Goodman Central Air Units

[BlkStnBerk2]

I've never owned one. Our current unit is a Lennox, which has been awesome to be honest. It's not loud, and it works great. The reviews were very good as well for this unit, and this includes longer term use customers.

I've been doing some reading on Goodman, and I've come across a common theme. One site has 488 VERY UNSATISFIED customers, which was over 50% of the people who replied. Then another site has reviews stating, "they are the cheapest of the cheapest" and "contractor grade".

So....Besides people who sell them, does anyone have any feedback or experience with these units? Are there some models which are worse than others? Possibly HVAC people?

Whenever I think of AC units to install, I think of Trane, Carrier, and Lennox. Goodman usually isn't in the conversation, but I've seen lots of deals on these Goodman units lately...

Thanks in advance.

[good2know]

I have one at a now 7 year old condo in bbqhaven - never had a problem. I was uncomfortable when first learned what it was, but has proven to be reliable.

Also a 2 year old one on a town in Kanata. No issues.

Its all in the warranty. If thats the same, the big name brands are not worth the extra $$.

[elo]

Three houses installed Goodman last years (me and my two neighbors)so far, no one has any issue or complaint. Yes, Goodman is cheap but work well and quiet. we paid (each house) $1900.00-$2000 (2 tons and 2.5 tons (tax included).

yes, a lot of bad reviews on internet.....

[BlkStnBerk2]

I guess the main worry is that the saying, "You get what you pay for" comes to mind when reading all of these negative reviews. Consumer reports also has the brand at #9 out of 10 with a 6.6 rating out of 10. These reviews are from contractors and end users.

I know the compressor comes with a 10 year warranty, but so do all of the others. I don't know enough about the internals of the unit to know if a multi-stage compressor is beneficial or not, but I see that the higher rated units all have them, and the Goodman doesn't. Again, not sure if this is model specific or what....

The dB rating of over 70 is also a negative...The others all seem to be below 60, and without a massive yard, that's definitely a factor. My in-laws have a Trane, and we sit outside on the patio for dinner quite a bit. You know it's on, but it's not loud at all. And it's a MASSIVE unit.

Wondering if any HVAC techs or AC experts could also chime in?

I like the price, but I don't want to save a few hundred dollars to sacrifice quality either.

Thanks again.

And thanks for the comments so far.

[shane]

Goodman is owned by Amana. It is there more cost effective line.

Regarding the multistage depends how much more you are paying for the option. The savings would like take years to recover the costs for the extra you are paying for the hardware. Same goes for the seer ratings since we only run our AC's half the year vs climates conditions in the south that operate 12 months, they recover the additional costs in half the time.

[BlkStnBerk2]

Originally Posted by shane

Goodman is owned by Amana. It is there more cost effective line.

Regarding the multistage depends how much more you are paying for the option. The savings would like take years to recover the costs for the extra you are paying for the hardware. Same goes for the seer ratings since we only run our AC's half the year vs climates conditions in the south that operate 12 months, they recover the additional costs in half the time.

So what you're saying is, the highly rated other brands are basically a waste of money? Same goes for the SEER? No point in paying for higher SEER?

Genuine questions. Really don't know too much about the actual units. I could install one! HAHA!! But I really don't know much about the technology.

[good2know]

I think he is, in part, saying that the roi for a 2 stage isn't there.

[BlkStnBerk2]

Originally Posted by good2know

I think he is, in part, saying that the roi for a 2 stage isn't there.

So basically there's no benefit to it, unless you're running it 12 months a year? Is it safe to assume it is different than a 2-stage furnace?

What about SEER rating?

Are there any benefits to buying Trane, Lennox, or Carrier for example? If they all have the 10 year warranty, what differentiates them from each other?