Goodman Furnace and A/C...Junk or not?

[CHCRandy]

Anyone have any experience with Goodman? I always notice they are cheaper, easy to get parts but have a good warranty.....but yet I don't see that many in homes I work in. Seems like someone told me once they are for mobile homes.....can anyone give me your opinion on them? Are they worth even considering or should I just forget about them? I have to do the new furnace thing before winter next year and kind of looking for thoughts. Thanks

 

[churchmouse]

Cheap for good reason.

Look at Amaristar (Rebadged Train) or even Carrier.

 

[ghitch75]

i have hundreds of Goodmans out there i have very little trouble from them.....they are just as good as any equipment out there when they are installed correctly......you can take a million dollar piece of equipment and install it wrong and it won't be worth $0.50.......

 

[scott delaney]

I put in a lot of Goldman's over the years with minimal problems. I have since moved to Ducane, my suppliers change, and have been having good luck. DUCANE is a 're branded Lennox

 

[K_W]

I put in a lot of Goldman's over the years with minimal problems. I have since moved to Ducane, my suppliers change, and have been having good luck. DUCANE is a 're branded Lennox

Reading this as I sit in a cold house with a broken 6 year old Lennox...

 

[CHCRandy]

I sure am partial to Trane just because that is what I have now and it has been 20 years of no issues until the last year or so. I hate how parts are hard to get unless you know someone who can get them(CM saved me once) or call a repairman.

I like how nice the Goodman's look, I like that they are Made in the USA (I think?) and was founded by a good old hard working HVAC guy in Texas. They claim to have a great warranty, but we all know how warranty's go.

Comparing the cost of a Trane & Goodman....I know a Goodman 80,000 BTU 92% Upflow, single stage with 2.5 ton AC 14 Seer and new coil is about $1800 for them 3 items. Is that considerably less than a Trane or Carrier? I consider considerably less $750-1000 or so.

 

[Indy317]

Had a Goodman furnace installed in my old home around ten years ago (1,300 sq ft.). The next year the outdoor A/C unit went and it was replaced with a Goodman. I had two issues with it, one critical, one possibly normal wear and tear. The critical issue was that the sensor went out on it. I went to a shop and they sold me one for like $7.00. I replaced the bad one at a guess and it worked fine. The new sensor lasted until we sold the home. the wear and tear issue came about due to the buyer using an FHA mortgage to buy the home. Their inspector came out and said the furnace was too noisy and they were concerned about it. I called an HVAC company my realtor suggested and for maybe $200ish the guy replaced a part. He told me that the part that needed replaced could go out tomorrow, or years from now. He said it was a motor noise that indicates the motor is breaking down, but said it is one of those things you can't say when it will finally go. He replaced it and the noise was much more quite (I never really noticed the difference). He said Goodman was fine and that parts were easy to find and reasonably priced.

The simple fact is that greed has taken over every aspect of living in the US. From healthcare to education to utilities to appliances. All one can do is expect to get lucky and have a good unit. My cousin had a sensor on another brand go out the same as mine, in a brand new house. Same for a family friend. Purchased a nice stove and just over a year the heating element went out. Purchased a dryer and nine years later that heating element went out. My folks washer and dryer lasted over two decades. Their furnace and my older furnace lasted 2-3 decades. Stuff today is built to fail if you ask me.

 

[churchmouse]

I used the Goodmans for years as they were the least spendy to put a package together with.
The last 3 I put in were serious pains in my butt. And yes, they were installed correctly.
They appear to be built cheaper and the draft inducer motors seem to get noisy after a year or so. I just stopped using them when the parts started failing in 30 days after they were put in.
Switched up to Carrier and the pricing is close enough not to hurt. The Amaristar line is close to the carrier price wise and they are built to last. Far better than either the Goodman or carrier equivalents.
If you are putting this in a home you intend to stay in I would opt for the Amaristar or the Carrier and of course, this is just my humble opinion.

What ever you get make sure it is sized/installed properly. The new fan drives are delivering more CFM's and return air is important.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I will relay my experience. I own a home with a goodman (the old house that is currently for sale). All of the spec homes in the sub-division have them. My neighbor's compressor went out at 6 years age. They loudly tout their 10 yr warranty, but if the installer didn't register with them when it was installed the warranty is only 5 yrs from date of manufacture. He was SOL.

