This is a really tough question to answer and I hope you hear me through here because I believe I have some insight into the dilemma of buying a heat pump.
The correct and more complete question should be: What contractor should I hire to install a Goodman heat pump? Since most heat pump problems are installation related it becomes more important to know the contractors ratings rather than the manufacturers ratings.
An old motto we always told our customer was “the best day in the life of a heat pump is the day it was installed”. You could take that as it’s all down hill from there or the quality of the installation was evidenced on that installation day.
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur!
Brian Singer
Manufacturers are held to a certain standard and HVAC companies are not so much. There are some excellent programs such a NATE that HVAC companies can subscribe to, but it’s not required as are organizations like the ISO 9001 for manufacturers.
These standards that manufacturers follow are monitored by
For over three decades, thousands and thousands of HVAC pros have recognized Goodman’s commitment to quality products. In fact, we are so committed that we built out our 4.2 million square foot manufacturing facility to be ISO 9001-certified, the independent standard for quality manufacturing and management processes, and ISO 14001-certified, an international environmental certification.
ISO 9001 Standards and ISO 14001-certified
“You can’t stop a Trane”. Not meant to be a dis on Trane but that’s their slogan. The orange compressors below are manufactured by Trane. There are other compressors in the pile. They all have their failures.
Point being, a few manufacturers like Trane and Carrier build their own compressors and nearly everyone else uses either Tecumseh or Copeland compressors. A lot of other parts related to heat pumps are also manufactured by others. Like fan motors, reversing valves, and circuit boards.
If a Copeland compressor fails in a Rheem heat pump is it Rheem’s fault, Copeland’s fault, or the fault of the installer. Actually it’s even more complicated than that. It could be the reversing valve manufacturers fault.
You may have noticed if you’ve been searching for what heat pump to buy that there are literally a ton of bad reviews for nearly every brand of heat pump.
With that in mind, what do you think is the most common denominator? My contention is that all of these installs have an installer. His training and good practices won’t generally show up within the first year or so of the installation.
If the right procedures are not adhered to during the welding and evacuation period of the install then sometime in the not to distant future, the inside of that heat pump system could turn to sludge.
The synthetic oils used in the newer compressors to lubricate the system are much more delicate or sensitive to certain elements which will contaminate the inside of the heat pump.
This is not a manufacturers fault. You cannot claim your system is a lemon if the problem is installer related. But if you want to pursue HVAC lemon laws read this first. I did some research on the subject.
Something Everyone Needs To Know About Goodman Warranties
I was guilty of this early on. Sold a couple units with a ten year expressed warranty on my contract only to find out I had to register the product in order to really have ten years.
I never had a Goodman heat pump warranty issue because of my mistake. It was just last summer I went back on one of these and it had been in for 11 years with no problems. The problem with it was a compressor relay. A simple fix.
Goodman has a ten year warranty on what they call the sealed system. Everything that holds refrigerant, that freaky frost you call Freon (a brand) has a ten year warranty. You just have to go online and register.
I do this for my customers and then I email them the proof of the ten year warranty so I always have a record. Goodman says that you don’t have to show proof of a ten year after registering.
But if you don’t register your equipment within 60 days of your installation you only get five years. So many of the reviews I read were dissatisfied heat pump owners that had failures after the five year mark that thought they had a ten year warranty.
It’s a sneaky approach, right? But Goodman is not the only culprit in this deception. Manufactures love to advertise how much warranty they offer, but none of them really love to honor it. It’s a huge expense on the bottom line.
Registering a Goodman heat pump to extend a warranty is really very easy. Go to Goodman.com and fill out the form. Make a copy and put it in your file.
Early On Goodman Had What We Called A Builders Model
In the 80’s we bought a lot of Goodman units. I seem to remember we called them a builders model. New construction contractors loved to beat up the HVAC companies on price and we would give them what they wanted to pay for.
Goodman offered some very competitive prices back then.
In the last 40 years I have been a dealer for nearly every manufacturer. Lennox, American Standard, Trane, Carrier, all the name brands. I always fell back on Goodman. Especially after their quality improved. And quality for Goodman improved dramatically over the years.
Goodman never seemed to advertise like the big boys. Their costs always a little under all the others. And with that improved quality we made a little more money.
