Rheem heat pumps...ever heard of them?

Begester

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
203
My air conditioning went out and I'm looking to replace with a Rheem unit, anyone have any experience with them?
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
i have a Rheem central AC. one of the better brands. can't say about the heat pumps but the company makes good stuff
 

Tnstratofam

Commander
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
2,679
They are pretty good units. I've been in the heating and air conditioning business for 25 years and have worked on just about everything out there. My personal favorites are Carrier ( or one of it's subsidiaries such as Bryant, Payne, Heil, or Day and Knight. ) Ruud or Rheem they are sister brands, Trane or American Standard although they are pricey, or York also pricey.

I would not recommend Goodman or Amana sister brands, Coleman, Maytag, or Lennox or Air Ease. These brands are either not manufactured well, or just don't hold up well long term. As for Lennox I just don't think they are worth the money.

The most important thing with any heating or cooling system is a properly sized and properly installed system.

Hire a cheap backyard installer and you'll end up with a hack job install, and a system that will not last or work efficiently.

Just my .02 cents.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Yes that is a reputable company. Lots of folks have used Rheem. There are lots of good air conditioner manufactures available. But RHeem is a name brand if that helps. Carrier, Trane, RHeem, Rudd, Bryant, Lennox, Amana, America Standard, are just a few of them. But I have a gut feeling most are built from just a few manufacturing plants with different names on them. JMHO
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
i 2nd the poor quality of Maytag stuff. we re-did our kitchen and bought all new stainless Maytag appliances then a few months later bought Maytag washer and dryer (front loader). spent over $10k for everything. a few months later the oven quit. they fixed it twice before saying i needed a new one. the new one quit a couple of months later. got it working but it still acts up at times. in the first 3 years we had the oven issue, the refrigerator quit and the washer and dryer both quit. i called maytag right after the fridge quit. the part was only about $70 and it was just out of warranty. i told them of all the trouble i had had with all of my Maytag stuff and they said oh well. i just asked them to send the new part and i would fix it myself. they refused.

anyway, i have a Trane furnace and Rheem AC. both very good after about 7 or 8 years. i did have to replace the capacitor in my AC unit last summer. only about a $100 repair including labor so not bad
 

mickyryan

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
4,210
We have a rheem unit going on 11 yrs now it is tired but it gets ran pretty hard :)
 

bigdee

Commander
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
2,665
Heat pumps now-a-days are like computers....a bunch of foreign generic parts assembled and branded with a name. The HIGHER end Tranes and Carrier have some proprietary parts but thats about it. The contractor spec grade Trane is just like the competitions (Goodman) with Mexican made scroll compressor and Chinese reversing valves,relays,motors and contactors. Carrier has moved its manufacturing to Mexico.....Goodman/Amana is made in US with generic Chinese components. Goodman is the leader in sales so other brands have had to cut corners to compete with them.
 

Tnstratofam

Commander
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
2,679
Carrier moved one line to Mexico not their entire company. All manufacturers use parts supplied by overseas and US companies in their equipment. Carrier, Trane, Lennox, and York and all their sub brands have been way out in front in technical improvements and have been producing and selling R-410a equipment since 2000 or earlier. Everybody else waited till 2010 and the EPA mandate to bring their R-410a products to market. Rheem/Ruud have done a good job in bringing well built equipment to the market while other brands have struggled with poorly designed and poorly built equipment.

Goodman/Amana are owned by Diakin which is a Chinese company and they along with Maytag and Nordine make the cheapest equipment on the block. Check out the class action lawsuit Goodman/Amana is dealing with that relates to their R-410a equipment coil failures. If you read through the complaints filed against them and you still buy one of their cheap units then get ready to have a long relationship with a service tech like me who you will be paying to keep your system running.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for cheap equipment but the old saying you get what you pay for really does apply. I can install a Payne system for within a couple hundred bucks of the people in my area who put in Goodman, and the Payne system will outperform it hands down.

To the OP's original question Rheem systems are good and if installed correctly it should serve you well for many years.
 

Tnstratofam

Commander
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
2,679
By the way I have a Goodman gas package unit in my house. It was in it when we purchased our house in 2010 and it is a 2007 model. We have had good service out of it and I have no intention of changing it out until it has quit or isn't worth repairing. I will not however replace it with another Goodman, but that's just me and my personal preference.

I have no problem keeping any brand up and running. There are just some brands I won't recommend as a replacement even if the homeowner has had good luck with theirs.
 

southkogs

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 7, 2010
Messages
14,785
I put a Ruud in a couple of years ago, but I've got a split setup. Got one more to replace - soon, it's pretty much dead. BUT, the originals were both Goodmans. I agree with Dave, won't put another Goodman in ... BUT I got 20+ years outta' both of 'em.
 

bigdee

Commander
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
2,665
I put a Ruud in a couple of years ago, but I've got a split setup. Got one more to replace - soon, it's pretty much dead. BUT, the originals were both Goodmans. I agree with Dave, won't put another Goodman in ... BUT I got 20+ years outta' both of 'em.

