As some of you already know, I am in the market for a dual-fuel heat
pump to replace an aging gaspack. I have one quote from a Bryant
dealer. I am now talking to another dealer who sells both Bryant and
Trane. Both make the dual-fuel heat pumps like I want. The second
dealer is really trying to steer me toward the Trane over the Bryant,
even though the Trane is 12 SEER vs 13 SEER for the Bryant. The
selling point he is making is that the Trane weighs significantly more
than the Bryant, therefore, Trane uses better materials, etc. I know
both companies make good equipment. What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit? The Trane does have a
longer warranty on the heat exchanger (20 yrs vs 15 yrs.)

Dick

There is only one. In the 4-ton it is the DCY048F-H. These units are
fairly new to the market. There is one made by Carrier/Bryant and one
made by Trane/American Standard. That's it. These are packaged
dual-fuel heat pumps, which consist of a heat pump and a natural gas
furnace in the same box suitable for roof mounting. Much different
from a standard heat pump.

Dick

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 20:27:25 -0800, "geothermal jones"
wrote:

Check out Tranes other heat pumps...
The 13i 14i all the way up to 19i
S/EER rating 13, 14, 16, up to 19...
Costs & sizes slide up the scale as well.
If heating is a big issue check out the HSPFs for eff.
If cooling is the driving issue the S/EERs rule.

good luck
g.o.jones




"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
.. .
As some of you already know, I am in the market for a dual-fuel heat
pump to replace an aging gaspack. I have one quote from a Bryant
dealer. I am now talking to another dealer who sells both Bryant and
Trane. Both make the dual-fuel heat pumps like I want. The second
dealer is really trying to steer me toward the Trane over the Bryant,
even though the Trane is 12 SEER vs 13 SEER for the Bryant. The
selling point he is making is that the Trane weighs significantly more
than the Bryant, therefore, Trane uses better materials, etc. I know
both companies make good equipment. What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit? The Trane does have a
longer warranty on the heat exchanger (20 yrs vs 15 yrs.)

Dick

"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
...
There is only one. In the 4-ton it is the DCY048F-H. These units are
fairly new to the market. There is one made by Carrier/Bryant and one
made by Trane/American Standard. That's it. These are packaged
dual-fuel heat pumps, which consist of a heat pump and a natural gas
furnace in the same box suitable for roof mounting. Much different
from a standard heat pump.


I checked into that dual fuel American STandard, very expensive. The utility
discount would not offset the additional costs in our area.

Rich


Dick

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 20:27:25 -0800, "geothermal jones"
wrote:

Check out Tranes other heat pumps...
The 13i 14i all the way up to 19i
S/EER rating 13, 14, 16, up to 19...
Costs & sizes slide up the scale as well.
If heating is a big issue check out the HSPFs for eff.
If cooling is the driving issue the S/EERs rule.

good luck
g.o.jones




"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
. ..
As some of you already know, I am in the market for a dual-fuel heat
pump to replace an aging gaspack. I have one quote from a Bryant
dealer. I am now talking to another dealer who sells both Bryant and
Trane. Both make the dual-fuel heat pumps like I want. The second
dealer is really trying to steer me toward the Trane over the Bryant,
even though the Trane is 12 SEER vs 13 SEER for the Bryant. The
selling point he is making is that the Trane weighs significantly more
than the Bryant, therefore, Trane uses better materials, etc. I know
both companies make good equipment. What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit? The Trane does have a
longer warranty on the heat exchanger (20 yrs vs 15 yrs.)

Dick

Check out Tranes other heat pumps...
The 13i 14i all the way up to 19i
S/EER rating 13, 14, 16, up to 19...
Costs & sizes slide up the scale as well.
If heating is a big issue check out the HSPFs for eff.
If cooling is the driving issue the S/EERs rule.

good luck
g.o.jones




"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
...
As some of you already know, I am in the market for a dual-fuel heat
pump to replace an aging gaspack. I have one quote from a Bryant
dealer. I am now talking to another dealer who sells both Bryant and
Trane. Both make the dual-fuel heat pumps like I want. The second
dealer is really trying to steer me toward the Trane over the Bryant,
even though the Trane is 12 SEER vs 13 SEER for the Bryant. The
selling point he is making is that the Trane weighs significantly more
than the Bryant, therefore, Trane uses better materials, etc. I know
both companies make good equipment. What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit? The Trane does have a
longer warranty on the heat exchanger (20 yrs vs 15 yrs.)

Dick

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 22:59:45 -0500, "Geoman" wrote:


"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message
.. .
There is only one. In the 4-ton it is the DCY048F-H. These units are
fairly new to the market. There is one made by Carrier/Bryant and one
made by Trane/American Standard. That's it. These are packaged
dual-fuel heat pumps, which consist of a heat pump and a natural gas
furnace in the same box suitable for roof mounting. Much different
from a standard heat pump.


I checked into that dual fuel American STandard, very expensive. The utility
discount would not offset the additional costs in our area.

Rich

I suppose it depends a lot on what your rates are for electricity and
natural gas. Gas has gone up significantly in the past year. I am
trying to shift as much heating cost to electricity as I can through
the use of a heat pump most of the time. I have had 3 heat pumps with
heat strips for the backup, and they are not cost effective where it
gets cold in the winter. I was told by the dealers that the cost of
the dual-fuel unit is about 20% more than a standard heat pump/gas
furnace in a gaspack. That's about $1,000. Wouldn't take long to
make that up in utility cost savings. That's assuming of course that
I have to replace the current gaspack anyway, so I can only look at
the difference in cost between a gas pack and a dual-fuel heat pump.

Dick

Dick wrote:
What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit?

Consumer Reports rates Trane / AS ahead of Carrier / Bryant. That (and
the longer warranty) would be enough to swing me to Trane.

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...3C%3East_id=33
3135

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:44:49 GMT, "Travis Jordan"
wrote:

Dick wrote:
What recommendations can you
folks give me assuming I am going to go with the second dealer anyway,
and it's just a matter of choosing which unit?

Consumer Reports rates Trane / AS ahead of Carrier / Bryant. That (and
the longer warranty) would be enough to swing me to Trane.

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...3C%3East_id=33
3135


Thanks. I wonder if that would hold true with heat pumps as well.

Dick