My evaporator was leaking slowly by 3 years old and leaking rapidly by 4 years. I got it replaced under warranty (thank goodness it was still under 5 years bc the installer didn't register ANY of them). I also lost the start capacitor on the condensor/compressor unit at 9 years, replaced it with a high-quality USA made one and it's still going today.

Other than that I don't have any complaints. T

 

[ghitch75]

I will relay my experience. I own a home with a goodman (the old house that is currently for sale). All of the spec homes in the sub-division have them. My neighbor's compressor went out at 6 years age. They loudly tout their 10 yr warranty, but if the installer didn't register with them when it was installed the warranty is only 5 yrs from date of manufacture. He was SOL.

My evaporator was leaking slowly by 3 years old and leaking rapidly by 4 years. I got it replaced under warranty (thank goodness it was still under 5 years bc the installer didn't register ANY of them). I also lost the start capacitor on the condensor/compressor unit at 9 years, replaced it with a high-quality USA made one and it's still going today.

Other than that I don't have any complaints. T

now the home owner registers the units with Goodman so if the installation company goes out of business you still have your full 10 years....

 

[churchmouse]

now the home owner registers the units with Goodman so if the installation company goes out of business you still have your full 10 years....

I always tell the customer to register.

 

[ChristianPatriot]

I'm not as as some of the HVAC guys around here, but I've never had any brand really give me any problems that weren't, for the most part, maintenance related. I have noticed different manufacturers being more or less service friendly but that's a different matter. They all mostly have Copeland or Emerson or Tecumseh compressors, which are all good. The compressor is the heart.

 

[churchmouse]

I'm not as as some of the HVAC guys around here, but I've never had any brand really give me any problems that weren't, for the most part, maintenance related. I have noticed different manufacturers being more or less service friendly but that's a different matter. They all mostly have Copeland or Emerson or Tecumseh compressors, which are all good. The compressor is the heart.

Goodman had Bristol for a while.

 

[tmschuller]

I have put many goodman products for several years and have not had any issues with any of them. I put a goodman a/c in my own home. They use name brand components and the warranty is the same as others. I used to install all Bryant products but to me their quality went down hill in the last few years. I to had to switch to Ducane products and I don't install full time but still install several a year and so far ducane has been good. I would put it in my own home.

 

[sig-guy]

Want the real skinny on things?

Forget the brand and find the most competent installer.

 

[churchmouse]

Want the real skinny on things?

Forget the brand and find the most competent installer.

True to a point.
Truth is many of these units are a compilation of low bid outsourced parts. Made in God knows where and bought in truck loads.
Every manf. does this now to keep costs in line. Some still build the coils and cabinets. Bend up the tubing in the production process.
You can get a turd from any one.
My stepping away from Goodman was a result of 3 units in a row being poorly built, looked and felt cheap in the cabinets and finished product. Warr. issues were coming up that were no fault of the install. I do not mind having to go back and tweak a system after it is on line. But multiple returns due to the manf. are just not in the cards. Put junk in the box for me to install and i will stop buying the product.

 

[CountryBoy19]

now the home owner registers the units with Goodman so if the installation company goes out of business you still have your full 10 years....

So on a brand new home-build it relies on the first home-owner (or the builder) to know that they need to register it instead of the installer. Which means it likely still won't get done in those cases.

 

[churchmouse]

So on a brand new home-build it relies on the first home-owner (or the builder) to know that they need to register it instead of the installer. Which means it likely still won't get done in those cases.

Of course. That is just a plus for the factory.
It seems there would or should be a file passed on to the new home owner with all of that info in it. All appliances etc as well as the home warr. info.

Well, it should be anyway.

 

[1775usmarine]

I've got a Janitrol that was put in when the house was built in 91. In the 4 yrs of us living here we've had to replace the thermocoupler and had to relight the pilot maybe twice a year. We have a home warranty, but I'm hoping in the next 2 years to replace it with something better.

 

[ghitch75]

So on a brand new home-build it relies on the first home-owner (or the builder) to know that they need to register it instead of the installer. Which means it likely still won't get done in those cases.

when i do new homes for builders the builder lets the new owner register it.......very simple go online or call them with model and serial numbers...