Cleaning air ducts

[Donald]

Had my HVAC heat pump serviced today and asked about duct cleaning. He said it's basically only done for metal ducts. I have duct board and flex duct and it will do nothing.

He also said the hundreds of houses being built in and around southern Delaware that were corn fields a year ago mostly have Goodman A/C systems. He said good luck getting 10 years out of them and he thinks the warranty is 5 years.

Glad mine are Trane.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Lots of controversy regarding duct cleaning. I had my whole system replaced about 7 years ago. We inspected the return and pressure side of the metal duct work before the system was attached. Both were clean that you could still see the galvanizing patterns on the sheet metal. The old system was original to the house that was built in 1995. Goodman is low end system manufacturer. Installation is often the most critical key to the systems' success. Amana is re-branded Goodman, and I know of one Amana system that is pushing 20 years.

 

[Lubener]

I think the problem is navigating the agitating and suction device through the home with that type of ductwork.

 

[BHopkins]

I have a Goodman furnace and a/c system. It is over 10 years old. It has been totally trouble free. There is no sign of wear or potential failure.

When I had this system installed, I did a lot of research. Goodman was not rated well for reliability. But my installer highly recommended it. He promised that if I had him install the Goodman, and I was not happy with it after the first year, he would take it out and install a different system for me, at his cost. All I would have had to pay is the difference between the Goodman and what I selected to replace it.

The installer also pointed out that Goodman has the best warranty in the industry. I researched this, and found that to be true. At least at that time. Not sure now. My system has a 10 year warranty on all parts and lifetime warranty on the compressor and heat exchanger (as long as I own the home). This warranty was conditional upon registering the system within the first 60 days. If not registered within this time period, the default warranty was 5 years parts, 20 year heat exchanger.

Based on my experience, I have no problem recommending a Goodman.

 

[Lubener]

No matter how good a brand is claimed to be, poor maintenance or installation will make even the best brands look bad.
Personally, the Goodman equipment I have seen was no better or worse than any other brands.

 

[Donald]

I have a Goodman furnace and a/c system. It is over 10 years old. It has been totally trouble free. There is no sign of wear or potential failure.

When I had this system installed, I did a lot of research. Goodman was not rated well for reliability. But my installer highly recommended it. He promised that if I had him install the Goodman, and I was not happy with it after the first year, he would take it out and install a different system for me, at his cost. All I would have had to pay is the difference between the Goodman and what I selected to replace it.

The installer also pointed out that Goodman has the best warranty in the industry. I researched this, and found that to be true. At least at that time. Not sure now. My system has a 10 year warranty on all parts and lifetime warranty on the compressor and heat exchanger (as long as I own the home). This warranty was conditional upon registering the system within the first 60 days. If not registered within this time period, the default warranty was 5 years parts, 20 year heat exchanger.

Based on my experience, I have no problem recommending a Goodman.

Well it's great that you are having good luck with them. But I think most HVAC people would say the Goodman is a builders grade. And if you had the $$ you would go with a a higher end model like Trane.

 

[BHopkins]

Well it's great that you are having good luck with them. But I think most HVAC people would say the Goodman is a builders grade. And if you had the $$ you would go with a a higher end model like Trane.

I totally understand what you are saying. I was leaning towards Trane or Amana when I installed my new system. But when I started doing my research, the data just wasn't there to support that the "leader" brands had any better reliability than the run of the mill American Standard, Bryant, or any of the other many brands that are all the same equipment, but with just different labels.

What I found is the the leaders, like Trane and Amana, were prone to very expensive repairs. Fan motors and controller boards that could cost over $1000 to replace. And these "state of the art" components were proving to be less reliable.

 

[Donald]

I totally understand what you are saying. I was leaning towards Trane or Amana when I installed my new system. But when I started doing my research, the data just wasn't there to support that the "leader" brands had any better reliability than the run of the mill American Standard, Bryant, or any of the other many brands that are all the same equipment, but with just different labels.

What I found is the the leaders, like Trane and Amana, were prone to very expensive repairs. Fan motors and controller boards that could cost over $1000 to replace. And these "state of the art" components were proving to be less reliable.

The HVAC tech said often the first thing to go wrong is the coil on the air handler. It gets a leak and ends up being not worth replacing.

Maybe when the Trane warranty is up I will consider a service contract.