Explainers

Same ratings under different brand names

By Emma Wilson · Published October 27, 2026 · Data certified as of October 27, 2026

Of the 2,613 rated products in the list, 1,517 (58%) are listed under more than one brand name. The Carrier 38MURAQ60AB3 appears under 54 brand names.

One product, many labels

The ENERGY STAR list records each brand's listing separately. Many outdoor model numbers are listed with identical certified matches and identical ratings under several brand names, some of them dozens of times. The file names 256 brand names and 129 ENERGY STAR partners.

This site merges such listings into one rated product, called a rating family on the method page: outdoor model numbers whose best ratings are identical in every field count once. That is why the site counts 2,613 rated products although the file holds 7,820 outdoor model numbers.

How common it is

Only 1,096 rated products (42%) carry a single brand name. Another 591 carry two, and 490 carry six or more. A rated product has a median of 2 distinct model numbers.

The extreme case is the Carrier 38MURAQ60AB3, a 5-ton split-system outdoor unit with 54 brand names and 33 model numbers in the list. Its product page shows every listing that carries the same ratings.

Model numbers follow the brand

A new brand name usually brings a new model number. Of the 1,517 rated products with more than one brand name, 1,300 also use more than one model number, and the rest repeat one model number under several names. Searching by model number alone can therefore miss a product that is listed under another name; the side-by-side search covers every model number in the list.

Brand names by product type

Single-package units are the type most often listed under several names: 88% of them carry more than one brand name, against 61% of split systems and 55% of mini- and multi-splits. Ten or more brand names are listed for 81 split systems and for 163 mini- and multi-splits.

The names change but the ratings do not. Within a rating family every listing carries the same best SEER2, EER2, HSPF2, capacities, COP, staging and refrigerant; that is the definition used to merge them. Differences in the other fields, such as the market date or the partner company, are kept and shown where they matter.

Brands and partners

Each listing also names the ENERGY STAR partner that certified it, usually the manufacturer or its sales company. Brand names outnumber partners by about two to one in the file. Of the rated products, 927 are certified by more than one partner, while 1,517 carry more than one brand name. Of those 1,517, 603 are certified by a single partner under all of their names.

Brand groups

Identical listings also link whole line-ups. When two brands list nearly the same set of rated products, this site treats them as one brand group: 16 of the 124 groups combine several names. The largest is Airquest / Arcoaire / Comfortmaker / Day & Night / Heil / Keeprite / Tempstar, with 7 brand names. Other examples with their own page are Carrier / Bryant, Payne / WeatherMaker, and Trane / American Standard.

Grouping keeps the line-up pages from repeating one another. A brand that sells the same products as another would otherwise get a page with the same rows and the same ranks under a different name.

Reading a listing with several names

Two listings with the same ratings are the same rated product in this list, whatever the label says. Each product page has a section headed "Same ratings" when this applies, with every brand name and model number in that family. In the side-by-side view, typing any of those model numbers brings up the same figures, and the "Listed under" row counts the names.

The list does not say who built a product, and identical ratings do not prove identical hardware in every detail; they show identical certified results. This site describes the listings and makes no claim about warranties, support or any difference between brands beyond the listed ratings.

Why it matters for counts

Counting model numbers instead of rated products would make products listed under many names weigh many times more than single-brand ones in every median and rank. All ranks, medians and shares on this site count each rated product once. The figures refer to the list certified as of October 27, 2026.