I have received a very good price for the installation of a Rheem RGTM06 (1st floor) and a Rheem RGTM04 (2nd floor) 95% AFUE gas furnace by a contractor I feel comfortable with. Our house is situated directly on the Toms River and our home's crawlspace was flooded by Sandy ruining all ductwork and insulation. We took this as an opportunity to upgrade our HVAC system. Previously, we had a Goodman heat pump system which was less than stellar. We are going to rewire our outside heat pump units into AC units. The furnaces will contain a Goodman convertible (R22/410A) AC coil so that we can use it with our current R22 Goodman outside AC units and upgrade to a Rheem 410A outside AC unit in the future once the Goodman's die.
NJ warmadvantage will not recognize the Rheem RGTM (downflow/horizontal flow) for their $400 rebate. They will recognize the Rheem RGRM (same unit only upflow). A call to Rheem confirmed that the ECM motors are different for the RGTM and RGRM. The RGTM motor does not meet energystar requirements but the furnace still achieves 95% AFUE. The install price is still good enough not to worry about the rebates BUT I did notice that all the Rheem furnaces had the lowest AFUE of all the manufacturers on the warmadvantage approved list.
Questions:
1. Does anyone have experience with the Rheem RGTM and were you happy?
2. Should I be concerned that NJ does not recognize this furnace? My current opinion is that the Rheem is a good mid level unit with 95% AFUE and it should be relatively cost efficient to run.
3. Please share any other pertinent opinions.
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Sorry - both furnaces are the RGTM06
If the rebate requires 95% AFUE, you are fine. If it requires that and a certain electric usage, there could be an issue. The RGTM doesn't qualify for the AMACF low energy fan motor, the RGRM does in some sizes.
Don't worry about a point here and there in AFUE.
What are they using for a coil? Rheem coils all have expansion valves which don't interchange between gases. The valves can be changed if you change gas later but it sure isn't easy on a Rheem. You can use a 3rd party coil like ADP and when the unit is replaced with a 410 Rheem, a 410 valve can easily be added. Use the piston that comes with the coil now for the 22. I don't like changing gases on a coil but others have no problem.
They are using a Goodman convertible coil. Yes the RGTM doesn't qualify due to the motor. I was surprised by the low AFUE numbers posted for Rheem on the energystar list compared to other manufacturers.