Which HVAC Brand Do I Prefer?? | HVAC Business Owner

This is the beginning of a new series. You send me your questions and I answer them. I feel like this is a good way to connect with you guys more often. Hope you enjoy, make sure you leave your questions in the comment section for future topics.

[QualityHVACR]

What’s up everyone! Do you have a question for me?? Leave it in the comments, I just might cover it in a future video :)

[sheriffbart]

As a home owner the HVAC industry is very annoying. I have a Lennox 5 ton that is barely 7 years old. Two days ago in NE Florida it started having problems keeping the house at 76 degrees. Called company out they said it's a leak in the evaporator coil and the in warranty fix would be 2100 dollars. I was offered a "deal" on a new Amana installation for $9100. The mob is very much alive in the HVAC business it seems.

[genecollier]

This is hard to believe, but in Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017, we
had 52 inches of rain here in Texas, my property looked like a lake. I
have a Goodman that was installed in 2012. The outside unit was only
showing about three inches above the floodwater. I just knew I would
have to replace the condenser unit. The unit sat about two months while
we were having the house worked on. So one day I thought "What the Hell"
it is hot in the house so I'll turn the power on to the AC and see what
happens. The worst I could do was burn the condenser out, and I had
lost nothing. To my surprise and amazement, the damn thing came on and
was cooling the house like a champ. That was almost four years ago now
and my Goodman AC is still cooling the house like it always did. About
four weeks ago I had to have a control board on the furnace changed out,
but other than that nothing has been done to the Goodman since the
hurricane of 2017. If the Goodman makes it until the cooler weather this
coming fall I plan to replace this unit with a new Goodman.

[spencerwhitmire]

I’ve been in the hvac business 43 yrs and my dad preached to us as kids the most reliable brand of equipment is the one that is installed correctly. This is so true because contractors are not all the same! I’ve sold everything from Goodman to Trane and you are spot on with a very important part as a dealer is the support from the supplier/manufacturer and parts and support is always the first thing I discuss with a rep when they offer me a brand or a new technology because we want to keep a happy customer after the install. Good video that popped up in my feed and I hope you didn’t mind me commenting as I usually don’t get on other contractors videos but I had to agree with you.

[floorpizza]

I'm just a homeowner, but I've been chasing down as many YouTube HVAC channels as I can, trying to become an "educated consumer." Without fail, *every single* HVAC channel on YouTube spouts the "brand doesn't matter... install quality matters!" mantra to no end. And that's fine, BUT...

As a homeowner, it is *extremely* difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to finding an installer that will do a good job. Online reviews are often purchased. There are a ton of smiling, "seems like a great guy" types that come out and try to upsell you or replace existing equipment that is still good, not to mention the "great guy" types that then end up doing a horrible installation job.

Trying to find an HVAC company that doesn't try to upsell you, replace good equipment, reasonably priced, and will also do a good install job is like trying to find a virgin at a house of ill repute. IME so far, you're very lucky if you can find a company that'll do two of the aforementioned list of four things. And how in the world do you know if a company will do these things until after the install job is done and you've already cut your check? The vetting process is nearly impossible.

This is not a consumer friendly industry, from the homeowner's point of view.

So many of the HVAC YouTube channels I end up thinking, "man, I sure wish this guy was local to me. I'd go with him in a heartbeat." Ah well... what I get for living in the desert in the middle of nowhere.

I *want* to support the trades. I have no problem with supporting guys that are out there working a skilled trade. At all. I just don't want to get ripped off, and I want a good installation. Doesn't seem unreasonable, and yet it is so hard to get.

In fact, I'm so frustrated by it that I'm seriously thinking of ponying up the money to take an online HVAC certification course just so I can do my own installation. Sure, it won't be as good of an education as I'd get from attending a school in person, but I'm not looking to do it as a source of income. And then I'd have no one else to blame but myself if it doesn't turn out.

The only thing keeping me from doing this is the guilt I'd have for taking someone's income away from them. Too bad you guys aren't able to police yourselves somehow to get rid of the scammers, poor business practice types, etc.

[kenschmidt]

We had a Trane dual fuel system installed 1 1/2 years ago. Heat pump operates until temperature drops below 35 degrees F, then 90% gas takes over. 20 x 25 x 4 filter lasts 60 months. We are in western Oregon on the 45th parallel. Very happy with the system.

[allencarroll]

My Goodman is 30 years old and going strong.

[richardstone]

I have a 2008 Goodman that has and is running flawlessly.
Granted I keep it clean and change the filter (MERV 5) on the first of each month.
Honestly, I think it has more to do with the quality of the installation than the equipment itself.
And, I do not think ANY of the manufacturers are concentrating on quality like they used to.

[titom]

That's 100% correct bro, mostly all equipment will offer the same warranties. The most important part is the installation. A salesman can try to push their best system brand, but if his install crew sucks . That equipment will fail, and thats were all this bad reviews come from.

[countryfriedhvac]

In the upper to mid-south the best setup is heat pump augmented by a wood stove.

[Garth]

Agreed...the industry depends HIGHLY on the installers. This is where the rubber meets the road and I have seen some poor installations a 6th grader could have done. Now that Goodman, part of Amana, is owned by Daikin and is based in Texas, parts are supposed to be always available in short time. I agree with the filtered returns, more is better for several reasons but a couple are, less noise and more efficient air exchange occurs if placed in the right locations. No install should have the air filter in the attic ! They should all be in the living areas ahead of the return ducting.

[Shalmaneser]

Even Goodman isn't above planned obsolescence. Government regulations top my list for unintended consequences. During a deep dive on a new refrigerator, I found one change that cooling manufacturers made to meet a change in government regulations requiring higher 'efficiency': they thinned the oil viscosity in compressors. As a result, they lowered resistance (woo hoo! less electricity) while shortening lifespan (They get to sell more!).

[MrCmgl]

Great video. I have been doing split system inverters for over 8-1/2 years. The future of the equipment will be that they never shut off and run at very low speeds. Most efficient way.

[AnalogueKid]

I’m in Ohio and old enough to remember when heat pumps here were a farce. It used to be common for models in the 80s to just completely shut off and rely on aux/strip heat below about 20F which is a typical January night here. Huge bills as a result. But today with the good inverters (ducted or not), it’s possible to go the entire heating season without *any* aux heat used. Still need it in case the polar vortex hits and temps drop to -10F, but overall HPs work well for this climate

[IndeedIAm]

My location is a Trane dealer and I'm the parts representative, and with that being said, we also service other equipment such as Carrier, Luxair, Goodman, York, etc... Between all the relationships between me and the distributers of those brands, Trane is hands down the best when it comes to accessing the proper information off their websites, and just talking to a sales consultant or engineer in a most timely manner compared to other distributers. I've worked in three different locations and it's been about the same among multiple distributers.

[SQTierHog]

What sucks is if i don't care for the sales person, i don't trust the install.
Thanks for this, thanks for caring about the install and customers.

[jeffstieren]

We have zoned heating and cooling at our home. Main floor Trane with heat pump and a a/c d/c 24/7 blower on the furnace. Works perfect.
Upstairs Trane system as well and it is 31 years old and still works excellent.
My shop, 60X40 I installed a Bosch mini split inverter with heat pump. 48kw. This unit is simply amazing.

[Grandpa_TheGoated]

There are 6 companies total that own ALL the HVAC brands: I would rate Premier down to Budget Friendly. I might be missing some.
Thought this was an interesting fact I never knew when shopping

1. Carrier Global Corporation: they own Bryant, Comfortmaker, HEIL, Tempstar, Payne, Arcoaire, Day & Night, KeepRite
2. Trane Technology: they own: American Standard, RunThru, AmeriStar, Oxbox
3.Daiken Industries: they Amana, GoodMan
4. Lennox International: they Lennox, Armstrong Air™, AirEase®, Concord®, Ducane™, Allied™, Allied Commercial™ and MagicPak®
5. Rheem Manfucturing: they RUUD
6. Johnson Controls: they own LexAire, York

[michaelbunk]

All of the HVAC pros on YouTube say that the most important thing is that the heat pump is installed properly. Please! Tell me how I, as a client, is supposed to know if it is being installed properly!

[tuffram]

Wow I'm overwhelmed you chose my question. Thanks for your response 👍