we need to buy a new furnace - any recommendations?

[tigereye]

what's good, what lasts, what not to buy, what doesn't cost a fortune?

you get the idea.


Thanks.

[Wapsie B]

1. I've got a Trane

and it's given me no problems at all. It was around $2000. Lennox is good too.

[tigereye]

2. I' ve heard good things about Tranes

do they tend to last? We have an ANCIENT furnace (40 plus years old) and I've heard that the new ones don't tend to last as long.

[Wapsie B]

3. I've had this one since '98.

I don't know about not lasting as long. This one hasn't skipped a beat. Do you have a community college around you with an HVAC program? If you do I'd call them and see what they'd recommend as far as quality is concerned, an unbiased source as it were.

[tigereye]

9. what a great idea!

thanks.

[Wapsie B]

15. you're welcome!

:)

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Another vote for Trane

We had a workable but inefficient gas furnace. When we replaced the 30 year-old A/C we changed out the furnace at the same time, both Trane.

[tigereye]

10. are the ac and the furnace one unit

or separate? My h wanted to explore a/c as well.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. No, they're separate but work from the same thermostat

The dealer told us that it would work well with the old furnace, but it was cheaper to replace both together than each separately. Our furnace was fifteen-twenty years old so it was a toss up. We decided to replace them both. The new furnace is much more efficient and costs about 20% less to run and provides more even heating because it's a two-stage.

[Ravenseye]

5. Trane High Efficiency

I got one last year and it's been fine so far. We had to rip out the old huge boiler and put taht in...total cost on everything for furnace, destruction of old one, new vents, was over 2 grand.

Definately go high efficency though, but don't bother with the humidifier add on. From what I read it's worthless.

[Wapsie B]

6. Yeah the add on humidifiers can leak water easily.

A stand-alone humidifier elsewhere in the house will circulate moisture well.

[B3Nut]

7. I've had good luck with Bryant

I bought a Plus 90 for my old house in Michigan, and the house I have now in Wis. has one too. Good solid high-efficiency furnaces, and they're really quiet (the burner inducer motor is isolation-mounted rather than bolted to the furnace chassis). Bryant/Day&Night/Payne are the same units, branded for different regions. Also the Carrier Weathermakers are basically the same units as well (Bryant/D&N/Payne are owned by Carrier).

I always get good quiet heat out of 'em...

Todd in Beerbratistan

[tigereye]

12. thanks!

[davsand]

16. I agree that Bryant is good. How much house are you heating?

I have a Bryant that we had installed about 8 years ago. Never have had a problem with it, and it cut our heating bills a lot by getting rid of the old furnace.

You might want to take a look at the consumer websites about HVAC and see what they are saying about the various brands. You will want to know what the Sq footage your house is, because that will determine how much furnace and AC power you need.

I would suggest that you not scrimp on this. You will never be happy if you under-buy on the heating capacity of that furnace, plus it will never work as efficiently as it should if it is too small. The same goes for your AC unit.

IF you are thinking about starting over completely with your entire HVAC system, I'd advise considering a geo-thermal unit. It might cost a bit more upfront, but in the long term it will save you cash down the road in both AC and heating costs.

Frankly, in our area resale value on houses with geo-thermal units is actually a bit stronger. Right now it is not a huge difference, but with rising energy costs it will become more significant in time.

No matter WHAT you do, I'd say go with somebody who has done work for people you know and has left them happy in the long term. You WANT the guy that has been at it a while and who does the follow up service to keep those buyers happy. This is NOT a job for Frank Fly-by-night.

Good luck!


Laura

[eyesroll]

8. Ask your furnace co if they have a scratch-and-dent model

It'll save you about 10%, and since the furnace is in your basement or utility closet, who cares if the outside is a little dinged?

[tigereye]

13. considering how old the current one is

(and the mess that is the basement) that sounds good. Our last stove was from the scratch and dent and we were planning to get a new fridge from there as well. I would never have thought that there were scratch and dent furnaces. Interesting.

thanks for the info! :hi:

[Magrittes Pipe]

11. Nothing stops a Trane.

Commercials never lie. :patriot:

[tigereye]

14. actually an old friend was an engineer for them

she was cool.