Carrier vs Lennox

[doorz]

I am in the process of getting quotes from people for replacing my 20 year old HVAC equipment.

I have received 3 quotes from reputable companies, two of them priced Lennox, and the other priced Carrier. The 2 companies that priced Lennox are $XX EDIT < NO PRICING> Forum Rules higher than the company that priced Carrier. All 3 companies priced the mid level equipment from both manufacures.


Is Lennox equipment more expensive than Carrier equipment? All 3 companies are pretty much doing the same thing, so I didn't expect there to be such a big price difference.

[Edited by Mod2 on 01-03-2006 at 09:02 PM]

[BaldLoonie]

Comparable grade and featured products should be similar though not exact. Compare your bids that all are doing identical work. That's a huge difference but there can be several hundred dollars diff if someone isn't changing lineset, lining a chimney, using a 2 stage stat for example.

[Special Ed]

Or the Carrier guy is playin' the low-ball game....

[Mr Bill]

Yep, have to make sure your are comparing apples to apples make sure you get all the info and look at it before you make any decision and the contract states the same, it is the slow time of the year for some and it's not uncommon to get a little better deal from some companys so they can continue to keep everyone on and make the payroll. I see no problem with that, not necessarly a low baller because I have been there done that before many years ago and still will if need be to keep the ship moving.

[doorz]

All 3 companies were going to more or less do the same thing. All 3 companies are replacing the line sets, and the differences are as listed below.


The Carrier people priced 2-1/2 ton heat pump with gas backup downstairs and a 2 stage gas furnace with 3 ton AC upstairs


The first Lennox company that was $1500 higher than Carrier priced the same thing downstairs but priced a heat pump upstairs with 2-1/2 ton units up & down

The second Lennox company was $2300 higher than Carrier and priced the same equipment as the Carrier people with the exception of using 2-1/2 ton equipment up & down.


Its just seems to me that the Lennox equipment is higher, since they all are doing about the same thing.

[mtnwrench]

how about looking past price and look at "installed to instructions and code vs hacked in"?

[pecmsg]

First your getting different sizes between 1st & 2nd floor. Get this resolved.
Click on the red tab above and do your own heat load/loss calculation.
Has anyone supplied you with this calculation??? If not require that it be done.

Guessing the size of both the heat & A/C only leads to problems.

http://www.johnmills.net/work/advice.html

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=38790

http://www.proctoreng.com/articles/bigger.html

[doorz]

I'm not concerned with who has the lowest price. I'm mainly trying to find out if the Lennox equipment is more expensive then Carrier. These 3 companies are more or less doing the same things with the systems, but the Lennox companies are coniderably higher.

Are they higher becuase the equipment is more expensive, or is it because they are making more profit than the Carrier company?



The Carrier company I have personally used in the past, since they did an AC system in my old house which at the time had no system or duct work. The did a good job designing the system, and it worked fine.

The 2 Lennox companies came from a friend of mine who is a contrator. He uses the other 2 companies for his renovations and additions.


I know a lot of system performace has to do with the install, so I am looking beyond the price.

[mr big]

I will answer your question! Equal Lennox equipment does not cost the contractor more than Carrier equipment. However, like others have said, there is a vast amount of difference between the quality of installation and service between contractors. If you feel comfortable with the Carrier contractor, or have seen his work, then perhaps the Lennox contractors are just higher priced, or just require more to do the job with their company.

[Toolpusher]

What is the refrirgerant of choice by the Lennox guys compared to the Carrier guy ?

If Carrier is using R-22, and Lennox is going to be R-410a,
That can be part of your increase. I don't think Carrier uses a TXV. I use it whenever I can on Lennox equipment. I like the TXV better then the piston, Myself.

Heatpumps are more then an A/C so that is some of it also.

[aircooled53]

The differance is Lennox-company pays about $$$ for equipment,Carrier pays $$$ for equipment and they all pay about the same for labor.

The real quality comes from the company that look at the ductwork ask to do load calculation of system before they gave you a bid.Don't always look for the cheapest $$$ ; but the company that will install,design,service and warranty the system and stand behind what is on that proposal....

[mjoyner2003]

Equipment cost is about the same for both Lennox is Higer.If they are both using 410 ref. I would want to know why they differ on the sizing. If you have dealt with the Carrier company before and are happy with the work go with what you know