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BS: Buying a new furnace
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BS: Buying a new furnace |
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Subject: Buying a new furnace From: M.Ted Date: 22 Jan 02 - 04:04 PM This is related to music only in that I won't be play write until I get this taken care of-- Anyway--our heater/ac is electric, and about 17 years old--it doesn't do what it is supposed to, and the repair people tell me it will cost a lot to fix, and probably won't stay fixed--they seem to all have new furnaces they want to sell me, but none of them give me any choice of brands or models--I am suspicious, as I have lived in houses with much older furnaces that still worked fine, but I have yet to find anyone who will tell me anything other than it really ought to be replaced-- Any input will be appreciated-- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: 53 Date: 22 Jan 02 - 04:20 PM ask spaw he told me in my last thread do what you got to do, and don't ask us. BOB |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: catspaw49 Date: 22 Jan 02 - 04:24 PM Hi Ted......No idea as to what to tell you as in my case I did what I always end up doing in those situations. About 2 years ago in mid-winter the furnace crapped out entirely and I called the Lennox local guy who has a good reputation and then paid whatever it was. Shopping is always a plus so you're off to a good start!!! BTW, I'm happy as a clam and also toasty warm and my gas boll went down. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: M.Ted Date: 22 Jan 02 - 04:30 PM Spaw--I appreciate your honesty--some people will go on for a long time before you figure out that they have nothing to tell you-- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: MMario Date: 22 Jan 02 - 04:36 PM we went through this at our church for twenty years (literally) with various people telling us it "should" be replaced - we finally replaced it (at about the age of 50 years) because all the connecting pipes etc had to be redone anyway - but it was functioning well the day it was yanked out. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Jacob B Date: 22 Jan 02 - 06:05 PM If I had electric heat, I'd be eager to replace it with another source of fuel, since it is more expensive to heat with electricity than with oil or gas (at least, it is in the U.S.A.) Air conditioning is a different story, but if you primarily use the system for heating, it would be worthwhile to change. If they want you to replace the electric system with another electric system, then you want them to tell you exactly what is wrong with the old one. In what way is it not doing what it is supposed to do? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: catspaw49 Date: 22 Jan 02 - 06:26 PM Completely unrelated story...skip if you like. About ten years ago we put a hardwood floor in Wayne and Connie's house. Wayne and I are tearing out the old floor and after pulling out a crowbar that we'd just driven in, a loud hissing came from the basement. Wayne and I looked at each other and immediately we both yelled "GAS" at the top of our lungs and yelled for Connie and the kids to get out of the house. We arrive in the front yard and Connie looks at us and says, "What is the gas from? I thought the furnace was electric." She was of course right....It's an all-electric home......The hiss was a freon line we'd punctured. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Murray MacLeod Date: 22 Jan 02 - 06:37 PM So you were responsible for the start of the depletion of the ozone layer, Spaw ? No wonder you can't sleep nights ...:-) Murray |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: artbrooks Date: 22 Jan 02 - 06:46 PM I understand that contemporary furnaces are much more energy efficient than older ones. The figures I've seen (from furnace salesmen, of course) says that today's are 95% efficient vs. 55% efficiency for those sold 12 years ago. I assume those numbers are in ergs per eep or something. I recently put in a low-water-useage toilet, and got a $100 rebate on my utility bill from the city, so it may be worth your while to investigate if something similar is offered where you are on furnaces. As Spaw says, best to do whatever you decide before it dies entirely, because it will be 2:00 on Saturday morning, with an outside temperature of -15, when it does. Try Consumer Reports for information on different types and brands. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Sorcha Date: 22 Jan 02 - 07:16 PM Oh, gawd, LMAO, here, spaw. Damn near been there, done that! Re furnaces---there is always a trade off between natural gas and electric. Gas is cheaper, but leaves nasty residue. Electric is cleaner but more expensive. We have a Lennox gas that we are happy with. Winter bill averages $100. (What's the use of a Low Water toilet if you have to flush 4 times to get the brown stuff to go away???) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: M.Ted Date: 22 Jan 02 - 08:35 PM Jacob, to answer your questions--Firstly, we live in an area where all of the homes are electrically heated--there is no gas available--Interestingly, I had oil hotwater heat in my last house, and my electric bills here are less than my electric bills there were, not even counting the oil-- Anyway, the short story is that during the day, if I crank the thermostat up to the max, the house is warm, but at night, cold air comes out of the vents and the valve where the freon comes into the heating unit from the heat pump cakes over with ice(during the day, it is so hot you could burn your hand on it)-- The general feeling is that there is a problem with the timers and such things that regulate the vent cycles on the heat pump, and they need replacement, and the valve which changes it from a heating to ac unit is stuck and probably needs replacing--my current heating/ac people will be happy to repair the unit, but they point out that it will be kind of expensive--and that, at the end of it, I will still have a rickety heating system(they didn't use the word rickety) The previous owner was a computer programmer who did his own repairs on the unit (including, apparently, adding freon to the system) and he made some novel, if not entirely understandable modifications to the system--the present timer is a device not normally associated with heating systems, for instance-- I am not an expert on this sort of heating system(I really can't understand how it can be possible to bring heat in from the outside in the winter, when it is hotter inside than outside) but I have examined both the heating/ac unit and the heat pump, and they sure do look rickety to me--
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: GUEST,mgarvey@pacifier.com Date: 22 Jan 02 - 09:08 PM I'd replace it. You'll get a safer and more efficient system. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Lyrical Lady Date: 23 Jan 02 - 12:54 AM Spaw .. for all those near and dear to you ... it must be a great relief that your "gas boll" has finally gone down ...*BG* LL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Hrothgar Date: 23 Jan 02 - 04:37 AM Live in good climate, don't need furnace. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Jon Freeman Date: 23 Jan 02 - 05:20 AM In areas of the UK where there is no mains gas supply, an option that appears to be quite popular is to have a tank installed above or below ground and to have LPG delivered by tanker. Is that option availible in the US? Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: gnu Date: 23 Jan 02 - 06:06 AM Aha ! A heat pump. The plot thickens. Or at least gets more complicated. Q1 : Where are you ? Heat pumps will only work to about -15C. Their efficiency decreases as you approach this temp. Most are sized for the house depending on cooling, not on heating. Q2 : Are you sure it's a frost cycling type, or a frost sensing type ? Is there a cutout temp on the unit ? Q3 : Heating capacity (from the data plate on the unit in the house) ? or from the owners manual ? Floor area ? Q4 : Any other heating system besides the HP ? You said something about a furnace ? Perhaps you could get your owner's manual in front of you and we could PM on this. Kinda sounds like you need to adjust the cutout temp and get some secondary heat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Buying a new furnace From: Dead Horse Date: 23 Jan 02 - 02:06 PM Solid fuel furnaces are undoubtably the best, but get one with LARGE doors, so that you can burn coal, peat, banjos, bits of mother-in-law, etc. Small doors mean you have to chop them up into really little bits, and that makes you all hot & sweaty, and so defeats the object. This is one area where accordians are better than concertinas, as they burn longer. |