Home > Residential HVAC > 2015 Guide to High-Efficiency Air Conditioning 2015 Guide to High-Efficiency Air Conditioning We present this easy-to-use annual guide to give HVAC contractors a look at the year's newest models from the leading brands. OUR ANNUAL AIR CONDITIONING GUIDE IS HERE. We offer this guide each year to give HVAC contractors an easy-to-use comparison of the newest models by the leading brands. This year, we've grouped mini-splits together, for an easy look at this growing category. 2015 GUIDE TO HIGH-EFFICIENCY ACConsumer Reports tested the top brands of heating and air conditioning systems for durability and gives you some best buys.LISA GONZALES HAS A CONSUMER REPORTS TEST ON WHICH SYSTEMS WILL HOLD UP FOR YEARS TO COME. LISA: WHEN THE HOT WEATHER SETS IN, PEOPLE GET DESPERATE. WE GET A PANICS PHONE CALL AND HAVE TO RUN OUT. LISA: THE KEY TO HAVING YOUR AIR CONDITIONING THERE IS GETTING OF IT. CONSUME AMERICAN STANDARD IS MORE RELIABLE THAN OTHER BRANDS.

CONSUMER REPORTS ESTIMATES 30% YEARS. >> A LOT OF THINGS CAN AFFECT HOW WELL THINGS WORK. EVEN THE SIZE OF THE HOUSE. CHOOSING A MORE DEPENDABLE BRAND WILL BOOST YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A SYSTEM THAT LAST. >> THERE IS POSSIBILITY IS ON YOU TO -- RESPONSIBILITY IS ON YOU, TOO. CHECK AND CLEAN FILTERS MONTHLY. CHECK FOR BLOCKAGES IN THE DRAINPIPES. Trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others. As consumers seek the products to meet their needs, fundamental to the search process is their trust in brands.  Those companies and products that are seen as trustworthy are sought for purchase among consumers.  Given the importance of consumer trust, companies and brand managers have become much more focused on understanding how to achieve trust, as well as how to mitigate loosing trust.  So, the question is – which brands are trusted the most by consumers? The Lifestory Research America’s Most Trusted Study, in its fourth year, awards companies that provide services or products to customers in their home.

Brands currently awarded the designation of America’s Most Trusted include: home builders, active adult resort home builders, cabinets, faucets, electric utilities, HVAC systems, kitchen appliance brands, laundry appliance brands, paint, and residential realtor organizations. For the second consecutive year, Trane ranks highest in trust among Heating and Air Conditioning System Brands according to Lifestory Research 2016 America’s Most Trusted Study™. The study, based on 17,878 national consumer opinions, tracks how trust impacts consumers’ evaluations of HVAC brands. Consumer opinions are collected over the course of the prior 12 months across the United States. To qualify to participate in the study, participants must have indicated that they were aware of specific brands. Participants completed several questions including motivational drivers, demographic characteristics, and brand equity measures.  The brand measures include measures of brand awareness, quality, current brand in home, and trust.

In the Lifestory Research America’s Most Trusted Study, consumers are asked about their trust in home based brands. Trust is measured through the Lifestory Research Net Trust Quotient Score in which every brand can be divided into three categories: “advocates,” a customer who feels a significant trust toward the brand; “neutrals,” those who trust a specific brand, but do not see a specific brand as standing on the shoulders of other brands in regards to trust; cost of ac leak repairand “antagonists,” who are skeptics with little, if any, trust in a specific brand.indoor ac unit dimensions Using this approach noted above, Lifestory Research calculated T scores for the brands in the study.  why does my ac unit freeze overA new feature of this years study is that all brands, across all categories, the T scores were based on all brands in the study. 

An index score of 100 is average for all home brands included in the study.  In the following table is the rank order of the brands.  The rankings are based on the Net Trust Index Quotient Score. The brands included in the ranking list are based upon those brands most recognized by consumers. Some brands included in the study are not represented in the list since they did not generate a brand awareness score high enough to be included. Charts and graphs must be accompanied by a statement identifying Lifestory Research as the publisher and the Lifestory Research 2016 America’s Most Trusted™ Study as the source. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or Lifestory Research survey results without the express prior written consent of Lifestory Research. Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., Lifestory Research is a trusted national independent market research firm focused on consumers and their homes. We take a consumer-centered approach to helping developers, home builders, financial institutions, product manufacturers, utilities, and organizations serving customers in their homes.

We provide timely analysis that allows our clients to make informed decisions. Our research is backed by in-depth consumer and market intelligence that drives confident business decisions. About America’s Most Trusted™ Award America’s Most Trusted™ is a designation awarded to companies that provide services or products to customers in their home. The award was first established in 2012 by Lifestory Research, a national consumer research firm. Companies and categories currently awarded the designation of America’s Most Trusted™ include: home builders, active adult resort home builders, cabinets, faucets, electric utilities, HVAC systems, kitchen appliance brands, laundry appliance brands, paint, and residential realtor organizations.  Awards are based upon the collection and evaluation of consumer surveys administered over the course of a 12 month time period.Are The Problems With Goodman Air Conditioners As Bad As Their Ratings Would Indicate? When Consumer Reports released their latest rankings of the most reliable air conditioner brands, only York air conditioners were rated lower than the Goodman brand.

How is it that Goodman air conditioners, the most commonly installed brand in the U.S., can have such a terrible rating in terms of reliability? Is the quality of Goodman air conditioning units really that bad, or is there more to this story? Most people are surprised to learn that pretty much all the top air conditioner brands rely on the same manufacturers to supply the major components such as compressors, and motors for their equipment. For example, you’ll find Copeland compressors in all the top brands of air conditioners. Similarly, all the top brands use fan motors from either AO Smith or GE. So if Goodman air conditioners are built using the same components as other, more reliable brands, there has to be some other reason Goodman ac units fair so poorly in Consumer Reports reliability rankings, right? In fact, there are other factors besides the quality of the equipment affecting Goodman’s rankings. The top rated air conditioner brands in Consumer Reports’ annual rankings all have stringent requirements for the companies and technicians who can purchase and install their equipment.

Goodman has no restrictions on who can buy and install their air conditioners. While other brands will only allow licensed contractors to buy their ac units, and require ongoing training for the technicians who install them, anybody can buy and install a Goodman unit - even if they aren’t licensed and have absolutely no training. This is the key ingredient in the recipe for disaster that has resulted in Goodman air conditioners developing such a bad reputation for reliability problems. Several contractors who have weighed in on this subject advise homeowners to be wary of any contractor who only offers Goodman air conditioners, and who isn’t also an authorized dealer for one of the top rated air conditioner brands. That’s probably pretty good advice. Even contractors who don’t install Goodman equipment, if asked for their honest opinion, will tell you that most of the problems they see with Goodman ac units can be attributed to a subpar installation. In my experience, most reputable heating and air contractors are going to be authorized to install at least one of the other brands that requires licensing and training for their dealers, even if they do offer Goodman equipment for homeowners who request it.