Home HVAC advice?

Trane is towards the top end in quality (and price). I would suggest a heat pump. There may be energy credits that make a heat pump cost very little extra beyond an A/C.

I think the quality is also needed with the installation. Not just the unit. Consider a 5" media filter.
 
I would look at all the online ratings and check with the BBB for A.C./Heating contractors near you. The brand will be secondary to the contractors reputation. Ask co workers/relatives/neighbors and find some sort of consensus before you embark on a multi thousand dollar investment.
 
In my old house, we had dual-zone HVAC with Carrier & TRANE units -- 15 & 25 yrs old, respectively. Never needed anything other than a start capacitor and furnace filters.
 
Refrigerant for older units is getting expensive and difficult to obtain. While new ones may be made a little cheaper in their build & quality they are also more efficient.
 
From my 33 years as a home owner, I have made an observation that I am more than comfortable with. Since I shouldn't use filthy language I will dress my comments up. I didn't read all of the previous post so I may\be saying something someone else did.

Clearing my throat. I personally don't give a rat's **** about the brand of HVAC anymore. I used to care, but not any more. If your HVAC company doesn't know stink about how to properly design and install your system it won't matter how great the brand of unit you are installing. Trane, Goodman, Lennox, American Standard, Rheem, Carrier, etc, etc, etc. Forget that Super HI efficiency mumbo jumbo. If they have a poor reputation for service it really won't matter what brand you buy.

You MUST find the very best HVAC company in your area. Ask around. Do your research. Find out which companies will quickly service what they sell, how long have they been in business. Ask your coworkers and neighbors.
Look for the company first and then let that company help you pick one of the units they sell. Unit selection must come after you pick your HVAC company. Trust me. You want to establish a relationship for the long haul.

I promise this advice will pay off much more than the brand of unit you get. I promise. Pick a HVAC company with the best reputation in your area before you even consider the brand of HVAC. And don't worry too much about the price. Be concerned, but not overly concerned.

A shady, sheetie company will probably install a super unit that won't work like it should. A reputable HVAC company can make a sheetie unit operate like a Rolex. Well, maybe not a Rolex. You know what I mean...hyberbole.
 
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Carrier is good but it is only as good as the person installing it.

From 13 years ago it might still be "efficient" enough not to upgrade. The cost has increased a lot and I'd just leave it alone until it is about time they fail. Newer units may not be efficient enough to make up the installation cost difference especially if you don't care for the new smart control, dual stage, variable frequency / inverter technology, etc. Focus on insulation with your money may yield better result.
 
Originally Posted by Kawiguy454
My old Carrier was much quieter than the Trane i replaced it with ~2 yrs ago. I believe carrier moved production outside US a couple years back. AC is not rocket science, A compressor, some heat transfer coils, a few sensors and contactor/s so the hardwares are similar made in CH or MX...

+1 Get a good installer, In humid area you do not want AC to be a more costly oversized unit. it needs to be smallish and higher duty cycle to remove humidity.


The rocket science in AC is the refrigerants, inverter (if variable frequency, they are usually the first one to fail in the entire system), and compressor technologies. The US central AC are usually pretty conservative technology and everyone use the same refrigerants and compressor in the same class and same generation (year). It is the warranty and installation qualification (anyone can install vs certified installer only).

From my limited understanding, variable speed is done by converting AC to DC then back to AC with variable speed, so your compressor is always running at the right amount of power and speed. Power circuitry is usually pretty hard to be made reliable at a cost, and they do blow up quit a bit (at least in robotics business) when not design very well or when load are not stable (i.e. power going backward from motor back into the inverter's capacitor).
 
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Originally Posted by BigD1
TempStar is a Carrier company!



So is Heil....mine has been awesome...
 
I have had good luck with Goodman. a 30% drop in energy bills is good too. The last one has a scroll compressor. I love it. So quiet I can not tell when the GF turns it down.

Rod
 
Originally Posted by diyjake
If it is running fine I wouldn't touch it.


x2.

I would just do maintenance such as washing the outside condenser coil, making sure it is done at least once a year.
Make sure the drain pan is clean and the drain is not clogged on the evaporator.

Check the capacitance of the capacitor, may be 2x (at least 1x) a year.
A capacitance meter is cheap to buy @ Amazon or Ebay.
Sometimes capacitor is weak not up to spec but not showing any bulging yet.
 
I am not sure about newer carrier units, but I just purchased a house with a carrier branded Air conditioner with a build date of 1989. Here in the south, AC units don't tend to last that long so that instills a little bit of confidence.
 
Don't get to caught up on the unit but get caught up in the installation. You can buy the best unit have a horrible install and your going to be miserable. Find a excellent installer , equipment sized correct and you will have years of happiness.
 
Our 2 Ton Comfortmaker down at our fishing camp got pushed off of it's stand and hung upside down UNDERWATER by the refrigerant lines and electrical lines during Hurricane Ike back in 2012...…

While we were rebuilding a few months later I removed the cap for the Strader Valve and I'll be [censored] the lines didn't rupture! We still had pressure! So I had my HVAC dude come down and he isolated the refrigerant on the Outdoor unit -- we stood the unit back up and he fixed all the copper tubing.....We replaced the fan motor, the start capacitor and the contactor ($220 in parts delivered to my front door!) -- fired the unit up and it's been working just fine ever since!
 
Originally Posted by pbm
Originally Posted by BigD1
TempStar is a Carrier company!



So is Heil....mine has been awesome...


Got 17 years from my Heil … decided to change it before we had trouble. Dealer told me it's Comfort Maker now.
Did not want insulated gate bipolar transistors and all that … just come up about 4 points on SEER.
Asked which model he put in his house … got that one (2 stage) CM
 
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My son is a Master HVAC installer.
He put a Goodman A/C unit in his sisters house.
I don't think he would have used a Goodman if they were not good.
He can't hide from her. LOL.
 
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