Suppliers claim "our brand is the same as (insert major manufacturer)"

[GrizzlyB]

Can anybody give me a reasonably short answer on what is what? I go to one supplier who sells AirEase and says it is exactly the same as Lennox. Its made by Lennox. I go to another who sells GrandAire and claims it is exactly the same as Carrier. Made by Carrier, just a different name. Then I talk to an old Pro who says they are not the same. Are these units made by the same company, but not to the same standards? Are they the exact same piece of equipment but with a different label? And what names go with what, what does Carrier make, or Lennox. Rheem? I say this jokingly, but it seems every supply house I walk in to claims they sell Carrier, but with a different label on the side.

Also do you see any real differences in the Generic brands (GrandAire, AirEase, Payne and Goodman) compared to your Trane, Carrier, Lennox, Rheem and York?

[GrizzlyB]

Follow up:

I talked to one old guy I worked with. He said "there all the same......except Payne, I wouldnt put in a Payne." it seems everybody thinks theyre all the same except for brand "X".

[Joehvac25]

Payne and carrier are the same

[clifpaul]

at one time there was a list of who owned who on here but i can't remember where i saw it.

payne, carrier, bryant, heil, comfortmaker and grandaire are carrier products.

lennox, armstrong, ducane, and airease are lennox products.

rheem, ruud and weatherking are the same.

trane and american standard are the same.

goodman and amana.

york and luxaire

I miss anybody? I know I did. There aren't that many companies tha make hvac equipment

[SBKold]

The real high end stuff is reserved for the main line.

The rest wil be cabinet - coil guards- cosmetic differences.

[BaldLoonie]

There is increasing similarities between the Carrier/Bryant/Payne/ICP units. The line between Allied & Lennox is blurring too. Is Air Ease the SAME as Lennox? No, except in rare cases maybe gas packs, oil products. Furnaces are very similar now, different controls. Builder outdoor units are mechanically the same, made in Mexico but with different cabinets. Deluxe Allied A/Cs are made in a different plant than Lennox.

Carrier furnaces are made in Indy along side Payne but Payne usually has defeatured controls, maybe less sound deadening. Payne outdoor units are similar to Bryant/Carrier/ICP builder models except Payne puts Mexicans to work while the rest are American made.

Just remember, when a salesman's lips are moving... So take their "same" with a grain of salt or substitute similar!

[GrizzlyB]

at one time there was a list of who owned who on here but i can't remember where i saw it.

payne, carrier, bryant, heil, comfortmaker and grandaire are carrier products.

lennox, armstrong, ducane, and airease are lennox products.

rheem, ruud and weatherking are the same.

trane and american standard are the same.

goodman and amana.

york and luxaire

I miss anybody? I know I did. There aren't that many companies tha make hvac equipment

Are you saying these are all exactly the same, or basically the same with some differences that will effect quality and performance. Either way, thanks for all that info.

[stay gold jonny]

Armstrong Air
Ducane
Concord
Aire Flow
All made by Allied Air that is owned by Lennox and most models are the same.

Bryant
Payne
Heil
Tempstar
All made by United Technologies, who, makes and owns Carrier. These units are all made at the same factory on the same lines.

Amana, and Whirlpool are all rebadged Goodman.

Gibson
Maytag
Intertherm
Westinghouse
Are made by Nordyne, along with a lot of other brand names.

York and Coleman are the same from what I understand.

That's all I have for ya, I think most of its correct too!

[jtrammel]

Are you saying these are all exactly the same, or basically the same with some differences that will effect quality and performance. Either way, thanks for all that info.

They are made by the same company each company has different brands most brands have at least 3 different lines (builder, value, high end models) there are about 7 major manufactures daikan aka goodman, Johnson controls aka York/luxaire/Coleman, Lennox, carrier, nordyne aka Broan/maytag/fridgidaire among others, rheem/rhuud, trane all of these parent company's father a combined ~60 "brand" names some of which are exactly the same unit with a different sticker and others completely different dependent on which line of equipment they come out of within the brand. I think I confused myself with all of that, it would be easier if all parent companies only had 1 or 2 brands. I think nordyne and icp compete for who can have the most brand names.

[Vinster]

York and Coleman are the same from what I understand.

That's all I have for ya, I think most of its correct too!

York also makes Guardian. Just installed a Guardian a few weeks back, it came with four stickers one of which to be put on the furnace upon completion. They were Guardian, Luxaire, York & Coleman, I guess you put which ever you sold them

[clifpaul]

Like sbkold said, the really good high end stuff is reserved for the main line: Lennox, Carrier, American Standard, Rheem, and York. All else is pretty much cosmetic. And the name stuff tends to get the better warranty. But a lot of it rolls off the same assembly line. Trane and American Standard are made in Tyler TX. Lennox makes their Merit series alng side Airease in Mexico. Goodman and Amana are made in Houston TX. So the quality and performance shouldn't vary that much. Most of the bad rap a brand gets has to do with equipment getting hacked in. Poor airflow, lousy brazing, no drier and the like. All the manufacturers have had buggy equipment: bad motors, and lousy coils. It all depends on what you are comfortable selling and what the customer wants. Those are the two most important things. Some people get hooked on a certain name or have the dinero to spend. Others aren't as picky or don't have money to spend.

[GrizzlyB]

Seems like it is a lot to keep up with. I just know what I like and dislike to work on and the distributors i like and dilike to work with.

[allan38]

There may be some qualitative differences in the premium brand a manufacturer sells.
For example, the Amana AMVM96 has a totally stainless steel heat exchanger, the Goodman GMVM86 furnace has an aluminized steel primary heat exchanger with a stainless steel secondary heat exchanger. The Amana claims to feature a fully insulated heavy-gauge steel cabinet with durable baked-enamel finish. The Goodman doesn't make that claim on the product features page.
They have the same 10 year parts warranty , the Amana has a Lifetime furnace replacement if the heat exchanger fails, the Goodman has a 10 year furnace replacement warranty if the heat exchanger fails.

The Amana distinctions line seem to have the same model numbers and product specifications as the Goodman stuff.
The Amana distinctions line are Goodmans with a different set of stickers.

Thus Goodman/Amana are generally the same, some have upgraded durability features and a better warranty for their upscale brand Amana.

Thus some lines are twins, others are not twins but siblings.