Consumer Reviews of Rheem central air conditioners

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Date created: 2011-08-08 Name: Steve
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Years owned: 11

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Rheem-Customer Service Terrible"
Purchased Complete Brand New Rheem ac system in 2008. In 2009 the ac stopped working. Suddenly, I called the company that installed and that I bought equipment from. The Tech came out and diagnosed the problem in 30 seconds (bad breaker inside Air Handler), the tech said, "oh this is a huge problem" and we have contacted Rheem several times. $200 Dollar service call and new breaker (same model). Year to the day later (2010) the ac goes out, call company they send a tech (different person this time) and he immediately says "oh, I'll guarantee you the problem is the breaker inside the air handler and sure enough same problem." This tech also told me "don't turn on the heat" because that will immediately fry the breaker. WTF paid $3,000 grand for new AC/Heat unit and have tell the wife don't dare touch the heat. Thank God we live in South Florida so not a huge issue, completely ludicrous, insane nonsense, but not a huge issue. Now its 2011 and you guessed it, ac went out yesterday and the third different Tech showed up and said "bet you have a bad breaker in air handler unit." By this time I was really upset and the ac company told that sold and installed said I had to take it up with Rheem, so I called their customer service today and absolutely no help, said they have never heard of the issue. I did some investigation on my own in some General/HVAC chatrooms etc....and apparently replacing air-handler internal breakers on Rheem units keeps the techs busy 5 to 6 times a week each. Needless to say, if I knew that my Rheem ac has a yearly $200 dollar service call associated with it I would have looked elsewhere. Don't buy rheem.

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Date created: 2011-08-05 Name: N.Savarino
Location: Amite, Louisiana

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"No improvement over older unit."
I have had this new Rheem 3.5 ton, 13 sear, unit for about 2 weeks. The 3.5 ton replaced a Rheem 2.5 ton which developed a freon leak and would not hold freon for more than a few days. The older unit was over 20 years old and served me well. On days reaching over 87 degrees the older unit could not keep up and would run constantly and the temperature in my house would gradually go up one degree about every 45 minutes. The older unit never blew very cold air but instead the air was very cool but not cold. It did the job on days that were not very hot. Thinking it's time to replace the unit and going by the good service I got out of the older unit I decided to again pick Rheem and go with the 3.5 ton. My brick house is 1400 square feet of living area with 8 ft. ceilings, has double insulated windows and insulation in the attic. Windows have blinds and curtains to keep out sunlight and heat. I was told that a 3 ton would be sufficient for my size house and that a 3.5 ton should have no trouble cooling down to 72 to 74 degrees. As I type this review at 5:25 P.M., the new unit has been running constantly since noon and the temperature holding at 77 degrees. The unit cannot get the house lower than 77 degrees. It is 98 degrees outside. I have the thermostat set on 76 degrees. The new unit does not blow any colder air than the old unit. The air coming from the ducts feels like my older unit....just cool.......not cold. The air return(filter) is mounted on the ceiling right under the unit so the return is not the problem. Before you buy a new unit go check out units from friend's homes to see which blows nice and cold and which are dependable. $4700.00 wasted. Forget about Rheem.

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Date created: 2011-07-27 Name: William S,
Location: Birmingham, Al

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"A HVAC Tech's word of advice"
I work for a Union company that does commercial work 95% of the time. We mostly do service work to maintain systems for large buildings and telecommunication systems. I can tell by reading most of the reviews that a good 90+ percent of the issues brought up on here are because of either under sizing of the units or poor install. The thing you need to understand first is, just because a man comes to your house with a set of gauges does not mean he knows how to use them. Besides that there are a lot of people out in this world that just want to take your money regardless of the qualifications they have. I feel for the people out there that have had all these bad issues with the Rheem units. I myself trade with a company that sells the rheem line and I have put a good bit of them in on the side for family/friends and have only had one unit that has given me an issue with a leak on a reversing valve. I just want people to understand if your unit is running all the time and it's a split-system (two pieces, one inside and one outside) it could be overcharged, undercharged, undersized, bad expansion valve, incorrect piston, undersized suction line or contaminates in the system. I've seen people put a system in before and never pull a vacuum which is critical for the correct operation of a new split system. There are people who do pull a vacuum for about 20-30mins and say that’s good enough when in fact you need a gauge called a micron gauge that is looking for 500microns before a true full vacuum has been achieved. As for the units with noisy outdoor units it could be a few causes. 1 it could have a very dirty condenser coil or 2 it could be seriously overcharged 3 it could be a poorly insulated bulb on a TXV which is causing flooding of the evaporator which will send liquid refrigerant back to the compressor causing it to wash the oil from its sump. As for the people with heat pump units that heat when they should be cooling and cooling when it should be heating. the wire going to the reversing vale is incorrectly landed in the t-stat or the t-stat is not properly programed. Most units now "fail to heat" so in the winter time if the reversing valve fails you wont freeze to death. All in all there are many issues that can cause leaks and poor performance but I can promise you if the person who puts it in looks like he just left the bar before he came to install your unit then chances are you are about to be taken for a ride, and not one you're going to enjoy. The best thing you can do is ask the contractor to take a load calculation for your house (which in Alabama where I am from) is required by the state on every home either new install or replacement. From there you need to make sure your ductwork is correct, This requires the use of a ductulator. This will show the proper size of duct work throughout the house to properly put air/heat in the correct area to maintain comfort. In closing, just because its expensive does not mean that the original unit is expensive -- it just means you're getting taken. Its best to find a company that was recommended by someone you know and you can go look at the work they do. Also just because the guy says he has been doing it for 20+ years does not mean he has been doing it RIGHT..... Remember if you hear the phrase “Too hot to hold or Beer Can cold” kindly ask the tech to leave and find someone that knows how to use a temp sensor......

