Ruud vs York?

[penetr8or]

I just bought a house and would like to get a heat pump and high efficiency furnace. Out here if you get a 15 seer HP and a 95% or higher furnace (which i plan to), you get enough rebates to offset the cost difference with lower seer ratings. So.... I can get equipment thru my work... A York dealer, or I can get Ruud thru an ex co worker, who is now a contractor for basically the same price. Of course there is the Payne option which is readily available around here for a very low price.

My biggest concerns are:
1) noise of the outdoor unit- the houses are fairly close together and I dont want to be pissing off the neighbours as soon as I move in.
2) reliability- I mainly do commercial work and don't have a ton of experience with any of these brands.... I know install is key but surely there are some trends?
3) ease of service- something easy to work on would be nice.... I notice the ruud stuff has a seperate compartment for the comp and accessories... seems like it makes those hard to reach places a little easier to reach.
4) I would assume that furnaces with variable speed motors are a probably pretty close in noise ratings as they are generally moving the same amount of air as their competitors.... right? this is also fairly important as I will have a tenant right near the mechanical room.

I'm prepared to spend a bit more money to get a good system... just not too sure what way to go.

[edward301]

York is good, Ruud-Rheem is a little better.

[Service dude]

We deal mainly with Rheem, which is ultimately the same as Ruud, and I love them. They are one of the quieter condensing units and the seperate compartment is a service man's dream. All of the controls are accessible and easy to work on.

As far as the furnaces go, get a furnace with a modulating gas valve and a variable motor and you will have one of the quietest and most efficient furnaces available. Do not be afraid to spend the extra money for a modulating stat. That is the only way your system will do what it is supposed to.

[penetr8or]

so..... do the modulating stats cost quite a bit more? The thing is, if i'm getting a heat pump then is it really necessary to get the fanciest furnace? The heat pump will be doing around 80% of the heating... it doesnt seem to make sense to spend the extra$ if it will only run around 20% of the time. I was thinking a 2 stage 95% furnace with a variable speed blower would be sufficient. Thoughts? Also i was told there was almost a 25% price difference (at cost) between a 15 and 16 seer hp. Would I be correct in assuming that i will never make up the difference and it is simply a comfort issue?

[beenthere]

The York mod doesn't need a special thermostat.
The York 2 stage HP outdoor unit is quiet.

[justbud38134]

Easy to work on and petty darn tough units......York, not so much.

[WhoIsThat?]

2) reliability- I mainly do commercial work and don't have a ton of experience with any of these brands.... I know install is key but surely there are some trends?


Looking at a report on HVAC reliability published by a leading consumer reporting organization, here were the top rankings:

1. American Standard
2. Rheem
3. Trane
4. Ruud
5. Bryant
6. Carrier"

[caincompany]

RUUD!!

[ga-hvac-tech]

I live in the south, we are basically an A/C market. Also I am a RUUD dealer so I am a little biased.

RUUD (Rheem is the same unit with a different name badge) is great equipment until you get to high eff furnaces. At this point, Rheem/RUUD does not have a 95% 2-stage VS furnace. The only 90+ furnace with the VS motor is the 'mod' furnace, and it is not recommended to be used in a dual-fuel system (I have a 3-zoned dual-fuel system at my home, I use the UGPR furnace; 80% 2-stage VS blower). I was told at ComfortTech in 2008 that the factory was working on a 'Southern 95' furnace... to fit the specs mentioned above... so far it is not available from my distributor.

Many folks up north that have experienced the Rheem/RUUD 'mod' furnace say it is the best furnace ever built... I know I will get some flack for that comment... :)

One 'can' install the 'mod' furnace and use either a multi-stage T-stat or set up the 'mod' for 2 or 3 stage heat (dis-able the modulating feature), and accomplish what you look to do.

IMO it is kinda overkill, but on the other hand Rheem/RUUD equipment is both very reliable and very quiet (this is no accident, they are designed to be). When you install a Rheem/RUUD, be sure to follow the lineset sizing instructions, as they use a smaller liquid line on many sizes than most other equipment.