Help me Decide Trane or Amer Standard

[jimbria]

I have Trane 80 ER furnaces about 12 years old and they work well. All three of my Trane central air units have leaks and I am told should be replaced.

One person is recommendind Amer Standard Heat pumps Heritage 14 and says my exisiting unit will not get the effeciency from the American Standard 15 Heritage.

Another dealer is recommending the Trane XLI5i which has a SEER rating of about 15,, which, if I believe the first guy really will not deliver the effeciency.

On top of that my research saysd that the Amer Std 15 is quieter and much more efficient.

Do I go with the 14 or 15 American Std or the Trane and if the Trane the 14 or 15

[iraqveteran]

Trane vs. American Standard.

Might as well be a Chevy vs. GMC question.

THEY ARE THE SAME UNIT.


I'd go with the one thats installed properly.

[BaldLoonie]

Look at the ratings carefully. Most A-S/Trane units won't deliver the full efficiency without variable speed indoor units. So models called 14 won't go over 13 with standard blower. The Heritage 15 or XL15i will not likely go over 14 with standard blower. Also look at the HSPF and heating output numbers. Usually fairly low with these brands.

[mblanks]

Currently the Am Std Heritage systems are offering SEER ratings straight out of the box with conventional air handlers. These SEER ratings will be increased with the addition of a variable speed air handler. ie. 13 SEER OD Unit with Variable Speed AHU = 13.9 SEER. When moving to the two speed systems of 16+, the 16 SEER Rating applies to conventional air handler and increases to 16.4 with Variable Speed air handler. Can't say for sure about the Tranes, but would suspect that to also be the case with them, as they are the same manufacturers.
Am Std HSPF's are from 8.80 - 9.20.
What brands are higher?

[housesmart]

If your furnaces are 3 years old, I would recommend replaceing the furnaces and air conditioners. The new higher efficiency systems need the better air flows. The manufacturers have matching charts for coils, furnaces and air conditioners and should be followed with new systems. As to which one, they're the same. Go with the best contractor.

[cmajerus]

Currently the Am Std Heritage systems are offering SEER ratings straight out of the box with conventional air handlers. These SEER ratings will be increased with the addition of a variable speed air handler. ie. 13 SEER OD Unit with Variable Speed AHU = 13.9 SEER. When moving to the two speed systems of 16+, the 16 SEER Rating applies to conventional air handler and increases to 16.4 with Variable Speed air handler. Can't say for sure about the Tranes, but would suspect that to also be the case with them, as they are the same manufacturers.
Am Std HSPF's are from 8.80 - 9.20.
What brands are higher?

you can't install a 16i with a standard blower, HAS to have variable speed.

[cmajerus]

I have Trane 80 ER furnaces about 12 years old and they work well. All three of my Trane central air units have leaks and I am told should be replaced.

One person is recommendind Amer Standard Heat pumps Heritage 14 and says my exisiting unit will not get the effeciency from the American Standard 15 Heritage.

Another dealer is recommending the Trane XLI5i which has a SEER rating of about 15,, which, if I believe the first guy really will not deliver the effeciency.

On top of that my research saysd that the Amer Std 15 is quieter and much more efficient.

Do I go with the 14 or 15 American Std or the Trane and if the Trane the 14 or 15

same guts different shells.

personally I like the Trane XL series over the heritage because of the weatherguard tops, keeps rain and snow off the fan blades, reduces some of the noise when its raining out.

[RyanHughes]

Currently the Am Std Heritage systems are offering SEER ratings straight out of the box with conventional air handlers. These SEER ratings will be increased with the addition of a variable speed air handler. ie. 13 SEER OD Unit with Variable Speed AHU = 13.9 SEER. When moving to the two speed systems of 16+, the 16 SEER Rating applies to conventional air handler and increases to 16.4 with Variable Speed air handler. Can't say for sure about the Tranes, but would suspect that to also be the case with them, as they are the same manufacturers.
Am Std HSPF's are from 8.80 - 9.20.
What brands are higher?

I don't think so. I wish that was the way it is but it's not. Take for example a 4A6H4048B1000A (4-ton Heritage 14) and match it with a 4TEC3F48B1000A (4-ton TEC blower), and you have 13.00 SEER--that's not 14.00 SEER. Some sizes are match-ups with higher-sized indoor units, and this can raise the efficiency, but only slightly (still not 14 SEER). Nevertheless, you can still get a great product made by American Standard/Trane (or another manufacturer!) but with a slightly lower efficiency rating. .5 or .75 SEER isn't that big of a deal when you put it into perspective with the other advantages of the Heritage 14--scroll compressor, sound blanket, etc... Now, this isn't to say I think matching a 15 SEER unit up with no variable-speed blower is worth it. I wouldn't go higher than 13/14 SEER without a variable-speed blower. My opinion.

