Hi,

I am getting estimates for a geothermal system for my house in PA and the candidates have boiled down to two - one selling waterfurnace and one selling Clilmate Master. The hosue is approx 3000 sqft, water to air, both guys have estimated 4 tons, closed loop, that we can keep the current electric water boiler, the duct work OK.  The climate master suggestion is a TTV049 (Tranquility 27), I will see the final offer from Waterfurnace guy later this week. Both guys have for the area long time in the geothermal business and acknowledge the other one as the one of the three major player (the 3rd big player never came back to me) and they both say they provide the best quality when it comes to installation (they both use the same driller) and that their system is the best. The Waterfurnace estimate will come out 2-7K more expensive than the Climate Master estimate.

Any recommendation which one to choose? Waterfurnace or Climate Master?  Is the Waterfurnace approx 5K better?

Thanks in advance!

Since $5,000 is approaching the order of the total value of a unit in the first place, it would be difficult to say that one would be that much better than the other. I think you have to consider the ancillary system components, service source and warranty to determine if there was enough value to justify spending the extra.

Where in PA? Can you PM me?

If I were you I'd check out hydro-temp, provides all the benefits of the big guys plus you get on demand domestic hotwater and in the summer time you heat you hotwater tank first with the heat you are removing from your house. What is the heatloss of your house?

In my opinion there is no difference between them. Both are excellent brands. Make sure the rest of the system is similar. If everything is the same, no reason not to go with the better price.

Installer and service after the sale allways trumps brand, after that everything boils down to chevy vs. ford when buying a p/u truck.
Eric

Posted By gottan on 14 Mar 2011 02:26 PM
...they both say they provide the best quality when it comes to installation (they both use the same driller)...

Go by your reference checks, not the installer's word.  Ask references probing questions about installation, repair, and service work they have done.  There is much more to installation than just the drilling.  See if you can get references from some of their older installations.

Confirm the warranties are the similar (for the labor portion of the warranty repair as well.)  Ask the installers if they will accept the warranty labor allowance as payment in full for warranty work.  See if you can get it in writing.

Does either installer offer a performance guarantee (not all installers do this)?

Quality is the same. I have heard WF is a bit more expensive (which is curious as they try to avoid middlemen distributors).
WF being dealer direct in our area means folks sometimes have to wait for parts to be shipped from manufacturer vs CM parts at local distributor.
5K price difference? No brainer if all else is equal.
j

My Waterfurnace quote was $5K w/o DSH. My Climatemaster quote was $3K w/ DSH. Guess which one I picked? I'm 100% sure they both would work fine.

86turbodsl, What does the $5K and $3K buy you? That certainly isn't an installed price, so is it just for the box alone? Dave

Posted By 86turbodsl on 20 Apr 2011 03:53 PM
My Waterfurnace quote was $5K w/o DSH. My Climatemaster quote was $3K w/ DSH. Guess which one I picked? I'm 100% sure they both would work fine.

That is significantly less than I pay the Climatemaster factory. May be I should buy them from you now.

Not too far off for MI for a 2 ton...........folks think the equipment costs the same everywhere........

We installed 2 Water Furnace Envision systems in 2008 and have had many problems - compressors in each unit have been replaced and still having trouble.  I'm looking a ripping and replacing with ClimateMaster.  Anyone have ongoing problems with ClimateMaster?

Compressors don't die...they are murdered.

CM and WF use nearly the same compressors.

Dieselguy, please start your own thread with more details.

Dieselguy,

We are sorry to hear that you have had trouble with your WaterFurnace units. We will be more than happy to look into your inquiry further. Please provide your model number, serial number, and the name of your installing contractor. If you do not wish to provide this information publicly, please feel free to send us a private message.

WaterFurnace International, Inc.