Central air conditioners
Goodman GSXC180241 Air Conditioner
Prices are the outdoor condenser only, before an indoor coil or install labour. This differs from the heat-pump category's equipment_system default because the real market for central-ac specifically skews toward condenser-only replacement — the existing indoor coil or air handler is frequently kept if compatible. Where we only found an equipment-system or installed price, the bridge above is a national planning estimate, so treat those rows as rough. Get contractor quotes for the install itself.
Two-stage cooling-only condenser, R-410A, SEER2 17 — being sold through as clearance inventory ahead of Goodman's move to R-32/R-454B.
Our take
Genuinely attractive on price per SEER2 right now — real listings run under $700/ton equipment-only, among the cheapest two-stage cooling in this set — but it's an outgoing R-410A platform, not a forward-looking buy for someone planning to keep the system 15+ years through the refrigerant phasedown.
Best for
Budget-conscious buyers replacing an AC only, comfortable with R-410A servicing costs likely rising over the system's remaining life.
Watch out for
Shows as discontinued or out of stock at more than one retailer — availability may be inconsistent by the time you're shopping. Compressor coverage is 'lifetime with registration' per Goodman, not a fixed term.
What sellers are actually charging
Real listings, read on the date shown. Prices change — click through to check before you act on any of them.
| Seller | What you get | Price | Seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| HVACDirect.com
online retailer |
Goodman GSXC18 2-ton two-stage condenser, R-410A
GSXC180241 |
$2,684 | 2026-08-16 |
Equipment price is not installed price. The listings above are what the hardware costs. Installation — labour, electrical, refrigerant lines, permits, removing the old system — is typically a similar amount again, and varies more between contractors than between brands. Where we have an installed figure it is labelled as such and comes from someone who actually installs.
What owners and installers report
Collected from trade forums, owner communities and video reviews. Every report links to the original. We synthesise and quote briefly — we don't republish other people's writing.
Every report below traces back to a single source. The sections are broken out by topic because that's how they read, but treat this as one data point, not independent corroboration across topics — a second source agreeing (or disagreeing) would change that.
Reliability and failures
What breaks, when, and how often — from people several years in.
Brand-level signal, not a match to this specific model: a trade commenter characterized Goodman's reliability as below other brands and expected earlier repairs than average. Weighed here at low confidence — it's one tradesperson's characterization on a forum thread, not a sourced failure-rate study, and Goodman's engineering and warranty terms have changed materially since this era.
“Goodman is cheap garbage.... You will need repairs sooner than you would think with the Goodman unit.” — pcgeek11 trade, 2013
Home air conditioning unit: repair or replace? · Owner/trade forums (misc.) · 2013-01-01 · read it in context
Sources are linked so you can verify any of this yourself. We don't mirror content — Amazon in particular permits no republication of review text, so where we use retailer data we show the aggregate rating and link out. How we collect and weight this →
Compare against
Carrier Infinity 24ANB1 Variable-Speed Air Conditioner
Variable-speed cooling-only condenser, SEER2 up to 21, designed to pair with a gas furnace.
Trane XV20i Variable-Speed Air Conditioner
Variable-speed cooling-only condenser rated to SEER2 20.5, built around Trane's Climatuff compressor.
Bryant Preferred 148TAN04800W Air Conditioner
Two-stage cooling-only condenser, SEER2 18, EER2 14, built on the same Puron Advance platform Carrier sells as its own mid-tier line.
Lennox Merit ML14KC1-018 Air Conditioner
Entry-tier single-stage cooling-only condenser, SEER2 up to 17, sized for a small home or condo.
Before you buy this
Ask the contractor for the AHRI certificate number for the specific indoor/outdoor combination being installed — ratings apply to matched pairs, not to the outdoor unit alone. Ask whether they will perform a Manual J load calculation rather than sizing off the equipment being replaced. And check your state and utility incentive programmes: there is no federal tax credit for a 2026 installation, so those programmes are now the only incentive money available, and many require approval before installation.