Looking at new furnaces again and Carrier dealer is recommending Infinity series. So my first question is generally whether these have a good track record. One comment I see online is that there is no combustion chamber cover other than the removable access door. Seems odd and inadequate to me, particularly since my Lennox Pulse has a separate, very heavy metal combustion chamber inside the access area.

My impression is that this is the same design as the Trane, basically, and thus probably the current way they make these things?? Is this just a cheaper and more profitable way the companies have found to manufacture these things, like everything nowadays, that gets them past the industry and govt standards, but is still just tending toward junky and unsafe?

What would be a better quality equivalent in the Trane or other lines? And are there other brands that would be as good or better? If possible to find a totally separate combustion chamber, like the Pulse, I would probably prefer that.

All input greatly appreciated.

 

You mention Lennox Pulse and junky and unsafe in the same paragraph.
The Lennox Pulse furnaces had major heat exchanger problems.
They had a metal cover because the burner was like a sealed combustion engine which was the reason for the loud operation.

Almost every gas furnace has an open burning changer.
Many of the high efficiency units are more sealed.

 

The only furnace manufacturer that still uses a sealed burner box is lennox, all others use the front cover to make the seal.

All gas furnaces sold today have numerous safety cutoffs and not having the sealed burner box doesn't make a furnace dangerous.

Don't shop by brand/appliance - what matters is the quality of the contractor and how good of a fit the furnace is for the house. It's not like buying a fridge.