Lightning took out my compressor last week at the office. I replaced the entire system with one from Ameristar, a division of Ingersoll Rand, which manufactures Trane. I'm hoping it gives me Trane-like performance at a lesser cost.
Saw these comments in an HVAC forum (10 years old )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I noticed this question while surfing the net. It was asked a while back, but I was compelled to give my opinion. I am a HVAC contractor in Florida who sells Trane, American Standard, and Ameristar equipment. They all use the same functional components, the quality of the parts are of the same standard. They do not use a grading system to determine if a part should go in to a Ameristar, but not a American Standard or Trane, or visa versa.
Differences are in warranties, cosmetics and prices.
In my opinion you can't go wrong with any of their equipment, I think they are the best.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a licensed (in SC) HVAC contractor and have been in this business since 1984.
As has been said already, these 3 units have the same 'core' design which fall under the parent company American Standard. They are all great equipment (virtually the same). As was stated in another reply, the basic components are the same, some of the appearances have been changed to extend the 'parent company's' marketing ability.
It's kind of like buying a GMC truck vs. a Chevrolet truck. They both use the same design and structure, but they look slightly different from one another. The customer may prefer the looks of one over the other, but the core of the vehicles are the same!
p.s. You will find the same with Carrier: Bryant, Day&Night, and Payne are all products which fall under the same parent company of Carrier.
Further example: Some of you 'end-users' have heard of the following: Heil, Arco Air, Comfortmaker. You guessed it! These are all the same core design with basic appearance changes.