Hi all, I went up to my cabin this past week and at some point the furnace shut off for an extended period of time. Luckily I drain everything as a precaution even though I keep it heated but must have missed the master bedroom shower and had two burst pipes to fix. The HVAC heated garage is where the well pump and pressure tank are located but doesn't get drained between winter uses however the back up heating system saved the day in there. The garage got down to 32.7 degrees and the house thermometer that records the low temp just showed error. Minimal damage overall luckily but i've been on borrowed time with the 25 year old furnace and am taking this as the kick in the butt I need to replace it.
There is one HVAC/Plumbing guy there that has done plumbing and ducting work for me that is responsive. In northern MN where the cabin is, service people don't operate like they do in the city so finding someone that does what they say is a find.
He sells two brands of furnaces being Carrier and Goodman. He has so far only quoted Carrier's for me and never mentioned selling Goodman until I asked what else he sells. His initial quotes were the most expensive and second most expensive Carrier they sell. The High Efficiency, two stage ECM Carriers are really expensive and more than I want to spend. When he emailed me that they also sold Goodman after I had to ask, he followed up that he would steer me toward Carrier but no reason why. A bit of internet research today on Goodman (since I haven't gotten his Goodman Quotes yet) seems to indicate Goodman offers furnaces with the same or similar features but at a fraction of the price as the Carrier. In addition, the Goodman reviews on review sites far and away exceed those of the Carrier brand. a Furnace rating site that accumulate user reviews rate the Goodman brand at #9 out of over 100 and Carrier is #27. It seems the best analgy I can come up with is the Carrier is the Mercedes and the Goodman is the Chevy except they look the same to me. I don't need a Mercedes and am just fine with a Chevy. I really haven't gotten any guidance from the HVAC guy even when I ask him directly as opposed to emails. Does anybody have any advice on this situation or experience with Carrier or Goodman? The Goodmans equivalent to the Carrier seems to be about 50% of the price where I can actually locate published pricing but I can only assume there is no free lunch??
There is one HVAC/Plumbing guy there that has done plumbing and ducting work for me that is responsive. In northern MN where the cabin is, service people don't operate like they do in the city so finding someone that does what they say is a find.
He sells two brands of furnaces being Carrier and Goodman. He has so far only quoted Carrier's for me and never mentioned selling Goodman until I asked what else he sells. His initial quotes were the most expensive and second most expensive Carrier they sell. The High Efficiency, two stage ECM Carriers are really expensive and more than I want to spend. When he emailed me that they also sold Goodman after I had to ask, he followed up that he would steer me toward Carrier but no reason why. A bit of internet research today on Goodman (since I haven't gotten his Goodman Quotes yet) seems to indicate Goodman offers furnaces with the same or similar features but at a fraction of the price as the Carrier. In addition, the Goodman reviews on review sites far and away exceed those of the Carrier brand. a Furnace rating site that accumulate user reviews rate the Goodman brand at #9 out of over 100 and Carrier is #27. It seems the best analgy I can come up with is the Carrier is the Mercedes and the Goodman is the Chevy except they look the same to me. I don't need a Mercedes and am just fine with a Chevy. I really haven't gotten any guidance from the HVAC guy even when I ask him directly as opposed to emails. Does anybody have any advice on this situation or experience with Carrier or Goodman? The Goodmans equivalent to the Carrier seems to be about 50% of the price where I can actually locate published pricing but I can only assume there is no free lunch??