Which Furnance...Carrier Infinity or Lennox Elite?

[ssharma]

Ok, one tech finally did a heat load calc for our second floor and attic furnance which is busted, which basically came in at 50K. He sells Lennox and the closest he has is a 70K (Elite Series 95% G61MPV-36B-070). Is this still too big? I have another carrier agent who came through. He didnt do the heat load calc, but said I need a 60K (he said he would do the calc if I really wanted it, after I mentioned it 5 times!!). He is giving me the Inifinity Series at the same cost as the Lennox (Carrier odel 58MVC060). Which system is better to install? The first agent is local and has a good reputation. I dont know the rep of the Carrier one, although he has Carriers Presidents award. Does this award mean anything? Please help !!!

[t527ed]

lennox 070 model is actually 66,000 btu input on high fire, with it being a 2 stage unit it should fit your needs.

make sure they set it up right with a 2 stage thermostat.

[kontrolsfreek]

I would personally say the Carrier system. That may be biased as we are a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer. One thing about the Lennox is they do have reliable equipment, but try and get parts or support for their equipment. It's like pulling teeth.

[CynicX]

I would personally say the Carrier system. That may be biased as we are a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer. One thing about the Lennox is they do have reliable equipment, but try and get parts or support for their equipment. It's like pulling teeth.

Your obviously not a Lennox dealer, you should have seen me dealing with Carrier 2-3 years ago. I'm sure it was just as bad.

Now that I'm a priority dealer it only takes them 45 minutes to call me back...

What I'm getting at is most manufactures are the same. I personally like Lennox AND Carrier the best but like Lennox's tech support 10x better because they have about 2x the tech staff so even during busy hours a 20 minute wait is the longest you'll see. And I absolutely HATE Carrier parts, because they will screw it up 2 times out of 10 at my latest count (which is getting better). This is probably due to the local supply house we use, I dunno.

......

Equipment wise they are similar but I think the Infinity is a LITTLE nicer. What you have to ask yourself is do you want a company in your house that you had to already BEG to do their job (load calc). Or do you want the guy that does his job properly the first time without asking?

Buy a contractor not a piece of equipment because the equipment is only as good as the person that puts it in. The G61 is a nice piece of equipment and its two stages so it will run mostly on its low stage anyway...

[ssharma]

t527...whats a 2 stage thermostat? Do I need to change my thermostat mechansim...how can I tell if my existing thermostat can handle 2 stage, or not? Thanks

[t527ed]

t527...whats a 2 stage thermostat? Do I need to change my thermostat mechansim...how can I tell if my existing thermostat can handle 2 stage, or not? Thanks

2 stage thermostat will allow the furnace to fire at low or high fire rates depending on difference between room temp and thermostat setting.

most of the time thermostat will need to be replaced if going from an older heating system to 2 stage unit.

installing contractor should take care of this, just make sure they are setting up with 2 stage thermostat...;)

[Bsmith816]

i can tell u lennox stands behind their equipment 100%. i cant remember a customer that hasnt been completely satifisfied with the g61mpv. we install lots of them. i have one in my house and i wouldnt put anything else in. if you are going that route you might want to consider the g71mpp-36b-071. look into it on lennox.com. it also depends on how its installed to how a furnace should work properly.

[tedkidd]

The Carrier is 3 stage, will drop down to 22mbtu. So you'll have much better range. Make SURE you get the Infinity Control or you've missed the whole point.

That said, if Lennox has a communicating unit - you'll probably be just as happy. The thermostat tells the furnace what to do - it really matters.