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When high efficiency furnaces first came out, each manufacturer had its own idea on how to build a furnace and by trial and error they slowly worked out the problems to where now they are all are building a good furnace.
The furnace manufacturers actually just build the heat exchanger, cabinet, housings etc.

They buy the circuit boards, motors, burners, controls, limit switches, draft inducers, pressure controls, gas valves, ignition controls, and hot surface igniters from the companies that build them like GE, Honeywell, White Rodgers, Robertshaw, etc.

J. T. - New York

It is like buying a car in a small sense. You want a vehicle that can go the mileage without breaking down on you. I asked a few people I know who install furnaces for a living if they could get me this particular model and make. I was told yes by 2 of them, and the 3rd said he only carried top line furnaces. He did not consider the Goodman at all.

After some research I found that many of these companies use the same suppliers for many of their parts, whether it is a blower assembly, motor, circuit board, etc...as Goodman.

Going on a report from my brother who also installs furnaces and A/C units, he had his Goodman for 6 years at the time I got mine, with no problems at all except normal issues.

So I put mine in. To date I have been using it for 5 years with nothing major. I did have 2 igniters go out on me, but for 25 dollars I put the first one in (a 5 minute job) and the second time around I purchased an igniter that had a retro fit kit for my furnace. I also had a pressure sensor go out, another 5 minute job and 5 dollars in parts.

I keep my heat going quite a bit in the Northern Illinois winters. I liked the fact that I could adjust the fan speed very quickly to adjust for the heat rise in my house. Just a fast jumper wire switch on the main circuit board.

The furnace also comes with the standard safety features such as flame sensors, pressure sensors, gas sensors, and open door sensors that will shut the unit down if a malfunction occurs in any of those areas. So to save several hundred dollars is fine if you still keep the features that matter.

My 140,000 BTU furnace has been great otherwise. If I keep it another 4 years, I did great. If I spend 200 dollars to replace the blower assembly down the line I will still be several hundred ahead.

My last furnace was 27 years old, but due to the loss in efficiency it was costing me a mint to heat my home. So long life on a furnace does not translate into cost savings, because of the cost of operating an old unit can be more than replacing it.

Today the average life of a furnace will be from 9-12 years,so truly, is it worth it to spend that much more? I could have spent twice what I did and still had to replace it in the same time frame. I had the same cost to heat my home, the same life of the unit, so it would have been a huge waste.

Now just because you spend tons on a furnace does not mean you will not have the same issues. I laugh when people say "My furnace always goes out in Winter." Well, how many times do you run it in Summer or Spring?

The igniters go out on the top end units just as often. As do the sensors. Why? Most come from the same place anyway. So if you spend twice the amount initially, you STILL spend later on spare parts.

My opinion? Always know your furnace anyway. Most repairs people have done are simple to do by yourself. Most sensors are attached with one or two small screws and detailed in the furnace manual anyway. If a blower unit goes out, and I have seen them go on ALL manufacturers, it is still fairly easy. But if not, why spend all your furnace money up front? I figure I save about 700 dollars up front. Convert that into a few months heating bills, or figure I would have spent 1500 PLUS all the sensors that went out on me using another brand. And to date, myself and a few of the people I know who have a Goodman furnace are still using them after several years.

I really have no complaints.

M. J. - Florida