I wish I had read this site before I bought my York Affinity Air Handler, model avy36cxh21 and 2 Ton Heat Pump model yhjf24. Judging from these reviews, it seems York had a good reputation decades ago, but its product quality and service follow-through have rapidly deteriorated in recent years. First, some background: I live in the Pacific Northwest (Victoria BC), where Heat Pumps are all the rage because of cheap hydro power, and mild temperate winters that promise to save you money over Oil and Gas heat systems. So out went the Oil furnace and in came the HP. I went with the York model in late 2009 because it was a good price for a 14.5 SEER model compared to other brands. Here are the problems so far: – the York HP is louder than my friend's 3 ton Trane by a longshot as well as my buddy's more expensive York, which is a major problem for us because it is outside our bedroom – the unit began freezing up in 0 degree C weather, inhibiting efficiency, (defrost wasn't working right) and the reversing valve had to be replaced – again this winter, the unit is freezing up and the emergency heat function is not kicking on automatically during cold snaps, despite having a programmable thermostat, which tells me something is seriously wrong with this unit (I have to turn EH on manually when the unit ices up) Bottom line is, I would advise against York, especially at the lower end of the models. My friend raves about his Carrier, though I see they get bad reviews too. Some notes about this forum: 1) There is no number 1, 2 or 3 rated HP, has anyone noticed that? Very suspicious. 2) Many of the positive reviews appear closely together in date and mention the same contractor names over and over — a very dubious and unethical tactic. Stay away from companies that use this tactic. 3) Most of the reviews here are negative, which indicates a disproportionate amount of naysayers dominate this forum. This isn't surprising, but I'd be wary of using this forum exclusively when comparing models. Throw out the worst and bes reviews, and the one's in the middle will give you some insight into a company's service record and product quality. 4) Many of the positive reviews are for obscure companies or companies like GE that don't make HPs anymore! How useless is that. Maybe GE should get back in the game…aanybody got a refurbished Weathertron they want to sell? Kidding… 5) The warranty on a HP doesn't really mean squat, because the real cost comes in the labour to install things like reversing valves, compressors, and the like. New buyers beware of this! If you can get an extended warranty that covers labour for 10 years (to supplement the typical 10 year manufacturer warranty), I would seriously consider it (if the price is right). 6) Noise. NOt all HPs are noisy, but certain models are worse than others — the best way to learn is to ask to see one in action!
