Opinions on Amana Residential HVAC Equipment

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: thooks

1. Trane & Lennox have proven themselves to manufacturer/buy very reliable residential equipment over the last 40 years. Rheem & Carrier seems to be stepping their game up with Rheem really bringing it to the table lately. Then you are left with York, Bryant, Junk-I-Trol, I mean Goodman, Air-Ease, blah, blah, blah.


Bryant and Carrier are both brands of United Technologies Corp. The product lineup is pretty much identical.

Is that the same United Technologies that made the infamous Ford ignition switches that caught fire, I wonder?

 

[WhizkidTN]

FWIW: I did a lot of research when building my house 2017. I had top of the line Rheem models in my old house, both of which had to have their coils replaced with either AL or tin plated copper (two different units) due to leaks less than two years old. That caused me to move away from Rheem. I settled with a top of their line Amana 4 ton split unit that is 16 SEER, two-stage (dual speed) scroll compressor, variable speed blower, dual fuel operation with an 80% efficient gas furnace that has a two-stage gas valve and a dual zone setup. For my mini-split in my garage, I did a 1.5ton Daikin unit (HP, 18 SEER).

I could have spent about $2K-$3K more for a slightly less optioned American Standard system but chose not to. To me, the American Standard is the top dog at this time (and things change).

So far, I've been very pleased but the systems are brand spanking new, run super quiet and use little energy.

ASZC16048/AMVC800803CN/CAPF4961C Amana HVAC
FTX18NMVJU/RX18NMVJU Daikin mini-split

 

[JustinH]

We went with American Standard silver series. Lowest SEER we could legally buy, and it is a rebadged Trane unit.

My house is 1000 sq feet, I have been very happy with the performance of the AC and the new furnace.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Amana is selling their HVAC offerings as American Pride label, built in Texas and Tennessee. They have a series of comparison PDF's on their website comparing their equipment to Trane, Lennox, Carrier, and Rheem.

There is a contractor here that is a high volume dealer of Amana American Pride, all sorts of promos like $2500 trade in allowance, $500 lowest price gaurantee.

Is the Amana stuff pretty good? I'm checking around on account of our 12 yr old Rheem setup is probably going have to be given the heave-ho pretty soon. I think our current system is 3 ton. Maybe 2.5, not sure.

After being in the commercial/industrial HVAC field for over 25 years, I can only suggest what worked for us. TRANE, CARRIER, YORK, and MCQUAY, were the BEST in the market, in that order. Our company had a service dept. that installed smaller package units (air handler/condenser) in banks, grocery stores, small businesses, etc. They mainly installed TRANE equipment. I too lean towards TRANE. I did my technical school training at TRANE.
Read this;
https://asm-air.com/airconditioning/top-10-air-conditioner-brands/

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

You need quality equipment and a good installer. Quality equipment cannot overcome a poor quality installation nor can a top notch installer overcome poor manufacturing quality and design. If it is a central HVAC system the duct work design and flow is critical.

 

[thooks]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Amana is selling their HVAC offerings as American Pride label, built in Texas and Tennessee. They have a series of comparison PDF's on their website comparing their equipment to Trane, Lennox, Carrier, and Rheem.

There is a contractor here that is a high volume dealer of Amana American Pride, all sorts of promos like $2500 trade in allowance, $500 lowest price gaurantee.

Is the Amana stuff pretty good? I'm checking around on account of our 12 yr old Rheem setup is probably going have to be given the heave-ho pretty soon. I think our current system is 3 ton. Maybe 2.5, not sure.

After being in the commercial/industrial HVAC field for over 25 years, I can only suggest what worked for us. TRANE, CARRIER, YORK, and MCQUAY, were the BEST in the market, in that order. Our company had a service dept. that installed smaller package units (air handler/condenser) in banks, grocery stores, small businesses, etc. They mainly installed TRANE equipment. I too lean towards TRANE. I did my technical school training at TRANE.
Read this;
https://asm-air.com/airconditioning/top-10-air-conditioner-brands/


McQuay was bought by Daikin 10+ years ago. The brand McQuay hasn't sold a piece of equipment in over 10 years. Daikin made huge improvements to the McQuay line.

Trane is going to have trouble in the coming years. Their product representation is severely lacking today. In the 80's, it was spectacular. Today, all they are interested in is the mega clients, i.e.: Hospitals, large universities, etc. The young specifying engineers of today aren't using Trane as Basis of Design like many did 20-30 years ago. The old fogeys that still do design are getting fewer and fewer....

