Others, I am sure, will comment on Ruud, but I can tell you that any Goodman unit purchased over the internet has its warranty void. You can read it yourself on the Goodman/amana website.

Also, from what I have read, much of the "quality" of a unit comes from the skill of the installation and, having seen three monkeys and a heat pump's crappy job at a friend's house, I personally would steer away from trying to find someone to just install it.

Good reply, Dave.

The install makes or breaks the system.

You can buy the unit yourself, but most pros will not install it for you because they make no $$ on the sale, and won't warrant the installation.

It can be done, but you have to know what you're doing (and still won't get a parts warranty from the mfr for an internet buy).

Read the fine print.

Buyer beware.

Good luck.

Certainly good and valid comments about buying hvac equipment at a discount and and then finding someone to install it properly. I expect that most shops will turn a DIY'er down flat and might even be rude about it because they feel they're somehow being cheated out of their due profit.

But there surely must be shops around, well qualified, willing to take $1000 for a day's work for two guys to make sure a job is done right. Too bad there's no way to start a list of them.

By the way the Goodman "Warranty not valid for Internet sales" is just window dressing to keep their dealers happy. As one mail-order retailer said, "just call up and order it over the phone." The words on their web site are very specifically about Internet sales. Or buy something other than Goodman - lots of brands are available "wholesale to the public."

But in any case the real problem is support. The wholesaler may be an honest Goodman (etc) dealer, you buy over the phone, find a great installer who does a perfect job, then six months later the fickle finger breaks your compressor. The "free" replacement part will incur two-way shipping costs and take a few days to arrive. Then you'll need to pay someone to change it out. But do I understand correctly that you'll pay for labor in any case, unless you pony up for a contract with your installer?