HVAC Rhem vs. Carrier

Hi-

I have the fun job of getting my ac and furnace replaced

I have gotten a couple of different quotes and overall teh two companies that I am looking at are fairly close in price and specs on the units that they are offering. One is offering RHEM units about 500 less than the company offering Carrier units. I have looked on the web and both appear to be very good brands. We are also looking at selling our house in the coming year and will not get the benefits from the units but it will be a nice added selling feature with the house.
My questions are:
Do you know anything about these brands? what is your opinion?
Is 500 worth the difference if you believe Carrier is the way to go?
With HVAC companies, is there much negotiation available in price?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I don’t really know anything other than I have a pretty old (20-25 yr old) Carrier AC on my house and she still works flawlessly

Years ago I worked as a service tech. so I have fixed both
Carrier has a better track record and is better known
If I had to chose between the two for $500 I’d buy the Carrier
It will make a difference to the uninformed home buyer to see a brand they know as opposed to saving $500 and not making the sale
might not make a difference but it’s a cheap bet when your talking thousands in difference in a counter offer as opposed to your asking price
good luck

From my one hellish experiance with air conditioners, I’ve found the company that installs them to be more (or just as) important than the brand of unit.

When I called the manufacturer about a problem with the unit, they told me that I needed to deal with the installation company. (They weren’t any help)

Bottom line was I ended up getting a local company (Hudson Heating and Air) to come out and fix the install that Standard Heating and Air totally botched.

From the What It’s Worth Dept.

I am a general contractor so I see enough of both. It is a Chevy to Ford comparison. The average home buyer has no idea or problably even cares about the brand of furnace. They are more concerned that it is a year old unit.

Were I in your shoes I would save the $500 and go with the RHEM. I personally do not “bargain” on prices, but some contractors will, especially with work being very slow for a lot of guys. You could ask, but be prepared to have him tell you no.

Quote:

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From my one hellish experiance with air conditioners, I’ve found the company that installs them to be more (or just as) important than the brand of unit.

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Brian is right on. Get the right guy for the job and be confident they will do it right.

thanks for all the quick replies, I really appreciate it.
that is a good point farmboy1 about the negotiation piece. Do you want someone who will undervalue (reduce) their price and what that might say? I know in talking with all three people that have come out that they are only out five days max from when we sign the deal.

Dan

Both are good units, what ton size are you looking at? Essentially you are buying the brand name as most of the internal componets are the exact same, I would guess both have the same warranty as well. So it will come down to the installation company, what brand you want, and as far as the $500 difference, not a game breaker. Besides everything is negotiable, the worse they can say is they won’t match the price.

PS make sure they get the permit if one is required….again speaking from a hellish experience.

Carrier all the way , service is a must .

I would look at the company that is going to do the installation. Ask them for the names of their last 5 installs and call and talk to those people. Asking for the last five installs helps eliminate them setting up good references for you to talk to.

We have one guy on the north side here that sells a ton of furnaces at very cheap prices. Daves Heating and Air. I have talked to many of his customers that say they went with price and regretted every bit of it.

Not sure if I have ever heard of someone not buying a home based on name of the furnace.

We sell both Carrier and Ruud (same as Rheem) I had my choice when we just had a new AC/Furnace installed and went with Ruud.

Al

If you’re selling soon, save yourself the $500. The vast majority of homebuyers won’t care about the brand, only that its new. They’ll pay the same price either way.

Ingy

I’m going to have my furnace and condenser replaced as well here in the near future. I have a contractor that we work with on our commercial projects who is going to do it on the side for me.

I had him out to my house to inspect everything and give me an estimate. One thing he found out was my furnace wasn’t getting enough return air. 1950s built house, they kind of just did things a certain way and the system wasn’t balanced (supply CFM to return CFM). This actually has caused my existing furnace to work harder than it should.

Anyway… if you have an older house, have them check that stuff. Now would be the time to get it modified.

Also… lots of money in tax credits and rebates available right now! Federal government has tax credits on your furnace and condenser. My electric company (Xcel) and gas company (Centerpoint) also have rebates available. Check and make sure your equipment qualifies.

Dan, I had a Rheam installed, Furnas and complete air unit. Everything from disconnect box on the AC outside unit to the service switch on the furnace. Done by a local company here in DSM. I looked consumer reports and say a higher satisfactory rating for the Rheam.

This was done in spring of 2007, not a single issue and has saved us a very noticeable $ difference on our bills for this old house built in 1917! Our bills were cut by over 1/2 in a year at the very least.

I would not shy away from the Rheam, as of 6 years ago. I’ve got an old Rheam Fury gas water heater that is 26 years old as well. Thinking I should replace it now as well.

thanks for all the comments.

After going back with the two companies, i went with teh comapny that is offering me a carrier ac and furnance. Both companies priced out the units close together. the company I went with was rated the highest in consumer reports and another customer site for quality and workmanship.

thanks for all the help. i can’t wait to pay for this next week.

i had the units installed yesterday. the said they would be there at 7 and then where and done by 1015. very quick, clean and efficient group that came over. My neighbor early in teh week had just an ac installed and it took them all day and three of their work trucks to complete it.

Thanks for the help again, if anyone wants to know the company let me know.

Dan