Nothing wrong with Goodman except the stigma from the old days when they were painted turd brown. Problem is they sell to anyone,so there are alot of fly-by-night installers putting them in. I have a 12 year old (turd brown) Goodman heatpump that has been trouble free. I also have a Green Goodman heatpump, 4 years trouble free. I also have a 2 year old Trane heatpump that has the EXACT same compressor as my newer Goodman. My Trane also has a Chinese rev/valve and fan motors like the Goodman.
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
Nothing wrong with Goodman except the stigma from the old days when they were painted turd brown. Problem is they sell to anyone,so there are alot of fly-by-night installers putting them in. I have a 12 year old (turd brown) Goodman heatpump that has been trouble free. I also have a Green Goodman heatpump, 4 years trouble free. I also have a 2 year old Trane heatpump that has the EXACT same compressor as my newer Goodman. My Trane also has a Chinese rev/valve and fan motors like the Goodman.

5 or 6 years ago, I got an estimate to get a 5T AC unit installed in my existing (gas) furnace system. The bids went from $4000-$7000. All to install a compressor, run a 36ft line-set and connect to an existing evaporator already installed under my furnace and connect to an already present 240VAC connection. All the installers said they could install it in one day.

All the heating and AC units use the essentially same parts. The big difference is the name on the outside!

The problem you mention about Goodman(they sell to anyone), is the best feature . I bought mine on EBAY, they shipped it directly to my door on a pallet, I paid no sales tax and received it in about a week.

The compressor was precharged with R22. All I had to do was connect it all up, silversolder it together, suck it down and turn it on! (I did purge it with Argon though before I connected my vacuum pump) I didn't have to add additional refrigerant.

I paid about $1700 for the entire unit and another $250 or so for the copper tubing line-set, electrical box, etc......... Since I already had power at the compressor site, I only had to put a disconnect box on the wall.

In 1991, I replaced an electric furnace at my previous house (belongs to my Mo'inlaw now) with a 60k BTU Goodman +90 gas furnace. Other than having to replace the hot surface igniter a couple of times in the last 25 years, it still works flawlessly today!

There is NOTHING wrong with Goodman HVAC equipment.

For what it would have cost me to have some HVAC "professional" install a "name brand" furnace back in 91, I could have replaced that Goodman 4 times in those last 25 years!

My next furnace will be a Goodman.
 

bigdee

Commander
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
2,665
5 or 6 years ago, I got an estimate to get a 5T AC unit installed in my existing (gas) furnace system. The bids went from $4000-$7000. All to install a compressor, run a 36ft line-set and connect to an existing evaporator already installed under my furnace and connect to an already present 240VAC connection. All the installers said they could install it in one day.

All the heating and AC units use the essentially same parts. The big difference is the name on the outside!

The problem you mention about Goodman(they sell to anyone), is the best feature . I bought mine on EBAY, they shipped it directly to my door on a pallet, I paid no sales tax and received it in about a week.

The compressor was precharged with R22. All I had to do was connect it all up, silversolder it together, suck it down and turn it on! (I did purge it with Argon though before I connected my vacuum pump) I didn't have to add additional refrigerant.

I paid about $1700 for the entire unit and another $250 or so for the copper tubing line-set, electrical box, etc......... Since I already had power at the compressor site, I only had to put a disconnect box on the wall.

In 1991, I replaced an electric furnace at my previous house (belongs to my Mo'inlaw now) with a 60k BTU Goodman +90 gas furnace. Other than having to replace the hot surface igniter a couple of times in the last 25 years, it still works flawlessly today!

There is NOTHING wrong with Goodman HVAC equipment.

For what it would have cost me to have some HVAC "professional" install a "name brand" furnace back in 91, I could have replaced that Goodman 4 times in those last 25 years!

My next furnace will be a Goodman.

The largest HVAC installer in my area sells Trane,York and Goodman. He tracks all service calls into a database that graphs out warranty claims,customer complaints and callbacks(of his installs only). All 3 are within a narrow band of each other....no standout flags for the goodman.
There are unlicensed jack legs installing Goodmans and that is where the bad reputation is coming from.
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,454
I am in the process(next week) of replacing my 27 year old Rheem furnace, evaporator and compressor. Replacing it with another Rheem. There is a retired HVAC guy near me that is doing it. Sells me the equipment at his cost and charges $50/hour to install. That is pretty unheard of in this area.
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
There are unlicensed jack legs installing Goodmans and that is where the bad reputation is coming from.
yup.

Caveat Emptor

ca?ve?at emp?tor
ˌkavēˌ?t ˈem(p)ˌt?r/
noun
noun: caveat emptor
  • the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
I am in the process(next week) of replacing my 27 year old Rheem furnace, evaporator and compressor. Replacing it with another Rheem. There is a retired HVAC guy near me that is doing it. Sells me the equipment at his cost and charges $50/hour to install. That is pretty unheard of in this area.

Pretty much unheard of in any area!
 
Top