Richard...
It certainly makes a difference where you are located... here in
seattle, A/C, humidifiers and dehumidifiers are usually not as important
as in much of the rest of the country... We do have the electro static
filters that we really like and have had no problems with.
Our gas furnace died over Christmas... (2 weeks without heat at the
holidays....even in Seattle is not fun.. but we went to a lot of movies)
We had a Payne 90 high efficiency unit which I now understand is a low
end builders quality model produced by Bryant. Although the heat
exchanger had a lifetime warrantee, it was going to cost $1200 to get
to it and replace all of the other stuff that was also 12 years old....
Don"t buy a Payne!!!!
We interviewed 5 local heating contractors. Prices ranged from $2000
to $4000.. I should note that we have a 2 story, 70 yr old house with
basement.... approx 4000 sf.
The two units that we were most interested in were both high end
models... Lenox and Bryant.
Both were 2 stage, high efficiency, variable speed DC fan units with
programable touch pad controls.
Lennox was $3900 total installed. and the Bryant ranged $4000 to $4200.
We went with the Lenox
I have been told that the Lenox quality was good (could be advertising
hype also.. who knows?) but repairs would be more expensive because only
Lenox parts will work and only Lenox repairmen have the parts on
hand.... everyone else has to special order them... we will find out
eventually.
The Bryant unit seemed to be of equal quality and design and was
serviced by more companies in our area but we were suprised at the
price. I think we got a really good price on the Lenox.... they are
usually a lot more expensive and may have had to cut their prices to
compete with Bryant and others....
We are very happy with the Lenox and particularily glad that we went
with the variable speed fan. Our house had always been drafty and
somewhat cool or hot for a while when the fan came on. The variable
speed fan keeps the air temp. constant because the air is moving slowly
most of the time and avoiding the air pockets that are formed when the
fan comes on full blast for a few min. them stops. We now have our temp
settings lower by a couple of degrees than before and with the DC motor,
our elect. and gas useage should be down.
One more note, if you don't have A/C, but do have the electrostatic
filters... Usually when you need filtering the most for pollen, and
dust is in the spring and summer when the heater is not on. The
variable speed fan can run cheaply all of time and keep air moving thru
the filters and house all year.
Good luck
Bill Hook
>
> Hey guys,
>
> this is probably pushing the limits of "shop talk", but since the
> furnace does heat the house that surrounds the shop...
>
> Our existing furnace has finally "had it" - after getting the beast
> vaccumed last (gotta love oil units), we found that the
> heat exchanger has cracked, and (unlike last time) replacement heat
> exchagers are no longer available for this unit...
>
> So... Is there a good faq out there somewhere on furnace "stuff" (in
> the past I've found surprisingly little useful
> info on the web WRT hvac stuff, and...)? who makes "good" and "bad"
> units? Which fuel is gonna be cheaper
> going forward (oil, gas, or...?). I was also thinking of getting an
> electrostatic air cleaner stuffed in - any thoughts on this?
>
> Any info, pointers, horror stories, helpful tips, etc., would be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> rkg
> (Richard George)
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