We live in Northern NJ (Berkeley Heights) & have a 1,850 sq ft Split Level, built in 1955.
Our current furnace is a forced hot air Bryant Model 397G, installed in 1979/1980, and Bryant 3 Ton Central A/C added in 1985. Both seemed to be sized correctly for the house, as we have not had any problems with either the furnace or A/C running excessively & good humidity control in the house.
The furnace ID Plate states 125,000 Input BTU/hr, Bonnet Capacity of 100,000 BTU/hr. The current Central A/C has a SEER of 10.3.
We have had no major problems in the past with these units, but last week it appears as though a water leak has developed in the collection pan for the evaporator coil. The condensate water is leaking all over the cellar floor instead of going out the furnished drain fitting.
Before this problem came up, we were toying with the idea of replacing these units for higher efficiency units, but had pretty much decided to put it off for a year or two. This problem with the condensate water changed our minds pretty quickly & now we want to take care of replacing these units this year.
We have had two contractors come by & furnish estimates, both using York equipment, one a 100,000 BTU furnace, 3 Ton A/C Unit & Coil. The other estimate has a 115,000 BTU furnace, 3 Ton A/C Unit & Coil. There is another contractor that will show up shortly.
One of the contractors said that we could not make a direct comparison of the BTU Rating of our current Furnace with the units currently on the market because the method of measuring BTU's of these units has changed. Is this the case?
Also, what does "Bonnet Capacity" mean on our current furnace's I.D. Plate, as opposed to "Input" for the BTU's?