[aircooled53]

If furnaces are 12 years old why not upgrade to variable drive furnace in the spaces that are most occupied during the day and keep rooms that are NOT occupied with existing furnaces.

I would choose Am-Std 14.0 on existing and go to 16.0 heat pumps on variable drives. Be sure to get R-410A systems and NOT R-22.

[green jumper]

A/S efficencys are all about the evap coil you put in. Usually to get the listed seer on the condenser your putting in a evap a ton in size bigger. Or the giagantic 3 foot evap coil on the 5 ton units. VS units are required on the 16 and 18 seer units.

[mannyparad]

same guts different shells.

personally I like the Trane XL series over the heritage because of the weatherguard tops, keeps rain and snow off the fan blades, reduces some of the noise when its raining out.

I AGREE XL IS MUCH NICER THE 16 HAS 2 STAGE HEAT COOL VERY QUIET AND NOT MUCH MORE MONEY AT ALL. DURING REBATE PERIOD THIS FALL THERE IS A $600 REBATE NEW HANDLER IS REQUIRED 410A

[mblanks]

I don't think so. I wish that was the way it is but it's not. Take for example a 4A6H4048B1000A (4-ton Heritage 14) and match it with a 4TEC3F48B1000A (4-ton TEC blower), and you have 13.00 SEER--that's not 14.00 SEER. Some sizes are match-ups with higher-sized indoor units, and this can raise the efficiency, but only slightly (still not 14 SEER). Nevertheless, you can still get a great product made by American Standard/Trane (or another manufacturer!) but with a slightly lower efficiency rating. .5 or .75 SEER isn't that big of a deal when you put it into perspective with the other advantages of the Heritage 14--scroll compressor, sound blanket, etc... Now, this isn't to say I think matching a 15 SEER unit up with no variable-speed blower is worth it. I wouldn't go higher than 13/14 SEER without a variable-speed blower. My opinion.

You are absolutely correct. We were recently told by our sales people that these units were "Out of the box" rated SEER. Upon further investigation today (after your post) I found what you say to be very true. Our sales rep "has some splaining to do"

[kevinmac]

The Trane XL series if installed as a full system will provide you with a 10 year parts warranty on everything installed including the thermo, and air cleaner if you go that route. The labor is under a 2 year warranty.
American Standard does not offer this warranty.

[filterchanger]

American Standard offers a 10 year parts and labor warranty.

[cmajerus]

American Standard offers a 10 year parts and labor warranty.

so does Trane, it has to be purchased extra, same as AS but the XL series trane comes with a 10 yr parts when purchased as a complete system.

[kevinmac]

Nope - Trane offers a better base warranty
AS BASE WARRANTY
All Allegiance® and Heritage® products:
10-year limited warranty on Duration™ compressor
10-year limited warranty on Spine Fin™ coil
5-year limited warranty on all other parts
Optional extended warranties available for 10-year coverage on parts and labor

TRANE BASE WARRANTY
Ten-Year Limited Warranty on compressors and outdoor coil
Ten-Year Limited Warranty on internal functional parts
The Ten-Year Functional Parts Warranty extends to the indoor gas furnace, coil, air handler, or thermostat when installed as part of a complete XLi comfort system

[racjm]

Do I go with the 14 or 15 American Std or the Trane and if the Trane the 14 or 15

Go with the higher efficiency unit whichever brand you choose and opt in for the additional 10-year parts and labor coverage, some of the parts are two to three times (sometimes even more) the cost of the extended warranty to replace. If sizing is appropriate look at the payback difference to upgrade to the dual capacity units, besides the additional efficiency you get increased comfort and indoor air quality through greater humidity control and increased filtration.

Also think about replacing the furnaces at the same time (even if there isn't anything technically or functionally wrong with them at this time). It will cost you more to replace them in the future (prices continuously rise w/many manufacturers raising prices in the next month or two ahead of the typical increases with the new model year increase), plus your contractor may have to redo some of the sheet metal transitions to fit the furnaces later and you'll get the increased efficiency from the system now.

If you decide to keep your existing furnaces still go with the higher efficiency units. You'll lose a little efficiency now, but will have the cooling side of the system you want in place when you do replace the furnaces with variable-speed models and there are AHRI match-ups for the 15 SEER units without a variable-speed furnace (ARI - 1422151 - SEER 14.25 - EER 11.7).