Going to need a new Oil Furnace soon advice please

[Fanatical Meat]

My current forced hot air oil furnace is 32 years old its starting to make a odd hesitating starting sound. I had it serviced today and they saw nothing wrong other than the carburetor (I forgot the part name but its the part that sprays the oil for burning) needed a cleaning. I was told the firebox(?) may be cracked because smelling a small puff of oil when it starts is a sign of that. I realize its time to replace and I trust the oil company they have not tried to sell me anything but the yearly service contract.
We have a 1100 square foot house, gas is not an option, she wants to add AC, we live outside of Boston.

This isn't an urgent project, we'll likely do it over the summer maybe the fall.
We do have trouble getting heat to the end of the line which is the bedroom.

What brands should I be looking at and is efficiency nearly identical on all oil furnaces?

 

[Gardener]

A visual inspection is required to determine if the firebox is shot, you smelling oil may be nothing more than a failed (or delayed) ignition. Has the servicing cleared up the problem?

Some of those old burners do not have solenoids so they drip after running a cycle, and the tiny puddle of oil in the burner tube vaporizes and stinks on the next cycle...it goes away once the firebox heats up and the chimney starts drawing away the exhaust.

I have an old furnace, the firebox and the heat exchanger are good, but I have replaced the oil burner twice. The fact you are getting unusual noise/hesitation when you call for heat, and occasional odor, would make me look at the burner and rule that out first.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

^^Thanks man
I no longer smell oil upstairs at start. I do still think its time for replacement we've called for additional service for 4 years in a row and still have a yearly cleaning.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you do replace I would look into switching to natural gas or even propane while you're at it. Look into a 90+ condensing at least. Some are even more efficient now too. Is there a reason you are ruling gas out? It's going to be WAY cheaper to run a natural gas or even propane furnace than oil. Natural gas is going to be the cheapest, propane is still kinda expensive.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

If you do replace I would look into switching to natural gas or even propane while you're at it. Look into a 90+ condensing at least. Some are even more efficient now too. Is there a reason you are ruling gas out? It's going to be WAY cheaper to run a natural gas or even propane furnace than oil. Natural gas is going to be the cheapest, propane is still kinda expensive.

No gas on the street, I don't want a propane tank either.
We only use a little more than a tank of oil per year.

 

[Meghan54]

You are in the same predicament as we were a few years ago when we were living on the Cape. Old oil furnaces were giving out or shot, had to replace both.

The house used was a hot water boiler with domestic hot water. We bought a Weil-McLain for that.

The kennel used a forced air oil furnace, we bought a Trane. Worked darned good. Efficiency is very close amongst brands, if I remember correctly.

Agree on the propane...horribly expensive.

 

[PowerEngineer]

In my limited personal experience, if the wife wants air conditioning then it becomes an urgent necessity! I exaggerate, but only a little.

If you are going to add air conditioning, you might look into how much more a heat pump will cost. Using it as the heating source during milder temperatures (with your oil furnace as the back-up for really cold weather) could save you money on oil costs.

Also, I hope you have carbon monoxide detectors in your home. Smelling oil inside your home on start-up suggests to me the possibility of a crack in your heat exchanger which could let combustion gasses into your house. I hope I'm wrong!