A very common question from homeowners – “Which brand is best?”  HVAC Pros tend to fall into 1 of 2 camps.  Some believe the brands they carry are the best while some believe brand doesn’t matter at all.  I take a hybrid approach.  I do believe brands matter, but the quality of the install matters more.  I’m a Trane guy and it’s fair to say I’m “Trane-washed.”  With that being said, I wouldn’t want a Trane installed by inexperienced or incompetent installers.  I would rather take my chances with a builder grade, budget model from highly skilled installers but it’s not common for top AC companies to sell that line of equipment.

I can find articles for every brand claiming they’re the best.  All of those articles tend to ignore the importance of the company you buy from as well as the quality of installation.  One of the mistakes I see homeowners make when pricing AC equipment is comparing the same equipment from two different companies and not accounting for the company doing the work.  Maybe all Tranes are made equal, but the installation can make one perform better than the other.

As a homeowner, I would invest far more time and energy researching AC companies than I would equipment.  Working with a stable company with good online reviews is a better recipe for success than reviews about equipment