Trane XV20i and XL950 Reliability?

[Mstgkillr]

I would like to specifically discuss the reliability of the Trane XV20i and the required XL950 thermostat.

I've researched for weeks now and I've found some great reviews on the XV20i and some very poor reviews. What is your experience with this unit.

Now for the required XL950 thermostat, I have found the majority of the reviews very poor. Checking Amazon, it appears this thermostat is very problematic which is unfortunate as it is the only thermostat that will work with the communicating XV20i.

[SkyHeating]

I would have to disagree with everything said here... but with a qualifier. When installed by a GOOD contractor there is little that can go wrong with the XV18/XV20 and XL950. We have only had one problematic XV system out of the over 150 that we have installed and it was in a house with an electronics engineer that worked from home with sensative equipment emmitting lots of signals. The problem is a lot of contractors have only installed 5 or 10 systems and are not up on the proper procedures to install these. My company is doing as many as a couple per week so our installers have them down to a science. The first ones took a day longer than a standard system to install as we verified install instructions and checked and double checked settings. Now that we know the procedures it takes us one day less to install than a standard system and customers LOVE them, so its very clear the bad reviews are going to be of people that got a bad install. This is the main reason why selecting a good contractor is the number 1 thing to do.

For the thermostat, if an XL950 is sold on amazon :facepalm: that is such a horrible idea. That thermostat is communicating only so unless they are including a BAY24 kit with it it won't work with any system except a Trane communicating system. And if it does come with the BAY24 kit that is not a DIY wiring. Popular mechanics called it a breakthrough thermostat, it blows away crap like the Nest that has better marketing behind it.

[Mstgkillr]

I would have to disagree with everything said here... but with a qualifier. When installed by a GOOD contractor there is little that can go wrong with the XV18/XV20 and XL950. We have only had one problematic XV system out of the over 150 that we have installed and it was in a house with an electronics engineer that worked from home with sensative equipment emmitting lots of signals. The problem is a lot of contractors have only installed 5 or 10 systems and are not up on the proper procedures to install these. My company is doing as many as a couple per week so our installers have them down to a science. The first ones took a day longer than a standard system to install as we verified install instructions and checked and double checked settings. Now that we know the procedures it takes us one day less to install than a standard system and customers LOVE them, so its very clear the bad reviews are going to be of people that got a bad install. This is the main reason why selecting a good contractor is the number 1 thing to do.

For the thermostat, if an XL950 is sold on amazon :facepalm: that is such a horrible idea. That thermostat is communicating only so unless they are including a BAY24 kit with it it won't work with any system except a Trane communicating system. And if it does come with the BAY24 kit that is not a DIY wiring. Popular mechanics called it a breakthrough thermostat, it blows away crap like the Nest that has better marketing behind it.

It's nice to hear someone so positive about the XV20i as I'm really leaning towards purchasing it. However, you do bring up something to be considered with the electronics engineer who had issues with their system due to their sensitive electronic equipment... I live in Florida, the lightning capital of the US. Obviously, nothing is going to survive a direct lightning strike but what about frequent power surges? I'm sure that can't be good for the XV20i but probably isn't good for any unit either. Do you think the XV20i is more susceptible to damage from power fluctuations than a simple single stage system? I'm concerned with all of the electronics in the XV series.

It appears the poor XL950 comments on Amazon are from people who had the thermostat installed with their XV18/XV20i system. There are comments like "strange temp readings", "They had indeed used a tablet as the basis for the XL950. To be able to sense room temp, there is a sensor at the lower right of the case. Inserting a shielded temp probe in the grill next to the XL950 sensor showed internal case temps from 95 to 105 degrees - this less than 1" away from the sensor that is supposed to read room temp and decide when to turn on the system. Hardly a recipe for accuracy", " Dealer came out and replaced again under warranty – said he has had others fail", "Persistent WiFi disconnections that require turning the WiFi system off then on again", "The design and placement of the temperature sensor seems to allow air flow to blow over the warm components of the thermostat and affect the temperature reading", "I really hate this thermostat", "The temperature it reads is simply not accurate", "constantly lock up and freeze", "This unit has no battery backup. So when there is a power glitch from lightening here in Florida, the thermostat AND THE A/C UNIT turn off. The whole system stays off until a human comes by, pulls the unit from the wall, and then puts it back on the wall to reboot it. For this price they should have included a battery inside for power failures".

[BaldLoonie]

I spent 2 days at the factory and had classes from the product designers then 2 days with our local tech rep, a man I very highly respect. He's honest, he'd say if there were issues. He's found the XVs to be very reliable. Only drives he's had to replace are when a dealer tried to hook a tablet up to them instead of a laptop. No compressor failures. No complaints about the 950, there is a 1050 coming out later on. I haven't heard that after a power failure it won't continue to cool. Most high end stats these days do not have batteries and start back up.

[Mstgkillr]

Any idea when the 1050 is coming out?

[SkyHeating]

Any idea when the 1050 is coming out?

My understanding is that the only difference in the 950 and 1050 is that the 1050 has the nexia bridge which is currently a separate item for the 950 but included on the 824 and 850. Since BaldLoonie was just there maybe he has some more updates though.

[BaldLoonie]

I think that is the case. I heard later on this summer for the 1050.

[2old2rock]

It is a great system, but we have had some issues with the stat and strange temperature readings.