Which Heating/AC system to choose ?

[yhanna]

Hi All,
I have and old (40 years old) Lennox furnace. it works but not efficient. I need also to replace my AC, so in the last few weeks I have been getting quotes for many brands, Rheem, Armstrong, Bryant, Aman, Carrier ..
I am now down to 2 options that are similar in price and features so I am really confused. Help please.

Option 1: Amana AMV9/ACV9 Series 96% AFUE (two stage, variable-speed) furnace with the RCE Prestige -14 SEER AC. And the Honeywell VisioPRO programmable thermostat.

Option 2: Bryant Evolution system which includes the Plus 90i (two stage, variable-speed) furnace and the FE4 AC, 14/16 SEER, two-Speed, Puron Plus. And the Evolution Control programmable thermostat.

Both options seems to have good dealers and support behind them. Both companies did heat/cool load calculation. Also duct work was inspected since I have now 2 furnaces that I am going to combine to one. Both systems are with 10/10 years warranty. Amana offers the life time replacemetn of entire unit if heat exchanger fails.

So I am really, really confused. Any direction on how to decide ?
Thanks

[smokin68]

Go with the company you feel most comfortable with, and get references. A warranty's only good so long as the company's in business. It sounds like two top notch systems. Is that lifetime heat exchanger warranty include indoor/outdoor units? Hard to beat if it does....if it does are they bumping the price alot?

[yhanna]

Thanks for your reply.
The Amana Hx warranty is for the furncae (I think this is indoor!). They (and also Bryant) has a lifetime limited warranty on the compresor of the AC unit.

[gruvn]

I personally do not care for the Carrier\Bryant residential equipment line, they seem to constantly have manufacturing defects, they are pretty good about fixing them, but it is still a pain to have something n your home not working when you need it.

[BaldLoonie]

You are getting a more sophisticated system with the 2 stage Bryant A/C and Evolution control. If in a humid climate, the extra humidity control you get with that vs the Amana and Vision Pro could tip the scales towards the Bryant system.

[RoBoTeq]

The Amana has dehum terminals to lower the blower speed for great dehumidification with less cost for controls.

[gruvn]

Originally posted by BaldLoonie
You are getting a more sophisticated system with the 2 stage Bryant A/C and Evolution control. If in a humid climate, the extra humidity control you get with that vs the Amana and Vision Pro could tip the scales towards the Bryant system.

Its that sophistication that brings problems, that was my point. Carrier and Bryant over complicate things to the opint that they just do not work consistently, and in turn cause the homeowners a lot of grief. They try to use control sequences that they copy from commercial type equipment and install it in your home, you will have problems with it.