Consumer Reviews of Rheem central air conditioners

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Date created: 2011-10-08 Name: homeowner
Location: Midwest

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Do Not Buy Rheem Products Online; Warranty Will Not Apply"
I never owned a Rheem and I have no complaint. I just want to get the word out that before buying any cooling or heating systems/components online including ebay you must read the original warranty from the manufacturer. Many now state in their exceptions if it is bought online the warranty is invalid. Some warranties are available to view online at the manufacturer's websites. Comfortmaker, Rheem and Coleman all have warranties that are null and void if unit bought online.

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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: 2010-09-29 Name: C. Pollard
Location: Winfield, Alabama

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"My ac"
My rheem ac has a hard time of keeping up in our long hot Alabama summers. I have to set it low in the mornings to get the house cool, if not it has a hard time of keeping up in the afternoon hours.

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Date created: 2010-08-02 Name: J. Smith
Location: FL

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Considering a Rheem"
I live in Fl. where it gets unbearably hot and I am in the process of replacing my current Trane air conditioner that has a leak at the base of the coil and can't be fixed but also can't be replaced because they no longer make the coil. The unit is almost 10 years old. In reading all these Rheem reviews, it seems that anyone who had a Rheem installed several years ago got a great unit but anyone who had a Rheem installed within the last couple years got a piece of crap. As a consumer, that just leads me to believe that they have sacrificed the quality of the product in order to gain more profit. I am now seriously consider another brand.

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Date created: 2008-06-03 Name: A. Dela
Location: Orland, FL
Years owned: 8

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
"Central A/C"
From the very beginning we had problems. They had to change the condesator due to rust (even though it was a new unite). They cannot find a leak in the unit, but every year we have to call for service (need refrigerant).

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Date created: 2008-05-11 Name: J. Price
Location: Biloxi, MS
Years owned: 1

Satisfaction Rating:
Review:
I bought a house in May of 2007. The home inspector said the ac system looked pretty good, even though it was about 12 years old. That summer it worked fine and didn't have any problems cooling my house. My power bills were actually pretty low. This week I started it up (May 08) after cleaning out the permanent filter and cleaning the outside unit. I noticed that almost every electrical component, the accumulator, the pump, etc. on the outside unit was rusting. I turned it back on after cleaning and it blows really hard. Problem is that it is not cold. Called a service man out on the weekend and he told me that freon was leaking all over the inside A-coil and the outside units. He pretty much told me that it would be the same cost to replace all the parts as it would to get a new system. I'm not sure if I'm going to go with a rheem or not. Reading some of the reviews and other feedback online seems like the only thing you are getting is a "Rheem" job.

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