I never liked all the programs all the others tried to offer. Incentives that just seemed to muddy up the water. They tried to control us into buying just from them. In trade they would give us this and that. You know, trips and junk.
Just give me a good price to pass along without the junk.
I just wanted to buy decent equipment at a decent price and pass it on to my customers.
Can I Buy Goodman Equipment Online?
As a matter of fact you can buy Goodman HVAC online, but you probably already knew that. You can get Goodman AC prices and most anything Goodman offers. If you haven’t already found Goodman online click on this link and see what Amazon offers.
Just recently an old customer called me to hook up his equipment he bought online. I was reluctant, but it was close by so I went and looked.
A lot of companies won’t hook up equipment bought online. I’m sort of one of them. I had done some work for this guy in his previous house. He didn’t do his homework and I left him with his chin in his lap. Bigger is not always better. And, heat pump coils are installed after the strip heat, not before.
Another customer several years ago bought online what he thought was a heat pump and it turned out to be an air conditioner. The online company wouldn’t take it back. He had no recourse other that to try an sell it on Craigslist or something.
There is just no way to beat finding a qualified contractor with a good record of doing the right thing for his customers. It’s money in the bank in the long run.
But, you may have a friend or a relative that is experienced and can perform a quality installation and knows how to size equipment properly. Then by all means, go for the online experience.
How Much Does A Goodman Heat Pump Cost?
It wouldn’t be practical to tell you about Goodman heat pump prices.
I have a son who sells heating and air conditioning equipment in Alabama. We compare prices from time to time. Wow, what a difference.
He’s selling for a company with all the bells and whistles. Office staff, service department, installers, service technicians.
Here where I’m at it’s just me, myself, and I. I used to carry the burden of employees and office staff, but no longer. I’m enjoying the freedom and less stress of just me.
I’m having fun in my elder years. I pick the jobs I want and turn down the other. No longer do I take a job be cause I have an employee with a new truck and a house payment.
So my prices are sometimes a little lower that the other companies, but not by much and not always. Sometimes they are lower than me because a job has a lot to do with the perspective of the sales guy.
Their just isn’t a cookie cutter heat pump job. And that’s only one reason why quoting prices would only be misleading.
Another way to get really confused about how much a Goodman heat pump should cost would be to call about six different heating companies and get six different quotes. Try your best to ask for apples and apples. Even then the different sales people will have various suggestions that they know you need. And if you don’t do what they say you have no guarantee.
In fact just the other day, I was talking with that same son and he was telling me about the success he’s had. His margins are excellent and he compared his margins with the other salesman at his company. The other salesman’s margins suck compared to his because that salesman is always telling his customers that they need more return air when in fact they really don’t.
The added return duct boosts his total sale, but the labor to install a return is high. They get paid on margin. Why would someone sell something no body needs? You can look up the prices of equipment online. Still you will have no good reasonable idea about what a Goodman heat pump cost by the time it’s installed.
Do the research. It’s your best bet. Get no more than three bids from contractors that have good ratings and reviews. Get bids from contractors that have a training program or have done work for your friends or family. Friends and family referrals are best.
In one of my companies I owned we had weekly training meetings in our shop that included the county inspectors. What a great relationship we created. They knew the kind of work we did and what we expected from our employees.
And we knew what the inspectors expected. The inspectors learned things about our industry that they would never learn anywhere else. And we learned what HVAC guys would never discover about how their department worked.
If I Buy Goodman Do They Offer Financing?
If you buy Goodman from a contractor that has been approved by Goodman you can get a 100% unsecured loan with some pretty good loan amounts. First 18 months are or can be interest only payments and up to 12 years to pay.
Wahoo! By then you’ll be ready for a new heat pump. After all, the average life of a heat pump in cold country is about 12 to 15 years.
But all that depression aside, go here and check out what Goodman is currently offering.
Conclusion
Buying a heat pump is such sweet sorrow. I’d rather dump my money in my vintage trucks. They are so much more fun. You just can’t sit in a heat pump and feel the acceleration or hear the rumble of the exhaust.
But we all like to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Doing that without the hassle of having warranty or contractor issues is a worthy goal.
If you follow your nose to a good contractor you can eliminate a lot of trouble.
