What is the Best Air Conditioner or Furnace Manufacturer?
Manufacturers: There are dozens of HVAC manufacturers across the different sectors of HVAC. For the purposes of this conversation, we will discuss the primary residential split system manufacturers, which cuts that list down a bit. There are names like Lennox, Trane, York, Carrier, Bosch, Rheem/Ruud, Goodman/Amana/Daikin, and many others. Most of them have subsidiaries or lower tiering within their offerings. Some of the names you may recognize are of great quality; others you may know because of price or saturation.
One of the most important things to realize is that no matter the manufacturer, the most important thing about how well your system works and how long it lasts is how the system is installed. Lesser quality equipment that is installed properly will outlast high quality equipment that is installed poorly every time. The magic is when you properly install high-quality equipment that’s applied correctly. But how does one figure out which equipment is the right application and quality for their application?
We decided to get the opinions of the experts. We surveyed our team of over 50 employees and asked them to rate 1 to 10 each of these manufacturers on several different decision-making traits. We asked them not to score if they had no opinion or day-to-day interaction with a segment that we were scoring so it would not taint the ratings. Below is the hard data:
Considerations
At Summit Heating and Cooling the primary considerations are a manufacturer’s quality, reliability, maintenance, serviceability, availability, distribution, brand reputation, technical support, price, warranty, and innovation.
Quality, the obvious first consideration.
What is quality for a system though? Is it built well? Is the equipment made of strong, reliable parts. Are the materials thick and durable. Do the components break easily? Are they made of corrosion resistant materials? Is it attractive looking equipment? Generally speaking, if a manufacturer puts in the time to make a product look good, they have also taken the time to build it well.
We have gone on many factory tours and discussed product manufacturing strategies with many engineers. There are amazing differences in techniques. Some manufacturers talk about doing things to improve the product, serviceability, longevity, or efficiency, while others make changes for ease of manufacturing or cost considerations. At Summit we look to those who are constantly pushing the envelope of creating a better product, not a cheaper one.
Reliability: Who cares how well built a product is if it’s not reliable?
Especially with our indoor air comfort and quality, if you can’t depend on the reliability of your furnace or AC, then it’s a constant hassle that can’t be avoided. Some manufacturers pride themselves on having products that will be there season after season for their end users while others look to a planned obsolescence model whereby they can get more consistent repairs and replacements. These systems can be very frustrating for customers to live with.
Maintenance: Like your car, HVAC systems need routine maintenance.
It’s so important to the longevity and efficiency of your equipment that most all manufacturers put a maintenance caveat in their warranty literature. To maintain your warranty, you must have a record of continued annual maintenance. Some equipment is easier to maintain than others. The ease of maintenance gives the customer or service provider more incentive to perform proper routine maintenance on their equipment. This promotes cleaner air quality, longer equipment life, truer efficiency, and enhanced reliability.
Serviceability: While it is true that most components are made very similarly, there can be huge differences between manufacturers and how hard or easy they are to service and maintain.
A fifteen- or twenty-degree rotation on a service valve can be the difference in easy and almost impossible servicing of a piece of equipment. Some manufacturers build their components for ease of manufacturing, some for cost considerations, and others for ease of use for the homeowner or service professional.
Clearly most contractors prefer manufactures who make at least reasonable accommodations for technicians. Some like Lennox and Carrier go as far as to have conferences with contractors to get their field experiences. Most often those conversations end up with real world changes that affect the components serviceability.
Availability: Historically, all manufacturers have had issues with availability of some component, size, or tier, however, the pandemic inflated many of these issues.
The industry is slowly recovering from supply chain issues, but some manufacturers still suffer from these disturbances. Regional availability is also a consideration. Some manufacturers have better distribution networks, but these networks can seriously impact the availability of parts and equipment.
On January 1st, 2025, manufacturers will no longer be able to produce equipment with R410A in them. This refrigerant has been around for nearly 40 years and has been the industry standard for almost 2 decades. In preparation for this, manufacturers, distributors, and contractors alike have been hesitant to stock up on large quantities of equipment. Again, this has created further availability concerns, especially with manufacturers who normally have more robust product tiering.
One complaint that some contractors have for different brands is the availability of parts. While regional differences can sometimes limit the availability of certain parts, in most of the top 200 cities this is not the case. A lot of distributors require certain things like business licenses, proof of insurance, and company bank account information to have an account. If a contractor can’t get an account, most distributors will not sell them parts.
Distribution: Distribution can be a major separator for contractors and manufacturers.
A good metaphor I have always used is buying a sink faucet. Normally, one would go to a hardware store like Lowes, Home Depot, or Menards to buy say a Delta faucet. Most of the time you or a contractor installs it, and everything is fine. But what if a part breaks? Are you contacting Lowes, Lowes parts, Delta, or Delta parts? It can be challenging.
