Considering new furnace

[stevestk]

I'm thinking about getting a new furnace and have met with two dealers. The driving force is the fact that I want to get central air. Since the furnace is 35 years old, I thought it made sense to replace it at the same time. The first guy was a Carrier dealer and after reviewing the situation, he said he wasn't sure replacing the furnace was the best thing to do. My house is about 1300sf. My gas budget is $90. He recommended tuning and cleaning the furnace at which time they would inspect the heat exchanger. It guess the current furnace should be 65% -70%? efficient and he felt I should consider the payback time on the investment. That kind of shocked me. My concern was what happens if it fails in the middle of January. He indicated a new furnace can be aquired and installed in 8 hours if it came to that. His position was this furnace could last a number of years yet. He would be happy to sell me a new one if that is what I want and is preparing various estimates. Dealer two is a Lennox dealer which is what I have now. He soon implies I'll want a high efficiency furnace and recommends a Goodman or Amana which he says are just as good as Lennox but cheaper. I ask about 80% furnaces and says he doesn't recommend them anymore but will quote them if I want. He provided various systemquotes. Also both seem to think a 10 seer air unit would be a decent option and told me you won't be able to get them after January. They also provided 13 seer options. Both seem to have good reputations. Opinions?

[BaldLoonie]

It would help to know your location to give you better advice. Cold area, 90+ and a 10 SEER A/C. Mild area, 80 and a heat pump. Small home has less potential for savings with high SEER so the advice on getting a 10 SEER while you can may not be bad. The advice to keep the clunker is though. I'd bet more like 55-60% efficient at best. Make sure whatever dealer you choose measures the house and sizes the furnace properly. Too many oversize in small homes.

[stevestk]

I'm in Ohio. I was told the current furnace was oversized.

[BaldLoonie]

I'm just next door. I'd go dual fuel. Get a 10 or 12 SEER heat pump and then replace the gas furnace. In the small home, probably don't need the 90, 80% with a good pump would be some low heating rates.

[klabkebash]

Considering your house is only 1300 SQFT. You only need about a 75,000 BTU output furnace. an 80% Eff will do you fine.

The furnace to install by itself should be around $XXXX ballpark.

Outdoor a 3-ton outdoor condensing unit with indoor coil to install add another $XXXX-$XXXX

(Please, no pricing. See the site rules (http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=1241).)

[Edited by Mod01 on 11-10-2005 at 03:36 PM]

[2hot2coolme]

Originally posted by klabkebash
Considering your house is only 1300 SQFT. You only need about a 75,000 BTU output furnace. an 80% Eff will do you fine.

(EDIT: Pricing removed from quote. Mod01)

Sounds oversized already...

[Edited by Mod01 on 11-10-2005 at 03:37 PM]

[stevestk]

klabbebash, why do you think 3-ton, my first estimate was a 2-ton and 70,000 btu.

[hvac hero]

I cant believe a contractor would not recommend a new furnace if he was adding central air. If the furnace is 35 yrs old, I'd definitely go with a new one. If you decided to go with it later its gonna probably cost you more than if you have it done with the other work.

[tinner73]

Originally posted by stevestk
klabbebash, why do you think 3-ton, my first estimate was a 2-ton and 70,000 btu.


maybe he thinks you're gonna run your a/c with the windows open. he's guessing and guessing wrong.

[stonefly]

dealer #1 is too honest & dealer #2 wont be with lennox long.i changed out 3 lennox mod.# gh4 or such summer before last. 45 yr! dont know that a repair had ever been made to any of them.i know that dosent help you but it brightened my day twice a year to stand before those marvels of design & craftsmanship.

[klabkebash]

if your going to cool 1300 SQFT you should be looking 1040 CFM minimum. Which is techincally a 2.5-ton but if you oversize to 3-ton it wont hurt you it will actually benefit you somewhat if you loose to static pressure if your duct runs are long and not as clean because they been there a while.