New Heater Questions

[jcrog]

I live in Philly. And need a new Gas furnace. My current one is 20yrs old and running around 70% eff. I have gotten 2 quotes.

Which is better:

Bryant #350 MAV, 92% BTUH with limited lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger, 3 yr Micro Processor, 5 yrs limited on parts, labor 1 yr.

Carrier Infinity 96 2 Stage variable speed furnace, Lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger, 10 yrs parts and labor

Trane XL 90 5 year parts and labor

Thanks

[trey r]

I'M A TRANE GUY SINCE BIRTH BUT BETWEEN THESE THREE I'D GO WITH THE CARRIER.

[york_hvac]

My reccomendation would be the Infinity because of the Variable Speed fan. It is cheaper to run and provides very good comfort. Another plus is the Infinity control. Best residental furnace control I have seen. Do a search for "Infinity" on this site and you will see what I mean. The Infinity will most likley be the most expensive unit of the units you listed (No pricing questions, please). To gain the full benifit of it, get a Manual J load calculation done to size it right.

[americanair7]

I live by Consumer Reports myself. Had an American Standard installed in my house a year ago. I love it! The installing dealer was great. I also live in Philly area.

CR - May 2001
CR - November 2002
CR - February 2005

I was surprised to see where some of the other brands ranked. Very surprised in some cases. Good luck with your decision.

[billva]

Originally posted by americanair7
I live by Consumer Reports myself. Had an American Standard installed in my house a year ago. I love it! The installing dealer was great. I also live in Philly area.

CR - May 2001
CR - November 2002
CR - February 2005

I was surprised to see where some of the other brands ranked. Very surprised in some cases. Good luck with your decision.

bear in mind when reading CR that you have no knowledge of how these systems were installed.

[billva]

CR is great if you want a refrigerator or stereo. but when it comes to appliances that must be assembled in the field, there is the right way, the half-ass way, and the hack way. feel free to combine the half-ass and hack.

[americanair7]

I stand by my recommendation to read the CR articles, completely. Brand plays an important role, but so does the contractor and the information in the articles reflects that. The installing contractor can make a BIG difference. This is an INSTALLED product. Give 5 different contractors the same equipment to install and they'll all do it a different way, yielding in different performance and lifetime of equipment. I always ask for recent and local references. Not a bad idea to ask when the last time the contractor attended factory authorized training. Are they insured? Are they listed on the manufacturer's website as a dealer?

As for the results on the 3 CR articles, maybe American Standard dealers are better trained. Or maybe the equipment is more forgiving. 3 outta 3 says A LOT.

[billva]

another issue w/ CR is the fact that the same brands, i.e., am. standard/trane, rheem/ruud and carrier//bryant are all mixed into the top 3.

and the next 3



[Edited by billva on 11-10-2005 at 09:33 PM]