Carrier v Rheem

[nilechamp]

We are about to spend £100k on new domestic air-conditioning for our small resort. We have been offered both Carrier and Rheem units. I would appreciate comments from the trade to their relevant quality and reliability. Our resort is in the Caribbean and nearly everything is sourced from the States.

Thanks

[r.bartlett]

is this central air stuff?

[hookster]

As with any brand name product you are buying 50% technology and design and 50% product name.
The ideal question would rather be to compare the offering from the two manufacturers as per your requirements.

Selection of equipment will have a capital cost but this should be compared to the long life cycle cost i.e. maintenance, parts, operating costs etc.

Post the technical sheets for the two products and some input can be given between the two manufacturers.

As a guess between the two manufacturer names there is absolutely no difference that can be determined between selecting from either of the manufacturers or any other manufacturer.

[FreezerGeezer]

Being in a high salt corrosion environment (from the fact your site is in the Carribean) I'd want to take a close look at the materials. Particularly, are the coils coated - aluminium fins with copper pipe & steel frames suffer badly from galvanic corrosion in seaside environments. If the coils are coated properly, this will help a lot. Panasonic, for eg. warrant their coils for 5 years against corrosion.
How accessible are the internals of the systems - how easy to service are they? What's parts availability like?
At my work - depending on what the client is willing to cover - we wash out the condensers at least every three months (mostly every month) apply a coating of Inox to the outdoor coils every few months, and treat any rust with Penetrol as we go.
With the latter, it does help if you can get at & around the suction accumulators, compressors & other steel components easily.