On the Trane - look at those AC condenser coils and try to imagine how
you'll ever clean them without destroying them. They're made up of tiny
spines of extremely thin aluminum - a decent stream from a garden hose will
flatten them, and God forbid you get cottonwood fuzz into them. No matter
what kind of coil cleaner you use, you're eventually going to need to at
least use a good blast from a hose to blow out "stuff".
I've had a Bryant (Carrier) 86% for 18 years and sworn at it repeatedly
because of all the components I've had to replace, but after going through
the same evaluation and decision this last summer, I decided to go with
Carrier/Bryant again. But with so many projects demanding my $$, we're
keeping the old one till (probably) this summer.
The variable-speed fan is the big selling point for me, but lots of people
have warned that those DC motors are big $$ when they go out. I'm buying
the longest warrantee that seems economically feasible...
Karl
> Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies on this topic(!) After
> talking to several contractors, I think
> we've narrowed it down to some sort of high efficiency two stage gas
> furnace with a variable fan
> (side vented, of course...).
>
> Before we make a final decision, does anybody have any horror stories
> about the higher end
> Trane or Carrier units?
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