Nordyne air conditioner

A decent choice for a high efficiency central air conditioner

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the Nordyne air conditioner, even though you might have one running in your own home.

Nordyne, which rebranded as Nortek Global HVAC in 2015, has been in the HVAC business for decades, but originally focused on heating and on the manufactured housing market. But in the last 25-30 years they have been quietly developing an efficient and quiet family of air conditioners, which they then rebrand under some well known brand names.

Their latest entry in the central air conditioner market is a modestly efficient set of units that at SEER 19 provides a decent level of high efficiency. Why don’t I sound super enthusiastic about that? Well, SEER 19 is substantially higher than the minimum required SEER of 14, or the minimum SEER for ENERGY STAR certified air conditioners of 15.2, but it’s certainly not as ambitious as what several other companies provide:

• Lennox holds the record with efficiencies as high as SEER 25.8
• Carrier has units as high as SEER 24
• Goodman units can reach SEER 22.5
• Trane AC units can reach SEER 21.5
• Johnson Controls sells air conditioners with SEER ratings up to 20

Still, even these modestly efficient Nortek units can translate into big savings on your home cooling bill over an older air conditioner you’re thinking of replacing, or over a non-ENERGY STAR rated air conditioner.

At the heart of the Nordyne system: iQ Drive technology

These ultra efficient air conditioners all have something called iQ Drive technology, which is a combination of a variable-speed compressor motor (most air conditioners have a single-speed compressor motor) and built-in intelligence that adjusts the compressor speed carefully to maximize comfort, minimize energy usage, and minimize noise. The iQ Drive system has won top-level awards for its quality and performance.

A typical central air conditioner runs at the standard alternating current frequency of 60 Hz. That means the motor rotates 60 times a second, or 3,600 times a minute (that is, at 3600 RPM). Since full cooling capacity is often not needed for long periods, these traditional air conditioners tend to cycle on and off a fair bit except on the most scorching hot days, and they cycle on and off several times at night. While they are on, they are going full hog, which translates into higher peak energy use, lower overall efficiency, and higher noise levels.

The beauty of the iQ Drive system is that it continually monitors your cooling needs, and can adjust your compressor speed to any speed between 900 RPM and 3,600 RPM. This is referred to as inverter rotary technology – a fancy name for something that sounds painfully simple: if you don’t need full-strength cooling, why run the compressor at full speed!?

Because the compressor is both more quiet and more energy efficient when run at lower speeds, you get better performance and less noise bother from an air conditioner with Nordyne’s iQ Drive technology. And that’s good news both for you and for any of your neighbors who might sleep with the windows open.

As well, because the system is intelligent and continually monitors the indoor temperature, and can vary the workload of the compressor over a wide range, it can keep air flowing at a steady temperature through your ductwork, unlike traditional air conditioners which either provide very cold air (when running full throttle at 3600 RPM) or lukewarm air (when just recirculating air while the compressor is shut off).

What brands use Nordyne’s iQ Drive technology?

There are at least eight companies that sell the Nordyne air conditioner imprinted with their own company label. In some cases the companies are well-known and respected HVAC or appliance manufacturers; in other cases, relatively obscure to the residential market.

Some of these brands make claims to having “unique iQ Drive technology” or the highest efficiency air conditioner on the market. But really all of them are just selling a Nordyne air conditioner with their logo on it, and adding a few variations such as slightly different warranty conditions.

The brands that sell Nordyne air conditioner systems with iQ Drive technology are:

• Maytag
• Frigidaire
• Broan
• Gibson
• Intertherm

In the past Nordyne also manufactured iQ Drive based units for:

• Westinghouse
• Kelvinator
• Philco
• Tappan

Most of these brands sell either in the residential market (meaning installing a Nordyne air conditioner in an existing home) or in the manufactured homes market (where the air conditioner comes as part of a standard home configuration). There may be other brands under which the Nordyne air conditioner is sold for manufactured homes, and provides equivalent performance and efficiency. The key is to look at whether the unit in your home comes with iQ Drive technology and has an SEER in the 19 to 21 range; if it does, it could very well be a Nordyne air conditioner.

Note on Maytag Air Conditioners: While the Maytag whole house air conditioner with iQ Drive technology is a good quality Nordyne product, the Maytag brand also applies to what in my opinion were very poor quality Maytag window air conditioners, which were neither made, nor sold, nor serviced by Maytag. This highlights the challenge of buying an air conditioner from a brand rather than from the actual manufacturer – you may be buying the brand for its reputation, but you’re getting a product made by someone else.

