Central air conditioners

Rheem RA16AY / Ruud UA16AY Two-Stage Air Conditioner, 5 ton

Name: Rheem RA16AY / Ruud UA16AY Two-Stage Air Conditioner, 5 ton
Brand: Rheem

Rheem RA16AY60AJ2NA / UA16AY60AJ2NAPro Partner and big-box retail 75% data complete

$8,500 – $14,000

rough estimate, installed — no seller data yet

Installed price varies more between contractors than between brands. Get three quotes.

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.

Our take

The sensible control quote for this house: two compressor stages capture much of the part-load comfort benefit without requiring the RA19's fully communicating indoor system. Rheem offers 5-ton RH2TY two-stage-airflow handlers in both 115V and 208/240V variants, but the quote still needs an AHRI certificate for its exact combination.

Best for

A cooling-only replacement that wants better humidity and shoulder-season behavior while preserving the possibility of a compliant 115V blower-only air-handler circuit.

Watch out for

Do not infer that every 115V RH2TY is rated with this condenser, or that a 115V receptacle is an acceptable branch circuit. Require the indoor model, AHRI reference, MCA/MOCP and heat-kit choice in writing.

Compare against

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.

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.

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.

Specifications

Efficiency

Seasonal cooling efficiency?

A solid step above the federal floor.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

SEER2

SEER2 replaced SEER in 2023 under a harder lab test (5x the airflow resistance) — never compare a SEER2 number to an old SEER number; a unit that used to test at 14 SEER now tests at roughly 13.4 SEER2 for the same hardware.

How it holds up on the hottest afternoons?

Solid peak-day performance, in line with what DOE requires in hot-dry Southwest states.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

EER2

Manufacturers publish this far less consistently than SEER2 — if it's missing, that itself is worth asking about if you live somewhere with real summer heat.

Sizing

How much house it cools?

Enough cooling for a large house, roughly 2,200-3,000 sq ft in an average climate

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

56,000 BTU/h

Rated capacity

This is a rough guide, not a substitute for a Manual J load calculation. Bigger is not better here — P1's single largest regret cluster is buyers whose unit is oversized for the house, which short-cycles, fails to dehumidify, and leaves rooms feeling cold and clammy at the same time.

Design

How it throttles output?

Can drop to a lower output on mild days instead of running full-blast every cycle — a real, if smaller, step toward the same benefit as variable-speed.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

two-stage

Compressor / burner staging

Which refrigerant it uses?

Current-generation refrigerant. Mildly flammable (A2L-classified) — confirm your installer is trained and equipped for A2L brazing, charging and leak detection.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

R-454B

Refrigerant

As of 2025, new-build equipment must use a refrigerant with GWP <= 700, which rules out R-410A — a unit still spec'd in R-410A is pre-2025 inventory. The federal deadline that would have banned *installing* existing R-410A stock was reversed in May 2026, so it remains legal to install; what changes is long-run service cost, not legality.

System match

Cited indoor-unit example?

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

RH2TY6021STANAA (representative 115V option)

Cited indoor-unit example

Indoor-unit supply voltage?

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

115V

Indoor-unit supply voltage

Auxiliary electric-heat supply?

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

208/240V

Auxiliary electric-heat supply

Comfort

How loud the outdoor unit runs?

On the loud side — worth thinking about if the condenser will sit near a window, patio or a neighbor's property line.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

72 dB(A)

Sound level

This is the rated sound level of the unit alone, not what you'll actually hear at a specific window — that depends on siting, mounting and what's nearby, none of which any certification measures.

Ownership

How long parts are covered?

A full 10-year parts term, in line with the rest of the market.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

10 yr

Parts warranty

On an inverter system the control/inverter board is a common costly failure, and the board is a part, not the compressor — a strong compressor term paired with a weak parts term is a 5-year warranty on the thing most likely to actually break.

How long the compressor is covered?

A long compressor warranty — but check the parts term below; a compressor covered for 10-12 years paired with a much shorter parts term is a headline number, not full protection.

Manufacturer submittal and specification sheets · tier 3

10 yr

Compressor warranty

Many manufacturers require registration within 60-90 days of install to get the full term — miss the deadline and coverage silently drops to a shorter base warranty.

Cost

What people typically pay?

Quotes usually start around $8,500

Third-party HVAC installed-price estimators · tier 4 · unverified

$8,500

Typical installed cost (low)

Installed price varies more between contractors than between brands. Get three quotes.

Top of the typical range?

and run up to about $14,000 for harder installations

Third-party HVAC installed-price estimators · tier 4 · unverified

$14,000

Typical installed cost (high)

Every value above is stored with the document it came from and the date it was read. How we resolve conflicting sources →