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QUESTION:I have been researching various forced air gas furnaces, both mid & high
efficiency units. I've examined Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Rheem/Ruud, York,
etc...
I would appreciate any advice or experiences you would be willing to
provide. Please DON'T bother telling me to ignore brands and select solely
on the basis of the dealer. Yes, I'm very well aware of the value of a
quality dealer and have therefore selected & interviewed major local
installers of all the above. I'm now close to a decision point and I'm
simply interested in feedback, positive or negative, with these or other
brands.
ANSWER: I've never found Carrier to be very reliable. Always something going
wrong
with them. On their latest, they've had control module trouble. They
make
their own where the rest of the industry buys from others. The module
had
an intermittent. I found that I could tap on it and get the heat back
on.
There was a bulletin on that. Then the replacement module had trouble
with
a fire potential in the 90% units so they are to be moved to the blower
compartment, where everyone else puts them anyway. The 90% is a
multi-position
with tubes & hoses everywhere. No fun to work on.
American-Standard/Trane is more expensive stuff than Carrier but worth
it.
A very reliable product, easy to work on, simple White-Rodgers controls,
GE
motors. We've had no trouble with them, quiet units. They have 2 stage
and
variable speed motor products for those, like me, that want the
ultimate.
Lennox is so rare around here (they used to have about 1/2 the market
here)
that I know little about their current product. The WhisperHeat is a
pain
to work on and not really the 80% efficient they claim (loophole in the
ratings)
so I'd skip that one unless sound is critical. The G21 Pulse has been
reliable
but pricey (and some wonder about it since the G14 Pulse has the
"recall" to
check the heat exchanger) and the pulses can be noisy if not carefully
installed.
The G26 90% is typical but compared to the Armstrong version (Lennox
owns them)
it has an aluminized steel vs Armstrong's stainless steel heat exchanger
and
has proprietary controls vs Armstrong's industry standard Honeywell
stuff. Lennox
is MURDER to deal with from the contractor's aspect. That's likely why
nationally
they have lost market share.
Rheem/Ruud makes a good product. The 80% has been around since 1992 and
is bug
free. A bit on the noisy side but a good control board and simple
design. Heats
up fast. Unless it goes in a living area closet, I wouldn't have a
problem with
it. We sell a good number of them. Their 90% is probably the ultimate
standard
furnace. Small, easy to install, very quiet, simple design, very easy to
service, good board, reliable. I swear by this one.
York isn't too common around here either. The Diamond 80 had some bugs
with
the Johnson control used but the later models use White-Rodgers
controls, like
Trane, and should be reliable. Not as easy to work on as Trane or Rheem.
The
Diamond 90 is fairly new. Never had occasion to work on one of them.
York is
towards the upper end of the market.
Amana makes a good furnace. Same controls as Trane, the 80% furnace has
a stainless
steel heat exchanger. Bard also is premium stuff, a small midwest maker.
Coleman
makes their own 78% and 80% multipoise but uses parent York's 90%. The
ICP brands,
Heil, Tempstar, Arcoaire, Comfortmaker have a good furnace line. Now
using Honeywell's
Smart Valve. Also have good controls, 5 year parts warranty. Armstrong
is similar
to Lennox products but as mentioned, have advantages that the parent
doesn't have.
Not using special controls is a plus after the warranty runs out.
Proprietary
boards & gas valves really raises the cost of replacement. Vendors gouge
when you
have to buy from them.
Goodman/Janitrol is one furnace I wouldn't TOUCH. Very primitive control
board, cheap
construction. Their GMP 80 has had heat exchanger failures which of
course
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