Recommendations for units in salt air

[blue333]

I am about to replace a 22 year old Rheem condenser unit and 12 year old furnace. I have found an excellent contractor who has done the load calculation, climbed through the attic with me and answered all of my stupid questions. I do want to get an outside opinion on if certain units stand up better to salty, Gulf of Mexico air (Corpus Christi, TX area) than others.

I am leaning towards a Goodman unit because, well, I'm a bit of a penny-pincher. I think I prefer the plain-Jane SSX14 model. I am also considering the DSXC16 two-stage model, mainly for improved humidity removal, as it stays pretty sticky down here.

With regular rinsing and maintenance, will the Goodman units last as long as the equivalent Lennox or Carrier products? Thanks in advance for your help!

[SandShark]

If you got 22 years out of it on the salty Texas Gulf coast, you'd better go back with another Rheem! Your Corpus Christi salty air must not be anything like our salty air on the upper Texas coast because after 22 years in our salty air, there would be nothing left of the condensing unit but a pile of rust. Up here, even copper tubing gets eaten up by the salt. Even the rust rusts!

[blue333]

I am not right on the water, maybe about twenty-five miles or so inland. The bottom of the current unit is pretty well rusted out, as to be expected. I try to rinse it at least every month with the hose, so maybe that helped. I dunno. Do the Lennox units hold up pretty well in your neck of the woods with proper maintenance? What about the new Goodman stuff? Thanks!

[SandShark]

Twenty-five miles inland makes a huge difference. Anyway, the equipment isn't nearly as important as the installation. From what you've said, it sounds like you've found a good contractor, so I'd recommend sticking with whatever brand he carries.

[blue333]

Will the ML180E Lennox furnace diminish the two-stage qualities of the Lennox XC16 system? We don't use the heat a whole heckuva lot down here and I was curious if this was an acceptable option. Thanks. Again. :)

[mark beiser]

American Standard/Trane units hold up best in salty environments, but at 25 miles inland, you don't have a salty environment...

[BaldLoonie]

If you are looking anything past 14 SEER, high efficiency blower motor is needed. For 2 stage, you'd want an indoor unit designed to be used with it. That's normally a variable speed setup though a few do it with the X13 type fixed speed technology.

[blue333]

No, I don't exactly have salt spray from the beach blowing directly on my house, but there is definitely more salt in the air than in Dallas! Corrosion control is a big deal on all of our radio towers down here.

Anyway, thanks for everybody's input! You guys are a great source of information!

[Cooked]

Everything rusts down here, even the people. Heck, this morning I farted and these orange particles fell out. I think Rheems are as good as it gets because of the way the outdoor units are built but there is nothing wrong with a Goodman either. There are a few things you can do to any unit to retard corrosion but it takes a little mojo. You did a good thing by rinsing the unit.

[cuchulain]

Rheems hold up well when you get away from the actual beach. Down here rheems are used as the builder grade units and they do NOT hold up down here very well. If someone gets 10 years out of a rheem condenser down here the coil is usually almost completely gone by that time.

[TwincamDave]

You can order a unit with the coils coated to slow it down/stop it from starting.not cheap but if you want it to last!!!!! most bottoms now are polyprophelene and won't rust.

[SkyHeating]

Trane is the only brand that will do parts and labor warranty on units within 1 mile of the salt water, nobody holds up better than Trane with their powder coated cabinets all the way down to the screws and screw holes, dura tuff plastic base pans and aluminum coils.

[blue333]

Thanks for all of the advice! I have it narrowed down to the Lennox, Trane or Goodman, all 2-stage. Leaning towards either the Trane or Lennox, but if the Goodman is cheap enough I'll just make sure I set up my own PMS schedule and rinse it each month and keep a can of Corrosion X handy. Thanks again.