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Date created: 2011-07-23 Name: D. Fiadino
Location: Jersey Shore, NJ
Years owned: 6

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Wait and see"
I purchased this unit 6 years ago and everything was fine up until this weekend. The compressor went out on me. I am going to contact Rheem to see if they will discount me a new compressor. I don't think it should have gone out on me so soon. My contractor is trying to convince me to get a new air conditioner but I am hesitant to go with Rheem again.

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Date created: 2011-07-18 Name: B James
Location: Plymouth, MI
Years owned: 2

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Wish I had check this site before I purchased"
I purchased this unit 2.5 years ago along with a new 97% AFUE Furnace. The model is rasl-jez. I have had no problems with the furnace however the ac is another story. We installed in the fall so we did not use the ac until the next spring. When we turned it on in the spring it did not work. Turned out the electrical disconnect next to the condenser had blown one of the fuses and burned up the whole insides of the box. The contractor came out after two days and installed a new Disconnect and put in larger fuses. Later that summer we had a couple of times where the condenser fan would not start and the compressor would shut down with high head temp. This was intermittent and the contractor could not find anything. I don't believe he knew that the icc board stores diagnostic codes. This summer the intermittent problems continued. This past weekend we come home from being away for a few days and have the same problem but this time the fan will not start no matter what we try. The temperatures are in the 90s this week and I am told that the contractor is "a little backed up" but they will get to us as soon as they can. My second problem was selecting the wrong contractor. He seemed to be rated high but I later learned that he is a one man show. No night or weekend service and if you have a problem when he is on vacation too bad.i purchased Rheem because Consummer Reports rated them highest so much for that reference. Hopefully the contractor will replace the icc board and that will be it. But after reading some of the reviews on this site I am not encouraged.

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Date created: 2011-06-27 Name: R Romaine
Location: Summerfield FL
Years owned: 13

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"original Rheem 3 ton"
i live in FL have a 2,300 sq ft home built in 1984 and the original Rheem 3 ton unit is still working like gangbusters despite its age. Yearly maintenance/parts has kept it going. Now after lots of service, it isn't worth putting $ into and isn't cost effective anymore. Time to replace the whole system now. Most likely will go w/ the same brand.

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Date created: 2011-06-24 Name: Leonel De La Fuente
Location: Harlingen, Texas

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Home owner"
Rheem RAPM 048-JEZ, newly built home, unit 1.5 years old, low usage. Condenser coil leak-technician is confident is old, gradual leak as evidenced by the oil saturation. Is hesitant to replace condenser coil only because he suspects a factory defect based on his inspection and 30+ yrs. experience--believes "leaker" coil is indicative of a bigger problem. He added 6 pounds freon this week. No I would not buy this brand again.

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Date created: 2011-06-13 Name: S. Xavier
Location: Texas
Years owned: 1

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"13 SEER - 5 Ton AC - Electronic Board Fizzle"
Rheem, heating and AC. The first winter, ok. Second winter, electronic board fizzled. Required technician to do whatever to reset/restart board. Same thing happened on AC. Second summer, dudsville. Required technician to do whatever to reset circuit board. No service cost, yet. However, from what I have been reading, our fixed income expenditure (7800. AC; 4000. heating) sounds precarious. Why can't this company design less obsolescence into the products? Fingers are crossed...

