I always tell everyone that shopping for a new heating/cooling system is a lot like buying a car. There's many manufacturer's producing a multitude of options at all different levels of quality, price, and application. A short list of manufacturer's starts with (but not limited to) Daikin, Trane, Carrier, Goodman, Rheem, Ruud, American Standard, Amana, Bryant, Payne, Mitsubishi, Samsung... The list can go on and on, to the best of my knowledge there are at least 20 manufacturer's commonly found in the United States, with probably 40 more lesser known brands.
Let's start with talking about which brand is the best. They all are. Didn't expect that did you? All equipment produced by these manufacturer's were tested for safety, reliability, and performance. In a controlled environment all products are tested to ensure they can perform as designed. Matter of fact, if the equipment didn't perform at least through the warranty period, the manufacturer's would go out of business. Some of you might be thinking right now "well I bought a ......... 12 years ago and had nothing but issues with it since day 1". I don't doubt that. The equipment is 99% of the time not to blame. Blame the installer. There are extremely critical practices that must be adhered to in order to ensure the equipment can perform as designed without major issues. Some of these practices are using clean line sets, proper pressure testing, proper evacuation prior to commissioning, proper commissioning, and most importantly but most overlooked is ensuring the duct system is adequate for the new system.
Now let's talk about price point. I mentioned some well known brands earlier such as Trane and American Standard. Would it surprise you is I said that they are basically the same product produced by the same manufacturer? Same is true for the Daikin, Goodman, Amana group. Likewise, Carrier, Bryant, and Payne. The manufacturer's are great marketers and thus have diversified their equipment lines to appeal to different markets and consumers. Daikin tends to be a little more expensive than Goodman, that doesn't allude to a quality difference, however; in an indirect way it could. To sell a manufacturer's "higher end" product, you typically need to dedicate a most (if not all) of your purchasing to that manufacturer. When companies do this, their install crews and technicians get really familiar with that equipment, which typically allows them to be more efficient with the installation and commissioning process. I said typically because a well educated and seasoned veteran of the industry should be able to install any equipment properly and do a great job. I say all that to say that most equipment will typically be in the same general price range when we compare like for like (excluding company specific overhead). Goodman, Daikin, Carrier, Trane, and Rheem are all direct competitors and thus know that they must compete for the business of contractors and likewise they all offer similar equipment at comparable pricing. If we were to compare Daikin, Trane, and Carrier side by side for a 14.3 Seer2 split heat pump system, we would see that the pricing is probably about the same. So price of equipment is not really a factor.
The biggest factor in pricing is going to be the efficiency of the equipment. When you go from 14 Seer up to 18/20 Seer range, the price about doubles. The best way to determine what efficiency of equipment you want is to determine how long you expect to be in your home. If you think you will be selling the home in the next year or so, then you may want to consider a minimum efficiency unit as you will never see the return on investment that higher efficiency equipment will bring to the electric bill. Some think that higher efficiency equipment brings resale value and after speaking with the many realtors that I do business for, I can say that they all agree high efficiency equipment is not a major factor in resell value. One exception to this is going to be warranty. Many manufacturer's offer transferable warranties especially on their higher end equipment, which absolutely has value. Think of that much like a home warranty, but it's much better. For more information on extended and transferable warranty options, speak with your contractor of choice.
The final factor in price is going to be labor burden and company overhead. This is going to vary greatly from contractor to contractor and there's not much to say except to explain the different types of practices different contractors implement. Some companies only use a dedicated install crew, some use a combination crew of installers and technicians, and some only use technicians to do installs. That list is in ascending order of the cheapest way to operate to the most expensive because technicians typically cost more per hour than an installer. Right now in our market a lead installer averages between $17/hr and $25/hr while a service tech can range from $18/hr to $30/hr. Company overhead is also affected by company provided benefits aimed at attracting better qualified employees such as paid holidays, paid vacation, retirement plans, health insurance, workers comp... The list goes on. This is not a bad thing especially since I just stated that these programs are aimed at attracting better employees. Installer and technicians alike that are of good character, knowledgeable, and overall more valuable than the average industry worker are more likely to work for those companies that offer the most benefits. So price of install can allude to the quality that you as a consumer can expect especially if that company is paying above average wages for really good labor.
The last thing I will say about this process is make sure the contractor you are using is duly licensed, insured, and operating in a legal manner. The worst installs I've seen are always done by illegitimate "contractors". Imposters if you will and there are so many out there it would surprise you to know the truth. Here in North Carolina it is required by law that you be licensed by the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinklers. You can search for any license holder at https://public.nclicensing.org/Public/Search by company name, license number, company address, phone number, licensee name. Feel free to search our license as a test, license number is 35351, I Kenneth Casebier am the license holder for the firm Simply Right Heating & Cooling LLC located in Richlands NC. Any properly licensed company should never have an issue verifying the legality of their business and I encourage every consumer to protect themselves by verifying this before any work is even proposed. Without a license, you can't pull a permit which means that the install is not only illegal (punishable by North Carolina General Statute Chapter 87 Article2), but the install can not be inspected by local building inspections for safety.
To wrap this up, what to look for in the purchase of a new system really depends on your current and future needs. Always be sure to ask your contractors questions about their installation processes, who will be installing the equipment, what kinds of warranties are available, and finally verify that you are dealing with a properly licensed contractor.
Kenneth Casebier
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