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Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews | Consumer Ratings - Frigidaire has a wide range of package units in their product lineup for packaged systems. The package units range from air conditioner gas furnace combos to hybrid heat pump package systems with various efficiency levels.
Their top-of-the-line gas pack for air conditioning is 20 SEER but only 81% AFUE for the gas furnace part of the systems. Frigidaire offers another gas pack that gives you 95% AFUE but only 14 SEER for the cooling side of the system. This leaves one with serious decisions to make since you can’t get a packaged system that is ultra-efficient on both sides for heating and cooling. So how do you choose? Let’s proceed to the next part, analyze everything, and then see where we come out.
Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews | Consumer Ratings
Top Heat Pump Package Unit HSPF Rating
Frigidaire Top Package Unit SEER Rating
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Frigidaire Package Unit Top AFUE Rating
Before we delve into answering the question I wanted to explain exactly what a package unit is: A package unit is where everything is all in one cabinet. The gas furnace and air conditioner condensing unit are all in one cabinet. That is versus a split-system central air conditioner and gas furnace or heat pump system where you have an air handler inside and a condensing unit outside. A package unit is a central heating and/or cooling central system it just has everything all in one cabinet. You roll it in, hook it up to the ductwork and electrical and fire it up.
So, do you want the heating side to be high efficiency at the expense of the cooling side, or do want the cooling side to high efficiency at the expense of the heating side? I would say it all depends on geography and the average temperatures for both winter and summer where you reside. So if you reside in the Southern climes I would likely go for the cooling high efficiency over the heating high efficiency.
If I lived in the Northern climes I would likely go for the high heating efficiency. Of course, that is if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Not sure if Frigidaire sells these units in the Southern Hemisphere. Anyhow, leaving geography out of the question, Frigidaire offers a decent package unit model line up so let’s look at some select features and components:
Select Features and Components - Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews
Some features and components of various Frigidaire package unit systems include:
- For the higher efficiency hybrid model heat pumps and air conditioners (with or without gas furnace heating), Frigidaire has what they call IQDrive. IQDrive is an inverter-driven compressor that allows the refrigeration portion (for heat pumps and air conditioners) to modulate a Samsung rotary compressor. This allows you to hit precise temperature set points based on demand. The modulation range is between 40% and 118% of the rated capacity for the system so you have a wide range there for load demand. If the demand only requires 65% then the system only runs at 65%. This increases efficiency because you are only using what you need versus other types of non-modulating systems that typically use more than is needed to satisfy demand.
- Low and high-pressure refrigeration switches offer safety in case of a problem with the refrigeration system such as a refrigerant leak or a problem that causes high head pressure. These problems are the type that creates other major problems so these switches protect the system and other components by shutting the unit down until the issue is rectified.
- For the gas furnace side, Frigidaire uses hot surface ignition which is reliable and safe.
- A control board that provides control and has diagnostic features for gas furnace troubleshooting or air conditioner troubleshooting.
- Designed for quiet operation in both the heating mode and cooling mode.
- Variable-speed blower motors for added efficiency and comfort. Variable speed motors offer several added-value features such as soft-start capabilities and reduced wattage use to start and run.
Hybrid Heat Pumps | Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews | Consumer Ratings
A hybrid heat pump package unit is simply a heat pump that uses refrigeration for heating and cooling and when the unit needs extra heating in the winter or defrosts a gas furnace is built in the provided the extra heating. Most air-source heat pumps use electric heat strips for the backup heating portion of the heat pump system. Electric heat is good but it is far more expensive to produce as compared with a gas furnace. This makes the hybrid heat pump worth the extra cost to install.
Frigidaire has several package unit heat pumps in their model line up and this includes a hybrid heat pump. The efficiency of their hybrid heat pump includes 15 SEER for the air conditioning side, 8 HSPF for the heat pump heating side, and 81% AFUE for the gas furnace heating side. In heating mode, you could also choose to use the gas furnace rather than the heat pump portion from the thermostat control by selecting auxiliary heating mode.
Warranties - Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews
Frigidaire offers a 10-year parts warranty along with a modified warranty they call the Quality Pledge. This is simply a guarantee that they will replace the entire system if the heat exchanger or compressor goes out on the system within the 10-year warranty. As always, make sure you read the warranty and understand the terms and conditions. Additionally, we always recommend, if you are purchasing the premium models, to see if they offer a “parts and labor” warranty. Some manufacturers offer this and it covers you for both parts and labor whereas the standard warranty only covers parts.
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Frigidaire Package Unit Reviews | Consumer Ratings