Most manufacturers work in a similar manner. Contractors have relationships and buying agreements at different levels with distributors who stock equipment and parts for contractors to purchase from them. These relationships are huge for contractors because it creates a support network in-between and including the manufacturer. It’s great at times but can create lags in communication. The great distributors have excellent staff who are knowledgeable, supportive, creative, and solution oriented. They are a piece in the infrastructure of all good contractors.
There is also a more direct model of distribution that is operated most famously by Lennox. Lennox owns their distribution, meaning when contractors buy a Lennox product, they are buying from the manufacturer. This model takes a level out of the system. The most obvious positive is that there is more accountability. If there is an issue with a product, availability, or communication, then we know who is responsible. Generally, they can make moves more swiftly, and answers are more readily available. It also seems that the product is more predictable, good or bad. Neither method is better or worse than the other. The most important thing is the relationship between the distributor and the contractor. Good local relationships make a world of difference.
Brand Reputation: Brand reputation can come from many different sources, but normally comes from decades of shared customer and contractor experience and their willingness to listen and adapt to customer’s needs.
Some brands have adapted to the demands of customers who are becoming increasingly cost conscience. The manufactures who have been the most successful with this strategy have focused on cost savings and have done very well in certain markets meeting the demands of certain customers. Very often, these companies have a good brand reputation because they deliver what the customer is wanting: cheap, not necessarily efficiency, longevity, or comfort.
When purchasing a new HVAC system, it is important to align yourself with a manufacturer and contractor with what you are looking for in a new system. What is the most important factor to you? Is it price, efficiency, longevity, or comfort? Often the fate of the satisfaction of a customer is decided on the day a contract is signed. A cheaper brand can have very good brand reputation if the expectation of the consumer is in alignment with that of the manufacturer. Obviously, brand reputation can be purchased with review articles, surveys, and advertising. It can also be gained through innovation.
Over the last decade, federal regulations and market demands have encouraged manufacturers to pursue equipment innovation with an eye towards improved comfort and efficiency. New technologies like variable speed, low ambient, and variable capacity equipment have come about with companies taking different approaches for both higher and higher efficiency and lower costs. Companies who are producing these innovations are winning awards and gaining brand reputation.
Technical Support: Almost all manufacturers have some sort of technical support, design build applications, warranty departments, and most important Field Technical Consultants (FTC).
Some of the best distributors have these as well to either assist manufacturers or fill in the gaps where they fall short. There are many different brands that all have their own quirks and tricks. No technician can know every revision of model of every manufacturer. We must have brand specific field technical support. Technical support is for the office, pre-planning jobs or repairs. Applications help technicians, sales staff, project managers, etc. figure out the acceptable practices for the many different situations that contractors run into.
Say you have a smaller than preferred line set from a system being replaced that is buried in concrete or a finished ceiling. You can call Applications; give them the details of the project and they can tell you if the existing one is acceptable or if construction is going to be necessary. Warranty departments help approve and administer warranty parts repairs for their products. There is a huge difference between the quality and support of different manufacturers and distributors. The quality of a manufacturers FTC’s is make or break for many contractors. Summit has created a network of partners with excellent FTC’s. Service technicians’ effectiveness relies of their ability to rely on their resources, other than themselves and their team, the manufacturers FTC’s is the next most important resource they have.
Price: Obviously price is a very important component to all companies’ business.
Most folks don’t realize how different pricing agreements between brands and contractors can be. The larger and the more loyal that a contractor is to a brand, ordinarily the more competitive buying agreement that they receive. Often larger contractors, who buy in volume, can get better manufacturer’s equipment for lower prices than they or smaller contractors can get on lower tier equipment like Goodman.
Summit Heating and Cooling is a Certified installation contractor for Lennox, Bosch, York, and Carrier. There are many fine brands of equipment, but we believe that these brands stand out among the crowd. Clearly, we think that overall, the top manufacturer is Lennox, followed closely by the innovative products of the Bosch line. But, when comparing equipment and contractors, remember that the most important day in the life of your HVAC system is the day its installed.
There are many different installation practices. Shorting the install just to get the project for less money will sacrifice the efficiency, functionality, and longevity of the system. A $10,000 poorly installed system that only lasts 10 years is a lot more expensive than a $15,000 system installed to industry’s best practices that will likely last for 20 years. We pride ourselves on going by industry best practices. Combining our installation practices with the best, most reliable equipment will ensure that your new system runs as long as it can, as efficient as it can, and keeps you and your family comfortable in your home as best as it can.
Remember, if you’re looking for the top, reach for the Summit. Summit Heating and Cooling.
