Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Who makes the most reliable systems nowadays?

 

I recently had to replace a fan.  No biggie.  But I'm saving for replacement whenever that bug bites in the next few years.

 

So, I've read a lot recently (from technicians) that some of the old brands that used to be reliable aren't so much anymore, and some of the more affordable brands actually outperform some of the expensive units in reliability.

 

Specifically, we've got a Trane and we've had great experience with it... no troubles other than a couple capacitors and the fan (which likely caused the capacitors.)

 

But I've heard the newer ones may not be what the old ones were in terms of reliability.  Some report the two stage motors are a source of trouble.

 

So... whether have technical experience or otherwise... what's the more reliable brand(s) these days?

I think most of the units are produced by the same company under multiple names. I bought a Goodman 8 years ago or so and have been very happy with it since.

I replaced the unit in my home back in 2009 with a Carrier.  So far it's been very reliable and does the job.  The only complaint that I have is that it uses a non-standard filter size that I either have to order or get from the company that installed my unit.

 

Regarding the capacitors, their failure is actually pretty common, especially in the environment where they are used.  Heat will wear a capacitor out, especially electrolytic type capacitors.

Carrier is laying off all their American workers and moving operations to Mexico by 2017. I wouldn't touch a Carrier product with a ten foot pole. Not just for solidarity reasons either. I'm willing to bet the soon-to-be unemployed workers aren't putting forth their best effort.

I agree that the residential heat pumps are pretty much the same and they are just distributed under different brands. I have a 10-yr old Lennox and had to replace an evaporator coil and a capacitor in that span. My in-laws' 20 yr-old carrier has had one (indoor) fan motor replaced, but the outdoor unit is still going strong.

 

I have made it a habit to keep a spare capacitor at my house in case my current one fails.

I had a Rheem unit when I lived in Florida. I'm not recommending it, I just always chuckle at the name.

We've got a York system that has been extremely reliable for the 10 years we've had it in the house.  We replaced a Trane system at the time.  We did a lot of research, and the old Trane systems from 20 years ago were bulletproof, but when we needed to do the swap, I had more than one AC guy tell us to steer clear. 

Quote:Carrier is laying off all their American workers and moving operations to Mexico by 2017. I wouldn't touch a Carrier product with a ten foot pole. Not just for solidarity reasons either. I'm willing to bet the soon-to-be unemployed workers aren't putting forth their best effort.

 

It's not all of their workers, but I certainly understand your comment.

I've had Trane and American Standard.

 

Stick with Trane.

I have a trane, it was installed about 5 years ago. My house is cold. 

 

Guess that's good.

I have a Trane high-efficiency unit.  I thought all of the HE talk was just a [BAD WORD REMOVED] selling point.  However, I've been saving up to $40-$50 a month on my electric bills over the summer since I had it installed 6 years ago.