question about Amana

[noryn]

First of all I want to thank you guys for providing support for no other reason than to help people. I have looked back several pages and used the search function but havent been able to find very much about Amana heat pumps.

I have gotten 4 estimates and the Amana sounded best. It was around 4600 for 12.5 seer whereas carrier was approx 1000 more for a 10 seer and one company even wanted 12000 for a trane.

Anyway the Amana comes with a 10 year parts and labor warranty, the carrier with a 1 year labor and 5 year parts. I have heard horrible things about Janitrol and was hoping if I chose the Amana it would be acceptably reliable.

Any comments on Amana? I would be getting the dist 2 ton heat pump.

Again your help is very much appreicated.

[Ed Imeduc]

Well you have 3 bid like we say all the time. You dont say where you are so its hard to say on the seer. They did run a heatloss and AC load on the home ?Amana units not bad. But Rheem and trane are also good . You said heat pump so that $12,000 for a trane is not right. if you check Train has a X L16i it has a seer of 17.00 and a HSPF on the heat pump of a 10.55 That also has the 10 year warranty on it for all of it
It all works out to what every the guy is selling that has been there for a long long is a good unit .


ED ;)

[noryn]

Thanks for the fast reply. Yes I have had a heat loss and load ran on the home and it seems what I had was appropriate. I have a 2 story home with about 1100-1200 feet on each level and have a separate 2 ton unit for each story. I currently have Heil however one unit is not working and the upstairs unit only works in heat mode. Not sure of their seer however they were installed in 1988.

To go in more detail, I live in WV near the OH and KY border. Now here is the tricky part and actually I have made a man mad at me this morning saying my other quotes could not be accurate. He was charging 12,000 dollars for 2 new Trane units (inside and out) along with a 10 year parts/labor warranty. I had also called Sears and the gentleman that I talked to asked me if he was also installing duct work because that was a bit high. When I said, "no, he is only replacing the inside and out units" he was shocked and said well we would probably only charge you 5500-6,000 for 2 kenmore units. I also called around and was quoted around 4500 for 2 Amana which would be seer 12.5 and would come with 10 years parts and labor warranty. I was shocked at this price and said so around 9,000 for both? And he said no the 4500 would be for both systems.

So then I called 2 other dealers and they quoted me in the 5500 range for Carrier which had a 5 year parts and 1 year labor warranty.

The Amana seemed like a good value I just didnt want to buy a system that had a horrible record even though the best system can break down or be installed incorrectly.

Again thanks a million for the fast reply.

[mattison]

I thought those 1st bids were for one system. Those lower prices seem a little to low for 2 whole systems. They gave you these prices over the phone??

[noryn]

No they are for both systems. I have specifically asked them if that price included both and they assured me it did. Also includes air handlers, installation and non programmable thermostats.

I have had 3 people come to my home and actually am waiting on 1 more to come just to make sure I am getting the best deal. Most of those prices were over the phone however this is what i stated to them, "I know you have to look at my house to give me an exact estimate however is there any way you can give me a rough idea of what they will cost?" Each time they have told me and 2 of the 3 that came was right on the dot pretty much. The 3rd person didnt give me a quote. Basically I had 1 person from the 12,000 quote come here and literally take 4 hours to do everything however had to end up calling his boss because he was unsure of things. He was a comfort expert and by no means I am not complaining about the time he took although he seemed to do little at times while inspecting and was a obvious salesperson. He said things like now dont you want to go ahead and buy from us so you dont have to go through this again?

Also said some things about how the installation was done but then the owner came and said, "no that is fine the way it is done." I just really felt the comfort expert, the company, and wholesaler were going to make a huge profit from me with that 12,000 quote. I dont know how to explain it, I just got that used car salesman feeling from him.

Anyway from the multitude of quotes I got 5500 was pretty much the average. And I do appreciate your time, I am just trying to make a wise decision and have been unable to find good review sites for heat pumps on the net like consumer reports.

[noryn]

Wow I am really sorry but I did omit a very important fact--these are going to be replacement units ie the duct work and wiring will remain the same, the air handler and outdoor unit will the only thing replaced.

[Ed Imeduc]

My company sells Trane I can not see how they can come up with that $12k for 2- 2 ton heat pumps to just replace the old units in and out. boy wish I could get that for units

ED :wall:

[noryn]

I have had a few people tell me that today Ed. I am actually becoming angry when I think about it as it appears more and more they were trying to rip me off. I dont know if they thought where my bottom unit quit working that I may be desperate or what. To get the 12,000 price they also "knocked 500.00 off of it." It also was not top of the line either--they told me it was 12 Seer.

95 percent sure I am going to go with the Amana, seems like a great price with a 10 year warranty just in case something does go wrong.

[mattison]

Ok, It's all clear now. I agree 12g for 2 replacements is out of line. If it's straight change outs with no major snags then 5g sounds in the ballpark. Amana is a decent unit.

[scottg]

Noryn
I believe that Amana is now owned by Goodman ie... Janitrol
They use the same indood units the outdoor units are different.