Need advice

Is a trane best of the best in central a/c units

No. American Standard bought Trane and took their good furnace and air conditioner away and they was forced to start from scratch. For the money, you cannot bet a Nordyne product. Now if you want a great performing system and got major bucks, go with a high velocity system like Unico. Both systems will mix and match some too.

What do u know about a broan 4ton 13 seer never heard of them in the south

Is broan a good unit 4ton 13 seer

Trane is owned by Ingersoll Rand. I don’t think there is an “American Standard” anymore. I could be wrong. The only reason I know Ingersoll Rand bought them is I did the CEO of Ingersol Rands house.

He bought a 5 million dollar house with 5 brand new Carrier AC units and the day he bought the house he ripped out the AC systems and had them crushed and installed new Trane units.

Besides the CEO being a product of the product, Carrier turned into a piece of Crap several years ago…

American Standard is alive and well. From all of the research that I’ve done with various brands, it all boils down to how good the installer is. The major brands all seem competitive with each other now so the installer is going to be the key.

Never heard of Broan air conditioning before.

Whatever you do is stay away from any Goodman product. These units seem like the cause the most trouble.

The old ones anyway…

Trane follows up with “unquestioned” warranty issues better than most (around here anyway). The Voyager is made here…

I have seen many parts replaced and install paid for by Trane after warranty.
Try that with an old Junk-a-trol…

One thing I never like is proprietary parts.
If you can’t run it from parts on anyone’s service truck, it may take too long to get stuff fixed and may no longer be stocked…

On February 1, 2007, American Standard Cos. announced it would break up its three divisions. The plan included the sale of its kitchen and bath division and spin off WABCO, American Standard’s vehicle controls division, while retaining The Trane Company…[1]](American Standard Companies - Wikipedia)
WABCO began trading as an independent company on August 1, 2007. The new stock symbol is WBC on the New York Stock Exchange.[2]](American Standard Companies - Wikipedia)
On October 31, 2007 American Standard Cos. announced it had completed the sale of the kitchen and bath division to Bain Capital Partners, LLC. This announcement includes the sale of the American Standard name to Bain while American Standard retains the rights to use the “American Standard” name for air conditioning products. American Standard changed its name to Trane on November 28, 2007.[3]](American Standard Companies - Wikipedia)

On December 17, 2007, Trane announced it had agreed to be acquired by Ireland-based Ingersoll Rand in a cash and stock transaction.[6]](Trane - Wikipedia)[7]](Trane - Wikipedia)[8]](Trane - Wikipedia)[9]](Trane - Wikipedia) The sale was completed on June 5, 2008.[10]](Trane - Wikipedia)[11]](Trane - Wikipedia)

It is amazing how things change. I remember when Trane bought out the G.E. heating and cooling division. I still run across old G.E units still running.

Sounds like you are considering or getting quotes for installing central AC in your house. Except for really budget equipment (e.g. Goodman), a lot of them are of similar quality from my experience. Even the Goodman equipment is not that bad. Some of the higher priced equipment might be a little better, but I think you are paying mostly for the brand name.

I agree with others that the most important factor is the quality of the installation. Stick with a major brand name, through out the low-ball prices, and pick an installer you feel will give you a quality installation.

The following links have some info on picking a contractor and the major brands:

http://www.airconditioning-and-heating.com/
http://www.airconditioning-and-heating.com/cost-comparison.php

From having layed out and worked on many installs with a family mechanical business I can tell you he is giving you good advice … :wink: