I may need to replace a 5 ton Trane A/C for my house. The unit is about 8 years old, and the fan motor just went out. The technician is going to replace the motor, but will replace the entire unit with an American Standard if the motor goes out in the next 30 days.
Questions:
– Is American Standard any good? I check Consumer Reports but they have nothing on AC units of any size.
– What brands would you recommend?
– What brands would you avoid?
Any input from the group would be deeply appreciated.
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Trane is good, but the best is Carrier. American Standard makes good bathroom fixtures, but I don’t know their A/C. However, if the motor goes out again in 3yrs, it will be because your A/C man has slipped a third-rate motor in. In that case, I would advise replacing your A/C man. The unit has nothing to do with the motor.
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American Standard is the parent company of Trane; the Trane units generally have more bells and whistles ( high pressure, low pressure switches, etc.) that will protect you inn case of problems. Fan motors, whether in the outdoor unit or air handler, tend to go out after awhile; it is important to replace with genuine Trane parts on a Trane unit, Carrier parts on a Carrier unit, etc. The name brand manufacturers use different parts than what are available aftermarket for fans, so if you don’t use genuine parts, your fan motor may fit in the brackets, but may be different internally. If you are using genuine parts, there may be more going on that what you are seeing- check voltage, contactors, capacitors, etc. There is a reason why contractors charge what they do, as it takes a lot of training to understand what works when and where. you may save a few dollars using the aftermarket parts, but you usually run the risk of damaging the compressor, which will
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I was catching up on reading the posts and saw yours. I live in Houston too. We replaced two units with American Standard, one 6 years ago the other 5 years ago. We haven’t had a problem, yet. The tech said last year the coils should probably be cleaned but that’s it. I do get them serviced every year, but we don’t seem to have to the temp very low to stay cool. I’m glad we went with American Standard, plus I seem to remember the cost was much lower than other well known brands.