Plano Trane Air Conditioning and Heating dealer explains how to choose
Plano Trane Air Conditioning and Heating dealer Steve Lauten, President of Total Air & Heat Co., explains how to choose an Air Conditioning and Heating system.
This is a series of articles I am writing that covers issues that impacts your health and comfort in your home or office. In this article I will cover some important aspects of how to purchase a new air conditioning or heating system.
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I would like to begin by asking you these questions:
- Have you ever bought a new air conditioning or heating system?
- Was it to replace an existing system or on a new home?
These questions are extremely important, and your answers are too! Based on my experience, in excess of 80% of the people I have as customers have never purchased a replacement system. In addition less than 30% have purchased a new air conditioning system as part of a new home. Virtually all of them agree that because they have never bought a new system…..the natural instinct is to start shopping for them. Unfortunately most home owners don’t know where to begin, nor do they have any specifications on which system to buy. And most homeowners do not know how to ask the most important question which is… which contractor to choose?
So where do you begin?
Most manufacturers have dealer locators on their websites. As an authorized Trane and Lennox dealer; Total Air & Heat Co. is listed on their dealer locators. Being listed on a manufacturer’s website is a good starting point. However it won’t help you pick the Best contractor for the job. This article will specifically cover how to pick an air conditioning and heating system along with the right contractor who is focused making sure whatever system you choose; that it will operate at peak efficiency, peak comfort, peak longevity, and provide you with the peace of mind that you deserve .
Let’s try to break down the decision making process into definable phases.
Who makes the best equipment?
My answer is your equipment will only work as well as the contractor who installed it! You can buy the best air conditioning and heating system made and if not installed properly it will give you problems. On the flip side you can buy entry level products from a quality manufacturer and if it is installed properly by a quality a/c contractor it will give you many years of reliable service and can save you thousands of dollars in reduced utility costs. With all of that said, my favorite 2 brands of air conditioning and heating equipment is Trane, and Lennox is right behind it. I also feel Carrier is a good brand, but it I have found it is not practical to support more than 2 product lines effectively. Trane residential is based in Tyler, TX and Lennox world headquarters is based in Richardson, TX which makes the decision fairly easy for us since we are based in Plano, TX. Since Total Air & Heat co. has been in business since 1957 we have found that Trane, Lennox, and Carrier all make excellent products.
Trane: Still my favorite overall brand of equipment. Strong attributes include:
Trane outdoor units:
- Trane Climatuff compressor: most dependable compressor made with the lowest overall failure rate that we have ever experienced. North Texas will stress out an air conditioner to it max ability and more! I like the fact that Trane designs and makes compressors for each unit, choosing the one that best serves the units requirements.
Rock solid cabinet on their outdoor units-In North Texas we experience a lot of severe weather, including hail storms. Condenser coils on outdoor units are very vulnerable to hail damage unless they are protected by some type of louvered panel. At this time All Trane outdoor unit come standard with louvered panels. DuraTuff base-is a composite material to insure the bottom of the unit won’t rust, and drains water properly. Weatherguard II top is standard on all Trane XL units and is designed to reduce noise levels, and discharge the air horizontally from the unit instead of vertically, in addition this prevents rain water, leaves, and other debris from falling into the unit from the top. The only downside of the Weatherguard II top design is locating additional units too close can cause air to re-circulate. This is an issue with all a/c units, but horizontally discharged air from any a/c unit into another can cause issues. The easy fix is to separate each unit from adjacent units by approximately 5’.
- Spine Fin Coil: In my opinion the best material for a residential installation. Since the tubing and fins are both aluminum there is no issues with dissimilar materials causing degrading. In addition there are far fewer welds to leak. You may hear a non Trane say that aluminum coils leak, simply not true. Copper condenser coils leak far more often than Trane aluminum coils, in fact I can’t remember that last time we had to replace a Trane unit because of a condenser coil refrigerant leak.
- XL20i-dual compressor unit. In my opinion the best overall unit on the market. The XL20i uses 2 compressors, 1 for sized for mild days, and 1 sized for hot days giving you 2 stages of cooling. In the North, TX area we typically size an a/c system based on an outdoor temperature of 100 degrees. That means the system is over sized in excess of 90% of the time! Think about it, how many hours of any given day is it 100 degrees or more? It would be nice to have an a/c system that has the ability to be properly sized the majority of the time and the XL20i accomplishes this goal better than any of the other major a/c manufacturers. The smaller compressor runs the majority of the time, and on the hottest part of the day the small compressor shuts off and the big compressor runs. This also allows a well balanced wear and tear on both compressors.
- XL16i: This unit is also a 2 stage cooling unit, but instead of 2 compressors it uses a 2 stage compressor. The main difference on this unit when compared to the XL20i is 1st stage cooling is about 70% capacity and 2nd stage cooling is 100% capacity. This unit is a great choice if your budget does not allow a 20 SEER unit. This unit has 1 compressor using a 2-stage scroll compressor.
About the author: Steve Lauten, a Plano Trane Air Conditioning and Heating dealer, is President of Total Air & Heat Co. located in Plano, TX. Steve can be reached at 972-881-0020 or by email at sales@totalair.com. Total Air & Heat Co. has been serving the North Dallas/Collin County area since 1957 and has been voted the “Best Heat and Air Contractor in Collin County” 14 times by the Readers of Star community Newspapers.