Any HVAC guys here

[STLfirewood]

I'm going to ave a new gas furnace installed. The installer told me he works worth either Goodman or Bryant. I got he price on Goodman today. Tomorrow he is getting the price on the Bryant. Am I going to see much difference between the two. I know Bryant is going to cost more but is it worth it. I will most likely be in the house a while. Two more years and it's paid for. It will be hard for me to leave a paid for house. Please give me your thoughts. I know I should put in a wood furnace but it would be hard to do in this house.

Thanks Scott

 

[merlynr]

Find out about the SEER rating of the furnaces. It's an efficiency rating #. It's either the higher the number the better the efficiency or visa-versa. I'm not a hvac guy, Price goes up with efficiency. You getting new ac unit or ?
Maybe research it.
Edit' The guy that put my furnace in said they put 3 different names on it at the factory depending on what company it's going to.

 

[blades]

You can buy the furnace or furnace and AC package off the web, For a lot less than most of installers charge.so keep that in mind when they quote that 3-4k price for changing out the furnace and AC. Now in addition Goodman is the mfg of a bunch of other brand names. I replaced my complete system 2 years ago with Goodman equipment less than 2k installed, 75k furnace@92% and a 2ton ac at (i think it is) 13seer. There is very little gain between the 92 to the 95 and generally not worth the dollar difference. There is a bit of problem industry wide with the AC charging valves (only 2 mfg of these, Goodman does not make there own) There is a specific sequence that they have to be set to. I do not know which Freon is current right now as they keep discontinuing it so fast it is as bad as buying a computer 10 years ago. So that is another sticking point, Generally the latest and greatest Freon will cost more ( not a lot, couple hundred dollars) hope this of some help

 

[STLfirewood]

My installer is a friend and he could care less which one I buy because he is giving me cost on either. He told me a 95% Goodman was $820 for the furnace. I already have a new a/c and coil to go in. The local gas company is give either a $200 or a $250 rebate when you install a 95% furnace. There is also a state program that gives you a $200 or a $250 rebate. So I will be able to get $450 total back in rebates for a $820 furnace. Mine still works but it's a 1987 model. So this seems like a no brainer to me. Thanks for the replies.

Scott

 

[mga]

goodman furnaces are good. my son has installed many of them and no one has called back to complain about any issues.

with a trane, as many other that are considered "top brands"....you pay for the name.

 

[woodfarmer]

i have big bryant in my house, installer said goodman are the cheap cousin

 

[davec]

You can buy the furnace or furnace and AC package off the web, For a lot less than most of installers charge.so keep that in mind when they quote that 3-4k price for changing out the furnace and AC.

Blades - you have any online sources? I suspect I will need to replace our furnace before we sell our house in a couple years, but I hate to pay someone a ton just to haul one in and out. I know the connections are easy, it's mostly the sheet metal/ducting that is the harder part.

Yeah I will run a search, but it sounds like you know sources, so that would help...Thx

 

[rancher2]

I do Hvac work on the side. I have installed a lot of Goodman's in the last eight years and have had only one call back bad gas valve. I have two in my own house. They are good furnace's at a good price. Get the 95 percent with the variable fan. You will love it.

 

[biggenius29]

I went through this whole deal last year. One guy said Goodman was the way to go and Bryant was complete junk, the next said guy said he would only instale a Bryant and Goodman was complete junk.

I ended up with a Tempstar because the guy who did my HVAC work, I realy liked what he was planning on doing and his idea's over the other guy's. (given my project was pretty much putting all new HVAC in a old farm house that really had nothing in it.) And he likes Tempstar.

YMMV

 

[STLfirewood]

I had Tempstart in my old house and I had great luck with it. I'll see what the Bryant quote somes back at.

Scott

 

[Walt41]

I've had great luck with the Carrier units, use them in both of my places to supplement wood or when I'm not around.

 

[shelbythedog]

Goodman is the low cost brother to Amana. I worked one summer during college at a HVAC company that did about 90% new construction and 10% remodel. (My how things have changed in MI since then.) For new construction they would install predominately Lennox with a little Comfortmaker as well, this was at the builder's request, they all wanted a big name brand to put on their pamphlets. Remodels were almost all Goodman and each and every guy that worked there swore they were the best value in furnaces. They all put their money where their mouth is and had installed Goodman's in their own homes as well. That convinced me that Goodman was a good name since they could purchase any of the brands at deep discounts, and if something broke certainly they would be the ones fixing it.

 

[superwd6]

In Ontario Bryant is Carrier. Goodman is like Amana. If you are selling home in a couple of years put in the cheaper Goodman . If both are 95% than check out the ventor motors, Bryant probably uses dc variable that draws less electricity and is quieter. The Goodman I installed always starts on "high " then ramps down to the low. Not good if it's under your bedroom. ANY furnace that doesn't burn oil is great!!

 

[boyland]

bryant also payne, Paynes tend to be less than either samething much lower price

 

[firewood guy]

I'm going to ave a new gas furnace installed. The installer told me he works worth either Goodman or Bryant. I got he price on Goodman today. Tomorrow he is getting the price on the Bryant. Am I going to see much difference between the two. I know Bryant is going to cost more but is it worth it. I will most likely be in the house a while. Two more years and it's paid for. It will be hard for me to leave a paid for house. Please give me your thoughts. I know I should put in a wood furnace but it would be hard to do in this house.

Thanks Scott

I'm out in CA.. am also a G/C. The Bryant is a familiar name out here and have seen lots of old ones still chugging along. One thing to keep in mind.. Buy one that has a high SEER rating and see if you can qualify the purchase for the federal income tax credit for energy efficiency (ends 12/31/10, unless extended). The tax credit is 30% of the total installed price, up to a maximum of a $ 1500.00 tax credit . check with you're tax guy ! Good luck!

 

[blades]

Sources, I just did a internet search when I was replacing mine, bought what i needed on line, paying attention to shipping costs, ect. The only problem I ran into was the ac charging valves not being set right by the installer, the freon leak was so small that the sniffer unit would not pick it up nor did it show up with the dye. There is a tech bulletin on it and is a warranty covered problem. I won't know untill next cooling season if it is totally resolved.

 

[merlynr]

I replaced my 31 year old Lennox back in the early spring. It was a heat pump with backup electric heat and was still working, but the furnace cabinet was rusted on the bottom. Had a sheet metal guy make duct work for new furnace aand he hooked it up one eve and another friend hooked up the power and ac unit a couple of days later. Came in around $2200. I kept the old units and scrapped it out for about $110 after disassembling the A coil and ac coil and seperating alum and metal,even taking sheetmetal off the coils which brought a better scrap price. Also elect motor seperated. This was all done while my wood furnace was blowing warm air on the installers.