Central air conditioners
Goodman GSXC180481 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 18, the 4-ton entry in Goodman's outgoing GSXC18 clearance line.
Our take
Same platform and same trade-off as the 2-ton GSXC180241: real clearance pricing on an R-410A unit that won't be the refrigerant everyone's servicing in a decade. A mid-size-home replacement pick for someone prioritizing acquisition cost.
Best for
Mid-size homes where lowest total cost matters more than efficiency headline numbers or refrigerant longevity.
Watch out for
72 dB is on the loud end for a 4-ton condenser — better suited to a side-yard or detached pad than a spot right outside a bedroom window.
What sellers are actually charging
Real listings, read on the date shown — none currently in stock at the observed price. Prices change — click through to check before you act on any of them.
| Seller | What you get | Price | Stock | Seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVACDirect.com
online retailer |
equipment outdoor only | $3,557 | unknown | 2026-08-16 |
| Ingrams Water & Air Equipment
online retailer |
equipment outdoor only | $2,770 | out of stock | 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.
Reliability and failures
What breaks, when, and how often — from people several years in.
Thin evidence — too few independent reports to call this a pattern. Shown because it may still be worth asking your contractor about.
Brand-level signal, not a match to this specific model: an owner reported replacing the compressor twice on a 3-ton Goodman unit and once on a 5-ton Goodman unit, both well inside expected compressor service life.
“I've had to replace the compressor twice on the 3-ton unit and once on the 5-ton unit” — forum participant homeowner
Goodman Manufacturing reviews · ConsumerAffairs reviews · read it in context
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
Reported for Goodman GSXC180241 Air Conditioner, not this exact model — included here because it's the same family and counts toward the totals above.
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
Goodman GSXC180241 Air Conditioner
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.
Rheem RA19AY / Ruud UA19AY Inverter Air Conditioner, 5 ton
Current Rheem/Ruud R-454B 5-ton communicating inverter condenser. Rheem's designated test combination with the RHMVY6021SEACAJ modulating air handler delivers 54,000 BTU/h, 17.5 SEER2 and 10.5 EER2.
Rheem RA16AY / Ruud UA16AY Two-Stage Air Conditioner, 5 ton
Current Rheem/Ruud R-454B 5-ton, two-stage cooling-only condenser. It is the middle Rheem/Ruud replacement path between single-stage equipment and the fully communicating inverter system.
Carrier Infinity 24ANB1 Variable-Speed Air Conditioner
Variable-speed cooling-only condenser, SEER2 up to 21, designed to pair with a gas furnace.
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.