Industry recognition

Nordyne air conditioners were recognized for outstanding quality and efficiency by several industry associations back in their heyday of 2010-2015. They were recognized for having the fewest compressor failures of any manufacturer in the HVAC market and were considered a leader in quality for decades. The Nordyne air conditioner was the first in the industry to come out with a 5 year warranty. Their quality is good enough that they’ve doubled that warranty period to 10 years – including all of the brands mentioned above.

You know you’ve got a good product when every one of the rebranding companies are comfortable selling the product with a compressor warranty of ten years or more (Maytag goes even further, with a 12 year warranty).

Let’s throw heat and humidity into the mix

As they say on hot summer days in Toronto, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. Here again the Nordyne air conditioner excels. Its combination of iQ Drive system and intelligent thermostat carefully monitor indoor humidity levels and can keep them at a constant level anywhere from 35% to 70% based on your preference. They are the best in the industry at pulling moisture out of the air quickly, quietly, and efficiently.

The Nordyne air conditioner thermostat also lets you tie its humidity controller to a whole house humidifier for winter humidity management, since in the winter heating season the problem is usually low humidity. And since hot days feel hotter when it’s humid, the same applies for cold days: if you can raise the humidity level in your home during the heating season, you can actually heat your house to a lower temperature, and achieve the same comfort level, as if you heat it a bit warmer but with lower humidity. So this tie-in to a whole house humidifier is another energy saving bonus.

Finally, the Nordyne air conditioner is also sold as a Nordyne heat pump – a very similar unit, with the same iQ Drive technology and rotary inverter drive – but it can also heat your home in winter. If you live in a climate with a heating season, I strongly recommend not buying an air conditioner, and instead relacing your existing air conditioner with a high efficiency heat pump such as the units Nordyne / Nortek offers. Like all heat pumps, the Nortek heat pump is highly efficient at extracting heat from the cold outdoor air, but on really cold days (below -5C / 23F) its efficiency decreases and it needs a little help from either your existing furnace or a heating element. A heat pump can substantially lower your fossil gas bills and your carbon footprint, and has the same form factor as an air conditioner, so is compatible with standard gas furnaces.

Rebates and tax credits for the Nordyne air conditioner

In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act offers tax credits of up to $600 for qualified air conditioners, and $2,000 for qualified heat pumps. In Canada, the Greener Homes program does not offer rebates on air conditioners, but it provide sup to $5,000 in rebates on high efficiency heat pumps. Again, another reason to go with a heat pump (which provides excellent air conditioning capabilities) instead of just an air conditoiner.

Finally, several US states, local utilities, Canadian provinces, local governments, and utilities may offer their own financial incentives. For example, in Ontario the local fossil gas utility provides additional rebates to the Canada Greener Homes program.

If you’re looking for an efficient central air conditioner…

Not only will you be saving money and reducing your energy use with a Nordyne air conditioner, but you’ll be using an environmental R-410A refrigerant which is non-ozone depleting and chlorine free. And thanks to the iQ Drive technology, if you pay time-of-use charges or you pay more for peak hour electricity use than for off-hour use, you’ll save with a Nordyne air conditioner because they tend not to reach peak energy usage as often due to their continually variable compressor speed.

Other Nordyne air conditioners

Don’t imagine that just because you buy a Nordyne air conditioner that it is energy efficient. While I think highly of the iQ Drive based air conditioners, Nordyne makes air conditioners that it or other companies resell under a number of obscure to well-known brands, that are only modestly energy efficient. For example, Broan is a Nordyne brand that includes iQ Drive systems as well as systems that are quite low on the efficiency scale by today’s standards; while Miller and Intertherm air conditioners are Nordyne-owned brands targeted at the lower-end and manufactured home segments of the consumer market.

Is Nordyne the best manufacturer?

There was a time when Nordyne was a market leader in terms of quality, efficiency and innovation. But in 2023 my sense is that they’ve been a little left behind by market leaders such as Trane, Carrier, and Lennox, who all also have variable speed fans (it has become a fairly standard feature of most high efficiency air conditioners, since it’s a big part of how these units achieve their very high efficiency) and all of whom have higher maximum SEER ratings in their lineup than Nordyne does. So while it’s a great idea to upgrade an older, less efficient unit with a Nordyne air conditioner, I’d recommend looking at one of these other brands instead if your goal is maximum efficiency.

And please, if you heat as well as cool your house, buy a heat pump, not an air conditioner!