Does anyone know about furnaces?

[skull]

I would go with a goodman or payne(cheaper carrier). For the most part different brand furnaces are made with the same brand parts. Some are still made better than others. They all come with 5 year warranties unless you pay extra for a 10. Most furnaces seem to have the hot surface ignitor go bad right around the 5-10 year mark but there a $150-$200 fix.

 

[desy]

Another name is air exchange
since you have to have fresh air 'most places by code' into the furnace you can use an air exchange which improves effeciency over say boxed air and does double duty as a fan/dehumidifyer

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
SEARS will be the highest quote guaranteed.

I will second Trane, Lennox, Carrier and Heil, all top notch. The Aprilaire dehumidification system is also a must.

I put in a Lennox AC unit and a Carrier 90% NG furnace last year for just under $5000 installed for everythiing. The furnace alone should cost less than the AC unit, so less than half is a good starting point, though I may have gotten a deal on the pair.

Interesting. I would have thought the opposite since they are a large company with alot of buying power. I would have assumed the mom & pop places to be more.

The Sears quote on basically the same thing I got for under $5k was over $8k.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
The Sears quote on basically the same thing I got for under $5k was over $8k.

:Q

Well I have two other places coming over the next couple of days. I am expecting to spend under $3k, preferrably uner $2k.

 

[mshan]

Estimated I remember reading was $1500 - $2000 per ton (?) of heating / cooling capacity (I think 80K btu is going to be alot more than $2000 - $3000).

Trane is supposed to be very good, as is Carrier. Lennox replacement parts are supposed to be really expensive.

And I've seen it recommended that you get you should buy from and competent and qualified installer, who will do required preventive maintainence too.

Personally, I wouldn't use Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. because I believe they just subcontract out to whoever is willing to work for them for least money. Why not go to independent authorized shop?

Plus, if you want to get optimal operating efficiency, doesn't dealer have to carefully look at your house, rooms, windows, etc. to get a very accurate estimate of how much heating cooling you really need?

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: mshan
Estimated I remember reading was $1500 - $2000 per ton (?) of heating / cooling capacity (I think 80K btu is going to be alot more than $2000 - $3000).

Trane is supposed to be very good, as is Carrier. Lennox replacement parts are supposed to be really expensive.

And I've seen it recommended that you get you should buy from and competent and qualified installer, who will do required preventive maintainence too.

Personally, I wouldn't use Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. because I believe they just subcontract out to whoever is willing to work for them for least money. Why not go to independent authorized shop?

Plus, if you want to get optimal operating efficiency, doesn't dealer have to carefully look at your house, rooms, windows, etc. to get a very accurate estimate of how much heating cooling you really need?

At least one of the Carrier dealers coming is supposed to be doing measurments of some sort to determine what I need.

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: mshan
Estimated I remember reading was $1500 - $2000 per ton (?) of heating / cooling capacity (I think 80K btu is going to be alot more than $2000 - $3000).

Trane is supposed to be very good, as is Carrier. Lennox replacement parts are supposed to be really expensive.

And I've seen it recommended that you get you should buy from and competent and qualified installer, who will do required preventive maintainence too.

Personally, I wouldn't use Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. because I believe they just subcontract out to whoever is willing to work for them for least money. Why not go to independent authorized shop?

Plus, if you want to get optimal operating efficiency, doesn't dealer have to carefully look at your house, rooms, windows, etc. to get a very accurate estimate of how much heating cooling you really need?

At least one of the Carrier dealers coming is supposed to be doing measurments of some sort to determine what I need.

FYI, Carrier has one of it's main headquarters where you are. Be sure you ask them about cool-cash rebates to see if they are applicable to your state.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
FYI, Carrier has one of it's main headquarters where you are. Be sure you ask them about cool-cash rebates to see if they are applicable to your state.

Yup, their plant is right down the road from where my wife works. I'll look into the rebate. Thanks.

 

[GregGreen]

Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
I will second Trane, Lennox, Carrier and Heil, all top notch. The Aprilaire dehumidification system is also a must.

Also, Airquest and Tempstar will also provide you quality. Heil, Airquest, and Tempstar are actually made by the same company (ICP).

Also, someone mentioned Sears just contracting out to whomever is the cheapest -- this may be true in some areas, but in my area they contract to one of the best heating and cooling contractors in the area.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: amdskip
Anyone know anything about electric forced air furnaces? Mine is at least 35 years old, seems to work great, gas is not available.

Electric is, more or less, 100% efficient. Your only losses would be if it's heating an area that's not intended to be heated (the area around the furnace.)

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: mooseracing
Go for the scratch and dent furnaces, you will save a ton. The one we picked up still had the warranty and only had a few small dents in it.

How do I find a scratch and dent? You can't just go look at furnaces in a store (at least that I have seen). I assume the contractor would be getting it from a contractor-only wholesale type place.

Sadly, around me that was the case. It was nearly impossible for me to purchase a furnace without going through one of the plumbing/heating contractors. Also, the contractors don't all pay the same price from the wholesaler - their price depends on how much business they do. I was fortunate to find a local contractor who ordered it for me. I picked it up at the wholesaler & dropped a check out at the wholesaler - made out to the contractor. Including the sheet metal, some beers for my bro-in-law who helped install it, and ($75 or $100, I think) an inspection from the contractor so that my warranty would be valid, it came to less than $1000.

And, yes, there's a huge jump at some point in the efficiency where financially, it's not usually worth it. I can't remember if it was at 90% or where though.

 

[Jumpem]

Well estimate number one:

Carrier Comfort 92: $2660
Carrier Performance 93 (two-stage): $2969

I don't have that much money to waste with the baby due in two months.