Best Brand for HVAC Furnace

Seems like a crapshoot. I have a carrier infinity and it does an awesome job but I would think they all suck. Find an installer you can trust.

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Find an installer you can trust.

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This is probably the most important thing to consider. Hire a reputable contractor to perform the work and you will thank yourself down the line.

Personally I would look into American Standard / Trane.

If you trust your HVAC tech and been happy with quality of his work in the past then go with his recommendation.

I assume it’s a gas furnace, 80% efficiency furnaces are all designed the same with the same component parts. There is certainly nothing wrong with Rheem/Rudd. I don’t think any major name brand - Trane/American Standard, Carrier/Bryant, Rheem/Ruud, ….. is superior/inferior to others - it’s all about the quality and expertise of the installer, and rapid availability of parts should a part need to be replaced down the road. I’d personally have no issue with installing a Rheem/Ruud unit in my house.

I’ve read on HVAC forums that Lennox parts often take longer to acquire than with other major brands, even before Covid. I don’t why that is - but techs, N, S, E, W, around the country on the HVAC-Talk forum I peruse seem to agree with this.

Sounds like you got your $ about 2x over with the original gas furnace, as the expected life of those are about 20 years.

Rheem

Well, for a unit to last from 87 till now is better than money in the bank and you certainly got your moneys worth out of that unit.

I replace mine in 2019 and it was installed in 92 when I got the house I'm now living in, and still working fine but didn't want to chance it going out in the summer months.

I got a Trane 4 ton unit and replace the entire thing, inside and out. The only thing they didn't need to replace was my ductwork and return air and only had to tie them in with new metal plenums.

I've not had any issues with this new unit, and don't really expect to. Like already mentioned, the installer and the job they do is probably more important than the brand of unit you buy.

Over the last 30+ years in several different houses, we’ve had Trane, Rheem, American Standard, and Goodman, and they all had coil leaks at some point. We do have a 30 year old Amana that’d running fine, but I’m sure the SEER rating is quite low, so will replace it before next summer. I agree with the other comments that you want a good installer putting in a system that they are used to. I’m getting prices to replace the old 3 ton, and I got prices of $9,000 for Trane, $8,000 for Rheem and Goodman at $5;000 all for 16 SEER. There was an outlier price of $11-$12000 for Trane which had a lifetime warranty on material as well as labor. This was from a well known high pressure sales pitch out of their binders. When you buy, make sure that you or your installers register your warranty for future repairs. I can tell you the companies who gave me these quotes if it is helpful to you.