Goodman furnace - any good?

[Andrew Thuswaldner]

I have to make a decision about putting a new furnace into a house that I am renting out. Can anyone give me advice about Goodman furnaces? My contractor is recommending this furnace as a good unit for a rental.
thanks, Andrew

[Randy Denby]

I've been installing units for 30+ years. Goodman/ Janitrol/ GMC are considered the bottom of the barrel. Electronic boards are replaced in one of my customers units on average every other year.The limit switch above the heat exchanger was made out of plastic up until last year....it was replaced yearly....as it warped into the heat exchanger ? :rolleyes:
I went on the Parade of Homes last year and was amazed at all the high end homes having these units.
If you need a cheap quick fix, then they will do. Just dont expect good service in the long run.

[Andrew Thuswaldner]

Randy,
Thanks for the feedback. What would you recommend?

[Terre Hooks]

Goodman is junk. Junk-i-trol.



I'd reccomend Trane or Lennox. Yep, they are going to be the most expensive. But the phrase "you get what you pay for" has never been more true in the world of HVAC equipment.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My house is 40 years old. I replaced the original furnace and a/c about 9 years ago with another Lennox. Expensive....yeah.......Reliable....I'm satisfied. I think I'd buy one of the quality brand and models. JMHO.

[Randy Denby]

Andrew, there are several units that are good. I am partial to Heil in the moderate priced units. I've had less warranty work on these than most ...even of the more recognizable brands. Heil is actually made by Carrier and has basically the same inner workings of brand parts. My wife works for Carrier, so I am somewhat biased :). But I am a Commercial Trane Dealer (over 20 tons) and sell Carrier/ Bryant /Payne/ Heil for most residential. I really like the Ruud / Rheem units too...talking about quiet!!! I installed one in my friends mothers house last year. I thought something was wrong during startup as I was standing next to it and didnt realize it was running :) (furnace)
One thing to think about, or rather ask about...is if there is parts support for the equipment in your area. Trane is also made in Tyler here, but there is no dealer /wholesaler support for 100 miles (Dallas)...so compressors,control boards,specialized OEM parts, etc. are usually 3-4 days away, instead of today!. I know you are asking about furnaces, but thought I'd add that in. Good luck !

[Al Willits]

Seems Lennox has to many parts that are specific to Lennox for me, personally my next furnace will be a Rheem/Ruud, same furnace btw, same as Carrier/Bryant/Payne, lots of furnaces, not quite so many manufactur's...

Asking which furnace is kinda like going to a car show and asking for best car..but I'd look for warranty length and what it covers, labor included, also which has a dealer that will actually show up in a reasonable time, parts availability and of course price.

Also furnaces now are not the same as the older models, multiple stage burners, DC controlled motors, thermostats that do everything but turn on the lights and a host of new features are availible....all at a cost.

And all need repairs, todays furnace will not make it 20 years before you need to change a thermocouple or blower motor, like the old ones would.
I'd expect to see your friendly repair man from time to time...

fwiw the furnace I'll be looking at will have a multi stage burner and DC controlled motor, add a basic programmable thermostat from White Rogers and that'll probably be it.

I also wouldn't get to picky about percentages of efficiency, anything in the 90% range is fine, remember they get these numbers in a best case scenario, so you may or may not get the rated efficiency.
Probably not..:)
Also remember improper installation can cause major problems no matter what furnace you get, dealer skill is important.

Either way, talk to both dealers and homeowners and find a dealer/furnace that looks good to you, good luck.

Al

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

When mi old oil fired unit blew up in '96 I replaced it with a Wiel Mclain. They specced a blower on it that got gunked up really easily so I replaced that with a Becket and haven't had any other problems.
I hear Weil fixed the dirty blower issues since then.

[Gary Keedwell]

In my last house I put in a Buderous( spel) It is German made and it was great. It is a water based system that blows controled- temp. air off of pipes instead of direct from burner.