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Date created: 2011-06-05 Name: stephanie deason
Location: springville alabama
Years owned: 3

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"not happy"
we bought this unit 3 years ago and paid a lot of money. every summer that we have had this unit something has messed up on it. This unit has cost us a lot of money and I would not recomend this to anyone.My child has asthma and we have to keep our house cool. This issue has been a very big inconvenience to our household.

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Date created: 2011-05-31 Name: M. L. Taylor
Location: Newburg, PA
Years owned: 3

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Would give -15 stars if I could"
Had my first (and last) Rheem unit installed in Aug. '08. Within 3 wks. the unit quit working. New motherboard was put in the unit. Unit went down within 2 months. Installer was out & "fixed" it again. In short, I've been through 3 repair contractors (2 of which were Rheem certified & 1 that lied and said he was, but was not) and 12 service calls later and the unit crashes continuously. Doesn't matter if it's on heat or cool, it crashes. I contacted Rheem customer service by phone myself, explained that I've had nothing but 3 YEARS worth of problems & continual repairs and demanded a replacement, free of charge, since the unit was still under warranty. I was told that the warranty doesn't cover replacement of units & that I should have my contractor fill out a "job site information sheet" & the regional distributor would help troubleshoot the unit because "we can solve 90% of these problems that way". I persisted with the cust. service rep. until she finally admitted that, "Yes, it might take more than one service call and trial & error" before they could get it fixed. Translate that to 'more money' since I'd already had 10 repairs by this point & she was quick to mention that any parts would be covered by the warranty...but not the calls & labor. I forwarded the info to the contractor I was dealing with, who has been a Rheem dealer for 20 years, and he said he had no idea what it was that I was talking about & he'd never heard of a job site information sheet. He thought we should replace the "expansion valve...and give that a try". In the meantime, the temps have soared into the upper 90's with 80% humidity. We suffered through 3 days like this. Called the contractor back - didn't get a straight answer whether he's filed the "job site info. form" or not. Made another call to Rheem Cust. Service to inquire if the form was filed. Was told that they couldn't tell me that. That the forms don't come to Rheem, they go to the regional distributor. Ok, so tell me who my regional distributor is. "I can't do that. There are several." So tell me all of them & I'll make my own calls. "There's too many..." I start becoming stern...I'm tired of this. I'm being stonewalled at every turn. No one wants to help me. I've been dealing with this sh*t for 3 years, etc. The Cust. Serv. Rep. tells me I'm yelling at her (I wasn't) and that I have no right to talk to her that way and as I try to explain why I'm upset she cuts me off with an acidic, "Have a GREAT day." and hangs up on me. Did an Internet search for Rheem distributors in the local area...found only 3 (too many to give me??). Called the only one I could find a number for. Very nice man did a computer search for my contractor but didn't find him & suggested I contact another local office & even gave me the number. Called that office & got transferred to 3 different people. Inquired if my contractor had filed a job site info sheet with them. "They don't come to us, ma'am. They go to Rheem." The corporate office? Because I was told by corporate that they come to you. "We don't get them. Has your contractor sent one out?" That's what I'm trying to find out. I don't know if he has, or not. "Well, did he fill one out?" I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S WHAT I NEED TO KNOW! "Has he been out to look at the unit & fill one out?" YES! HE'S LOOKED AT THE UNIT...AND I'M TRYING TO FIND OUT FROM YOU IF HE FILLED OUT THE STUPID FORM! "Well, ma'am, we don't get those, corporate does." So when corporate told me that you get the forms & help troubleshoot, they were wrong? "Well, no. They do come here...but they don't stay here...we send them along to corporate." DO YOU HAVE ANY RECORD OF GETTING ONE ON MY UNIT...THAT YOU THEN FORWARDED ON TO CORPORATE?! "Well, I don't know, ma'am. I don't think I can help you with your question." (Not sure why that suddenly came to him at this point) Basically, Rheem has made a defective product and they are completely unwilling to do right by the customer and replace the unit. Secondly, Rheem's training program must suck...if it exists at all...that a 20 year installer/serviceman doesn't even know about the job site info sheet troubleshooting program. The Customer Service Dept. is a joke. If you have a problem, you might as well not bother to call them, because they have no answers for you - nor do the regional distributors. In the end, I've blown a ton of money, I have NO heat in the winter & NO air in the summer, the unit is only 3 years old...and a dealer/installer from American Standard is coming out today to rip out Rheem's crappy system and install a completely new system from the top down. THIS IS $5200 I SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO SPEND!! Rheem products and service are junk & I would rather go WITHOUT heating & cooling than have another Rheem product.

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