 

[LoneRanger]

Sounds like Goodman/Amana may be the route to take for my situation. This is because I am likely to sell the house within the year or so. "Brand new HVAC !!!" in the real estate listing and shiny new equipment at the showing has a first impression impact that tends to overcome brand/installation variances.

Not going to put in a junk system but thinking a mid-level package, not their cheapest but not their most expensive, 10 yr warranty, etc. And one that's quiet. .

The contractor grade Rheem that's in now has always struggled to keep the upstairs cooled in hot humid midwest summers (think 95 deg 60% humidity or more). But as mentioned that could also be due to the way the new construction hvac contractor laid out the ducting and returns and etc.

 

[CincyDavid]

I associate the American Standard brand with toilets and bathroom sinks, whatever that's worth. Building a new subdivision house now, all Goodman HVAC and a State water heater. The 19 year old Carrier unit in the old house was still running, but on its last legs. We had just about the only house on the street without new HVAC.

One thing I don't see much of in Cincinnati, which was very common in St Louis, was zoned HVAC...2 smaller furnaces and a/c units with separate thermostats on different levels of the house. The house I built in WingHaven in O'Fallon MO in 2001 had a setup like that and it was really nice to be able set different temps for bedrooms vs. living space.

 

[nickaluch]

If you are selling the house Amana is fine just go with the best price. In the future if your next home is two floors get two separate systems for each floor for comfort. One AC two floors never cools correctly. Freeze on the main floor and sweat on the top floor and don't get sold on zoning one system never works.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: thooks
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Amana is selling their HVAC offerings as American Pride label, built in Texas and Tennessee. They have a series of comparison PDF's on their website comparing their equipment to Trane, Lennox, Carrier, and Rheem.

There is a contractor here that is a high volume dealer of Amana American Pride, all sorts of promos like $2500 trade in allowance, $500 lowest price gaurantee.

Is the Amana stuff pretty good? I'm checking around on account of our 12 yr old Rheem setup is probably going have to be given the heave-ho pretty soon. I think our current system is 3 ton. Maybe 2.5, not sure.

After being in the commercial/industrial HVAC field for over 25 years, I can only suggest what worked for us. TRANE, CARRIER, YORK, and MCQUAY, were the BEST in the market, in that order. Our company had a service dept. that installed smaller package units (air handler/condenser) in banks, grocery stores, small businesses, etc. They mainly installed TRANE equipment. I too lean towards TRANE. I did my technical school training at TRANE.
Read this;
https://asm-air.com/airconditioning/top-10-air-conditioner-brands/


McQuay was bought by Daikin 10+ years ago. The brand McQuay hasn't sold a piece of equipment in over 10 years. Daikin made huge improvements to the McQuay line.

Trane is going to have trouble in the coming years. Their product representation is severely lacking today. In the 80's, it was spectacular. Today, all they are interested in is the mega clients, i.e.: Hospitals, large universities, etc. The young specifying engineers of today aren't using Trane as Basis of Design like many did 20-30 years ago. The old fogeys that still do design are getting fewer and fewer....

As I stated, I was in the COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL HVAC field. I worked with chilled water systems exclusively. Pipe sizes up to 84". I attended TRANE technical school to learn ANY and EVERYTHING about chilled water systems. In some cases I was involved with HVAC on a much smaller bases. I NEVER had to work on a small install (split system/package unit) within my company, but I did on the side, with certified techs.
When I stated those HVAC names, it was COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL ONLY! I supplied the link as a reference for the OP to study, residential HVAC only. There is some valuable information there.
I have been gone from the HVAC field for 7 years now. I don't know what's going on in the commercial/industrial field because it's always changing. But, I still feel confident in my knowledge as to still pass it on.

 

[klt1986]

My Amana heat pump has a lifetime warranty on the compressor(actually 99 years) and 10 years on the other parts. When we bought it 3 years ago it had the best warranty around. We will be moving in 4-6 years, so I'm not worried in the least. Electric bills went down from our previous Trane XL1200.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
I associate the American Standard brand with toilets and bathroom sinks, whatever that's worth. Building a new subdivision house now, all Goodman HVAC and a State water heater. The 19 year old Carrier unit in the old house was still running, but on its last legs. We had just about the only house on the street without new HVAC.

Before American Standard got broken up, they owned Trane - hence why American Standard home HVAC existed as a 2nd tier brand. Ingersoll-Rand owns Trane now. They are still allowed to use the American Standard brand.

My parents won't get AC - but if I convince them since they already have a Trane high-efficiency furnace to get a mid-level Trane or AS coil unit.