Gary

[Larry James]

I have to make a decision about putting a new furnace into a house that I am renting out. Can anyone give me advice about Goodman furnaces? My contractor is recommending this furnace as a good unit for a rental.
thanks, Andrew


Andrew,

I installed a Goodman GMH95 furnace in my house last summer. I worked in the HVAC field for many years and taught HVAC full time for 20 years before I retired. Can I tell you which furnace is best? No.

My son (3rd generation in HVAC) works for a large HVAC wholesaler selling the Goodman line. He told me that they have sold thousands of Goodmen furnace and they have had some problems, as have all the manufactures. In my years of experience Lennox, Trane, Rheem, ect. all have had problems at one time or another. Also, cost does not always indicate quality.

According to my son, the Goodman model I have has had a control module problem. The faulty module has a self diagnostics feature that signals a problem that does not exist and shuts the furnace down - trouble-shooters nightmare. This is not a problem in the newer models. Do I believe that? Uh, I have a spare module - you just never know.

Assume at some point in the life of the furnace you will have a problem. If you are having a contractor installing the furnace, be sure he is licensed, has a good history of servicing what he sells and stocks service parts. A good contractor will have a rational for the furnace Btu rating he suggests - ask questions. Go to manufactures web sites check and compare warranties and features.

Larry

[Chris Padilla]

I had a Gibson installed a couple years ago. It just dawned on me that I hadn't changed the filter on it so I went to check it out. Guess what?! There is no filter on it that I can find!! I guess I need to call my installer and ask him a nicer version of WTF? :)

[Al Willits]

Chris, might want to have them clean the blower squirrel cage, and A coil if you have A/C hooked up to it, both will be dirty I bet.

Al

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks, Al...will do.

[Mark Taylor]

Andrew,
I installed a new Trane this summer; it replaced a 35 year-old Lennox.
If you are looking for a new blower (as opposed to a boiler) you may save
in the long run with something better than a Goodman; they really do have
a high repair rate. Your renters may not call as often with problems.
I took a week's leave in '85 to install a Raypak boiler in my parent's
house. It was fairly efficient at the time, but at 400k BTU is now so costly
that my father really needs to upgrade. At age 87, he likes to keep the house at 80F and this is sucking money up the chimney.

[Chris Padilla]

Andrew,
I installed a new Trane this summer; it replaced a 35 year-old Lennox.
If you are looking for a new blower (as opposed to a boiler) you may save
in the long run with something better than a Goodman; they really do have
a high repair rate. Your renters may not call as often with problems.
I took a week's leave in '85 to install a Raypak boiler in my parent's
house. It was fairly efficient at the time, but at 400k BTU is now so costly
that my father really needs to upgrade. At age 87, he likes to keep the house at 80F and this is sucking money up the chimney.

Mark, you might dig into upgrading the insulation in his house if that hasn't been addressed.

[John Viercinski]

I was planning on using a Goodman on a current vacation home renovation and the contractor I was going to use told me he wouldn't work with a Goodman. He recommended Arcoair or Comfortmaker... I decided to do the job myself and I had issues finding someone to sell me a furnace other than Goodman. You can get a Goodman anywhere, but the better units are sold at discriminating distributers. I ended up paying around $1200 for a 75k comfortmaker with 92% efficiency rating, which was double the price for an arcoair I could've gotten from a distributer if I was a contractor.

[Terre Hooks]

I was planning on using a Goodman on a current vacation home renovation and the contractor I was going to use told me he wouldn't work with a Goodman. He recommended Arcoair or Comfortmaker... I decided to do the job myself and I had issues finding someone to sell me a furnace other than Goodman. You can get a Goodman anywhere, but the better units are sold at discriminating distributers. I ended up paying around $1200 for a 75k comfortmaker with 92% efficiency rating, which was double the price for an arcoair I could've gotten from a distributer if I was a contractor.



Who are you going to call when it breaks down?