American Standard vs. Trane

What is the difference?

We hear the same questions time and time again: Is Trane better than American Standard? Is American Standard better than Trane? We get emails and calls every day from people who are researching these exact questions. We have decided to write a detailed article explaining the distinction between the two brand names.

Trane vs American Standard – We’ve installed enough to know the difference!

We’ve installed tens-of-thousands throughout the greater Tucson & Green Valley area over the last four and a half decades.
We offer a lot more services than just air conditioning installations. However, our air conditioning & heating system install department has long been the busiest department in our company. In other words, we know these machines inside and out and the difference between them because of our install volume.

Of the units we’ve installed, thousands of them were Trane and American Standard. Weve installed there air conditioner, heat pumps, furnaces, air handlers, coils and accessories. Its important to know, we aren’t biased one way or the other as we also install other competing brands. Aside from Trane & American Standard, we also install Bosch, Rheem, Bryant, Mitsubishi and Samsung to name a few.

American Standard vs Trane – We have seen them being built with our own eyes.

Weve personally visited the manufacturing facilities of almost every major HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) manufacturer on the market. We have watched both Trane and American Standard units going down the same assembly line first hand during several trips to their factory.

American Standard and Trane are EXACTLY the SAME.

That’s the facts, there is no difference between Trane and American Standard, they’re exactly the same product! The equipment lineup and components are 100% identical. Take a look at these two condensers. Can you spot the difference between them besides the color?

Spoiler*
You won’t find one!!
On the left is the American Standard and on the right is the Trane.

Trane & American Standard Air Conditioners Manufactured in the Same Plant

You will notice we referred to the manufacturing facility of both brands as one, that was no typo. Both Trane and American Standard are manufactured in the same facility.

Not only are both brands manufactured in the same facility (Tyler, Texas) they go down the same assembly line. They are put together by the same people and machines, on the same conveyor belts, right next to each other.

What is the difference between Trane & American Standard?

This will be quick because there are only two differences.

     1. The Paint color. Although they go through the same paint booth and process.
     2. The nameplate or sticker. Trane gets an orange nameplate and American Standard gets a blue nameplate.

That was quick huh!

Can you sell both Trane & American Standard?

Here’s the deal. Contractors can sell one brand or the other, but not both as an “Authorized Dealer”. In order to protect distribution deals between the manufacturer and their suppliers’ contractors are only supposed to sell one or the other. As a result, there’s a lot of misinformation being spread to the public by contractors and their salespeople especially.

American Standard is cheaper than Trane – Fact or Fallacy?

Take it from a contractor who has been both an American Standard and Trane Authorized dealer for years. The equipment cost is virtually the same between the two brands. In fact, they are within a few dollars of each other model by model.

Oasis was a “Trane Comfort Specialist Dealer” for more than 20 years. We switched and became an “American Standard Comfort Care Dealer” As of January 2025 we made the decision to the American Standard side of the company and now carry the product under the American Standard label. Ultimately, we felt the American Standard supplier in Tucson offered better customer support and parts availability than the Tucson Trane supplier.

Some contractors may charge more for Trane than for American Standard or visa versa. However, this most likely has more to do with that company’s overhead than the price of the equipment.

What’s the price difference between Trane & American Standard?

If you assume Trane costs more than American Standard or vise-versa, you might be wrong. Ultimately it depends on who you buy it from and what’s included in the installation as seldom are new equipment quotes from HVAC contractors truly apples-to-apple.

Remember, since we are a larger than the average HVAC company, we install a lot of air conditioning & heating units. As a result, we have a lot of purchase power. That purchasing power reflects how much we pay for the equipment and what we can sell it for. On that same note; we have a large vehicle fleet, offices, uniformed technicians, a training facility for our technicians, etc. That makes our overhead higher than a smaller company that operates out of the owners home.

Why two brand names if they are the same?

Again, the major difference in the brands is the distribution network, which varies throughout the country. In some parts of the country the brands are distributed through wholesalers, in other areas it factory direct.

Almost every major HVAC manufacturer sells the same equipment under different brand names. The reason being, they can increase market share while honoring distribution exclusivity contracts with different wholesalers. Other examples include Goodman/Daikin (same manufacturer), Carier/Bryant (same manufacturer) and Rheem/Ruud (same manufacturer).

Why did Oasis switch?

We’ve found the customer service from these networks varies by location. This leads to differences in the contactors experience and ultimately the end users experience with the brand. Oasis switched from Trane to American Standard for one reason really. It was to assure the best experience we could for our customers. As the equipment comes from two different suppliers, the level of service, parts availability, customer support, etc. can vary greatly.

After 20 plus years selling Trane we found the service we were receiving from the Tucson Trane Sales Office was diminishing. Long wait times for parts, delivery issues, etc., meaning the customers with Trane products weren’t getting the service they deserved. So, we switched to the American Standard wholesaler who promised better service.