bryant vs york vs tempstar

Hi I am looking to replace the 50 year old furnace and add a/c. 3 good installation companies are within a few hundred dollars. Bryant is the least expensive, followed by york, and then tempstar. I would appreciate any and all input!. All 3 companies did load calcs, etc. All are doing ductwork. is there a clear superior in equipment? Any I should stay away from?
Thanks

 

I find it interesting that your quotes show Bryant to be the least expensive and Tempstar to be the most expensive. I would have guessed the exact opposite. The most important factor is the installation, rather than the brand name. There is no one "clearly superior" brand nor one "clearly inferior brand". If you're confident of the abilities of all three companies, then it comes down to comparing apples to apples. Almost all HVAC companies build their equipment in a good/better/best pricing scenerio. The models range from inexpensive builder's grade units to top of the line units with additional sound deadening and more features, such as two stage furnaces, variable speed blowers, etc. Do a little research into the specific models of the equipment the contractors quoted to see how they compare. You may have been quoted a builder's grade Bryant verses a top of the line Tempstar, for example. See if any one model they quoted you has any desirable features than the others don't. If everything appears to match up closely, then its a matter of flipping a coin, all else being equal. I could give you MY preferences, but other guys on here would have their own preferences, and you'd just be more confused than before.

 

all the units are at least 90%. I beleive the bryant is builder grade, the york and tempstar are alow end non-builder grade. I Will probably never live in the house, I just don't want to buy junk for the sake of a couple hundreed bucks...
I am thinking I will go with the york....
talk me down?
thanks!

 

York's fine too. I put in a new York Affinity gas furnace and A/C in 2007, which replaced older York units I installed in 1991. I've been happy with their performance. My main reason for upgrading from the 1991 equipment was for the A/C; the 1991-vintage furnace was still fine, but I wanted a matched pair, and I had a buyer for my old furnace, so it made sense to do the complete change-out.

It sounds like all the contractors are quoting similar systems and I presume the BTU sizing is about the same, too. None of the brands you're being quoted are "junk" so if there doesn't appear to be any overwhelming difference you can detect in the equipment or installation, I don't think you'll go wrong with any of them.

 

thanks for your input. The company bidding the tempstar seems to be the one that I will go with...and I got him to come dopwn a bit on price I guess its a fairly slow summer..