air-handling gear than generic package units if it were a hazmat area... ;-) We do try to keep the filters fresh, and they've got those new 3" thick pleated filters too.