At PV Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we’ve installed and serviced many brands of AC and heating systems in homes across Metro Atlanta. In 2022, we became a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer. That means we can sell and install Carrier heating and AC systems.
Not everybody gets to install Carrier equipment! To achieve this designation, we had to demonstrate rigorous standards for technician training, licensing, and customer satisfaction.
That being the case, nearly all of our clients requesting quotes for new HVAC systems will get to choose from Carrier’s product line. This is a good thing because Carrier has options for everyone.
Three different Carrier product tiers
Depending on your needs, Carrier offers three different levels for their equipment:
- Infinity: The best choice for comfort and efficiency; the Infinity product tier includes the most sophisticated air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces that Carrier makes. The up-front cost is the highest among the three, but you enjoy comfort improvements and lower operating costs.
- Performance: These are Carrier’s mid-tier products. The air conditioners might be single-stage or two-stage, and the furnaces are mostly two-stage units with variable speed blowers. They’re not the most efficient units that Carrier makes, but they’re probably a lot more efficient than whatever you’re replacing.
- Comfort: This tier contains Carrier’s most basic systems. They offer baseline performance and meet Department of Energy (DOE) minimum specifications for energy efficiency. These systems cost less than the Performance or Infinity lines, but they won’t offer many improvements over your current system.
Let’s take a closer look at these three product families to get a better idea of what your options are at different prices and performance levels.
Infinity product line
Carrier Infinity air conditioners are the crème de la crème. If you’re upgrading from a standard air conditioner, the Infinity ACs offer better overall comfort and maximum energy savings.
The most advanced units in this product family include Carrier’s Greenspeed Intelligence. This underlying technology helps the AC and furnace understand your home’s exact heating and cooling needs and respond accordingly. They make your HVAC system smarter.
There are two different air conditioners in this product family:
- Infinity 26: This unit gets up to 26 SEER, which is a really high SEER. It’s also a true variable speed system, so it ramps up and down to match your home’s precise cooling needs at any given moment. Variable speed systems also dehumidify much better than standard ACs which is helpful here in the Atlanta area!
- Infinity 19VS: We’re used to seeing two-speed air conditioners, but this unit is a five-speed AC! Depending on your home’s cooling needs, this AC will run at the best of five different speeds for cooling your home and removing humidity. That’s about as close to being a variable-speed AC as you can get without actually being one.
There are also two Infinity heat pump units, both of which offer similar SEERs as the above ACs. Since they’re heat pumps, they also do the double duty of heating your home.
Speaking of heating, Carrier’s Infinity furnaces have a lot to offer as well. There are several options to choose from, including 98.5 AFUE units and 80 AFUE furnaces. Regardless of an Infinity furnace’s efficiency rating, it will have a variable speed blower. Most also have either a two-stage or modulating gas valve.
Performance product line
The Performance line contains the most options. On the AC side, you can get up to a 17 SEER unit with a two-stage compressor. The line also contains 16 SEER air conditioners.
On the furnace side, efficiency and comfort options include everything from 96.5% to 80% AFUE systems with two-stage gas valves and variable speed blowers. These are high-quality furnaces with impressive efficiency ratings.
Comfort product line
Comfort line products include Carrier’s most basic systems. Current air conditioners meet the DOE’s SEER rating minimum of 14 for our climate zone, although some Comfort line systems rate up to 17 SEER.
Note that those figures refer to the current efficiency rating system, not the SEER2 rating system that goes into effect in 2023!
About furnaces, Comfort line units have a single-stage gas valve. If you don’t need an open combustion furnace in your home, there are 96.5% AFUE furnaces in the Comfort line. With these, you can get some efficiency gains even if you stick with a standard single-stage gas valve.
Whether you get an Infinity, Performance, or Comfort system, here’s what matters most
All furnace and AC specs aside, the quality of your installation is paramount.
Even a super high efficiency AC with a variable speed blower won’t help you stay comfortable and conserve energy if it’s connected to poorly designed ductwork and isn’t the right size for your home. Installation quality matters. A lot.
At PV Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we follow a standards-based installation procedure that always includes a load calculation. That way, you know you’re getting the right sized system from the start. After that, we provide a rigorous, fully-audited HVAC system installation with 10-year warranties for equipment and labor.
If you’re interested in learning more about our installations or the Carrier product line, get in touch with us today!