Trane Air Conditioner Reviews

Trane Air Conditioners are very popular. It is no big secret that Trane has a good marketing program and budget and they lead the HVAC industry in many areas including marketing. But is Trane the best selection for you? Let’s take a look under the hood of a Trane Air Conditioner and rate and review the Trane air conditioner. I would rate Trane Air Conditioners on different levels. Trane does go above and beyond other HVAC manufacturers to ensure their dealer network has adequate HVAC training. They require dealers to send a specified number of technicians to factory training classes and they encourage dealers to get their HVAC technicians NATE certified. All these things help the end consumer because the chances are you will get a well trained HVAC technician arrive at your door step to install or service your air conditioner. Many times this is more important than anything including price, efficiency, or name brand. After everything is said and done if the air conditioner unit was not installed properly then price, efficiency, and the name brand will all suffer so Trane has a leg up on HVAC training over some other manufacturers so this will ensure you likely get a competent HVAC technician arrive to install or service your air conditioner.

Trane Air Conditioner Condenser

Next up would be quality of equipment as a factor I would hold in high regard when purchasing HVAC equipment. When I first started working on Trane equipment I noticed Trane uses spine fin coils in their condening units and the coils are made of aluminum. This bothered me for some reason partly because I didn’t think aluminum was a durable as copper used in most other HVAC manufacturers air conditioner and heat pump coils. Aluminum does have a better heat exchange ratio than copper so aluminum does win in that regard but what I really want to ask an engineer at Trane is the following question, “What kind of tests have you done to ensure aluminum coils can stand up to the test of time, vibration factors, and stresses by weather, outdoor accidental abuse (lawnmowers, weed eaters, kids and toys)?” I haven’t had a chance to ask a Trane HVAC engineer that question so perhaps one may be perusing this site and email me or leave the answer in comments. One other thing about this subject that I must say; I have never heard of a major catastrophic coil failure in a Trane unit with aluminum coils. I am sure it has happened as it has happened to other HVAC manufacturers’ coils but to my knowledge I have not heard of it happening before. I would not allow the aluminum coils to stop me from purchasing a Trane Air Conditioner if I was going to purchase a Trane Air Conditioner. Other components in the Trane Air Conditioner are typical of other manufacturers including the sheet metal cabinet, fan motors, and controls. What separates Trane Air Conditioners from other manufacturers (other than the aluminum spine fin coils) is Trane manufacturers their own compressors. The compressor is a major component in an air conditioner or heat pump system. Other manufacturers use compressors from Bristol to Copeland to other brands.
Efficiency is the next factor and this is directly related to price. The higher the efficiency of the equipment the higher the cost associated with the Air Conditioner. The major reason for this is because the system is more complex and has more controls and sometimes more components to make it more efficient. If you want an 18 SEER air conditioner it will cost more than a 13 SEER air conditioner. Of course with the 18 SEER installed properly your utility bill will be much less than if you got the 13 SEER air conditioner. The key is that it gets installed properly.