re: HVAC brands for dummies - Goodman

Neighbors on both sides have Goodman and I had a Goodman high efficiency unit installed about two years ago. I had a Rheem before that lasted about 20 years. The Goodman's have been great units and they are way quieter than the older stuff. The Goodman runs longer but the motor speeds are slower so your bill is lower. Get a good installer and enjoy the savings.

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For the most part, Dayton makes the fan motors, Copeland or LG makes the scroll compressors.

Relays, capacitors are certainly not made by the ad company.

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ding ding ding

Almost all the brands are assemblers, they dont actually make anything, some buy better componets here or there than others but that is about it.

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re: HVAC brands for dummies - GoodmanPosted on 6/22/18 at 8:37 pm to SM6 Goodman gets a bad rap because they'll sell units to anyone, which means people who don't know what they are doing are installing them and they are failing soon after. As far as I know that within the mid-range and lower there is not a lot of difference in quality. Regular maintenance is more important though as is the location of the exterior unit. Mine is in the shade, away from grass clippings, and gets cleaned inside and out every Spring and covered before being shut off for cooler weather.

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Great answer with regards to newer Goodman HVAC units. They did have some QC issues several years back with some plastic parts but have since replaced with higher quality aluminum parts. Our average house we build is around a million dollars and we use Goodman on everyone and haven’t had a callback in over 5 years.

You can drop 50k on Marvin aluminum clad casement windows, if you have a shitty installer, a house with China made PVC cellular single hung windows will be more efficient if installed properly.

I had this same thread last year and ended up going with a Heil HVAC. No issues but it is just a year old.

goodman is the walmart brand of air conditioners, cheap as they come in quality.

stick with major brands if you want a good quality unit

i wouldnt put goodman in anything i own other then a cheap rental place i dont care about

Goodman is fine....now. Goodman gets the bad rap because of their history as the low cost leader and, in the beginning, they would sell directly to the contractor. Their products were very cheaply made while under the ownership of the Goodman family. Mr. Goodman went to market as a low profit margin brand. He knew there was a huge market for a budget brand of air conditioners. The reason he didn't use Copeland compressors was because Copeland wouldn't sell to him when he was trying to get started. He went with Bristol instead and stayed loyal to them. He bought billions of dollars worth of their compressors. Copeland will always regret not selling to Mr. Goodman.

Goodman quickly became a huge player in the hvac equipment market eventually becoming one of the largest in the world. Daiken (Japanese), the largest in the world, bought Goodman several years ago and has brought their quality up to a much higher level. The Japanese do not manufacture junk. You can feel comfortable having one installed in your house. Regardless of which brand you use, the installer is the critical part of the equation. Get the best installer.

Here are the best brands in my opinion:

1) York...and any JCI branded equipment.
2) Rheem or Ruud...exact same thing.
3) Trane or American Standard...however, their compressors are suspect and you're paying for a lot of advertising.
4) Carrier...only their Infinity series.

Second tier:
1) Goodman...borderline first tier.

Third tier....everyone else.

I manufacture a/c equipment. I'm friends with all of the c-level folks in the hvac manufacturing and distribution businesses. I know their equipment inside and out. I work with them on a daily basis. The founder of our company was the first person to ever put a/c in a residential home. He's the reason you and I are comfortable in our homes. The founder of our company is the reason Lennox went from a furnace company to an a/c company. The founder of our company put Mr. Goodman in business....they were good friends. We work with all of the OEM's and build niche market equipment for most of them....as well as coils or emergency need products.

Fyi...inside Goodman's cooling side plant. This is the one shutdown first before moving into their new hi-tech plant.

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capacitor go out

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There is something of an epidemic of shite capacitors lately. It affects all AC manufacturers. You used to be able to buy a made in USA GE capacitor that you could just install and forget about it. Now practically they are all made in china and frequently have a very limited lifespan. Whats so bad about this isn't just having your AC stop working but a bad cap can cause premature failure in fan motors and compressors due to keeping motor in a state of not being on or off. Fan motors frequently fail a few weeks after an AC tech has replaced a bad cap.

A good reason for a homeowner to learn how to check that caps are within spec at least annually or hire a company to do it.

Ive have a Bryant going strong since 2002. Minimal issues.

I build apartments. We use Goodman exclusively. They’re dependable. Typically all manufacturers use the same internal parts except the coils.

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You used to be able to buy a made in USA GE capacitor that you could just install and forget about it. Now practically they are all made in china and frequently have a very limited lifespan.

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Buy Amrad capacitors if possible. USA made and come with a 5 year warranty. Mexico is a big hub for capacitors, too.