Surprised no one has replied to this... so I will.
I just went through the process of installing Central AC into my home. A house built with no duct work, and designed in a way that there's no way to install ducts
easily.
I researched installing Central AC for about a year (we already have baseboard heating, so just needed the AC portion, no forced-air heating), and bit the bullet last month.
Check out this forum:
Residential HVAC - HVAC-Talk: Heating, Air & Refrigeration Discussion It's by professional HVAC installers and you can ask them questions. It's not a DIY forum, so you'll get flamed if you ask those type of questions, but it's a good resource for research... which thermostat is better, problems with one brand versus another, etc, etc.
Based on what I've read, brand means nothing - it all has to do with how it's installed. You could have the worlds best brand, highest SEER rating, but if the installer does a poor job, the system is poor.
I received about five quotes for doing the work, with each one offering a different brand. I went with the installer and not the brand. He installed Bryant. Carrier and Bryant are made by the same company, so my inside air handler says Carrier, but the model is for Bryant and the outside compressor is branded Bryant.
Because of the way the house is designed, the upstairs has to have its own unit, separate from the downstairs. So yeah, I got two zones, by way of two units.
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