Would you buy amana?

[furnacequestions]

In the DC area. Have an 18 year old furnace (carrier) and a 15 year old ac unit (carrier) and am looking to upgrade.
3rd floor of house is year old addition and has its own zone. Main floor of house is 1100 sq feet (w/ 7 vents) and basement is half finished (1 vent) and am considering an Amana split system (just for the bottom 2 floors). Is this wise or are they less reliable than Trane, Carrier, etc? Also, looking to move pretty fast...though I am not sure the contractor has really done the necessary sizing work...he took measurements but don't believe he took any insulation readings. And finally, buy SEER 14 and get a variable speed...are these must haves?

[dash]

If he doesn't know the R values of the insulation,it is just a guess.

The price of energy is likely to go up over the life of the system,so I'd go with the higher SEER,and the comfort VS fans provide.


Also check out http://www.410a.com before deciding,as Freon is being phased out,decide what you want for yourself.


15 year old Carrier,why not get another one,just curious,as all brands claim,homeowners tend to buy the same brand they currently have.

[cookie man]

No...

[centralflinstaller]

go 13 seer, variable speed is good for comfort. amana is a good product but not much difference than a goodman but there is a big price difference between the two.if you like a amana i would check out goodman. 13 seer goodman has lifetime compresser warranty. no one offers that,i changed my thinking about goodman after that. pretty easy to sell lifetime compresser and 10 yr parts warranty.

[furnacequestions]

Does it make sense to buy a 80% 2 stage Goodman or spend the extra 30% for a 93% system?

also the 14 SEER is only about 12% more than 12/13 SEER...seems worthwhile to upgrade?

And is Sanuvox the way go on air purification / UV lights or do Honeywell work just as well (with cheaper replacement bulbs)?

[centralflinstaller]

not sure about savings remember efficencies are not real world they test these im labs not in your home so i'm not sure how long it will take to save the 12%. honeywell is a very respected name in hvac so i would go w/ it. personally i install them all the time and think they are worth the cost. so my 2 cents is 13 seer goodman and honeywell uv light.

[Twilly]

amana has a stainless steel h/e and goodman has aluminized h/e also goodman is not quite as eff, in the top of the line furnaces,

[riverman]

Originally posted by cookie man
No...

DITTO!

[tinner73]

you've had longevity with Carrier products, why change? you don't get any cheaper than Goodman. it's your money/headache. sounds like you're leaning to the cheap side.

[oil lp man]

I know that their cook stoves are junk.

[RoBoTeq]

The Amana condensing furnaces have been consistantly rated by several consumer groups to be the best furnace on the market.

In the DC area, you will have great support for an Amana product.

If you are interested in an R410a product, Amana has fantastic single and two stage models that do require the compressor to shut down between stages.

[tinner73]

robo...which consumer group? link us.

[RoBoTeq]

Originally posted by tinner73
robo...which consumer group? link us.

http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/topfurn.htm#60gas