Buying a Natural Gas furnace / Need help

Glenn Sossin_2

An amazing tool. Who would have even dreamed of doing what we're doing 10years ago. Exchanging charts, data, photos, ideas in real time. Even being computer literate, I'm still in awe.

Bencrx91

Buying a Natural Gas furnace / Need help

Good day all, I have to replace my gas furnace, because the one I have is dying.

Current Equipment & detail:
125 000 BTU gas fired furnace (chimney type)
50 US Gallons 42 000 BTU gas fired water heater (chimney type)

My house is a bungalow (main floor=1000sq ft. + same size basement)

I live in Canada, Province of Qu

Ken D.

Furnace

Everyone has a preference. If you stick with one of the majors (Lennox, Carrier, York, Trane) you can't go wrong. I prefer Lennox. Quiet and efficient.

ryan

new furnace

We personally sell Comfortmaker, but I would suggest you purchase from the dealer you trust the most. A good dealer will only sell a quality product and will take care of the service for the life of the product. Most of my customers buy from "us", not for the brand I sell.
You are very smart in buying the two stage variable speed drive unit. I do not always recommend the two stage thermostat. I have a single stage thermostat in my house and the unit runs fine. My house is much more comfortable since I installed the two stage variable speed.

aaron_4

new furnace

Here is something you might like to see? Good luck aaron
just cut and paste.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/heating-cooling-air/furnaces-repair-history-205/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=5&searchTerm=gas furnace

Wayco Wayne_2

Intereesting chart

I deal with Trane and like it a lot. The chart shows American Standard and Trane as 1st and 3rd but they are the same furnace. I wonder how they gathered their information? WW

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Don_184

Air Conditioning

Aaron,
That is really cool. Do you have a similar link for A/C units?

Steve Ebels_3

Of the 3 listed

My choice for my own home would be the Carrier and I would utilize their Infinity control setup also. It's a very intelligent control and user friendly to boot.

We sell Goodman, American Standard/Trane (one and the same) and Carrier. We have fewer service problems with the Carrier than the other two brands.

One thing to watch very closely (if you are using LP gas) is the line pressure both before and after the gas valve. I've seen many premature HX failures due to sooting caused by low gas pressure. Make sure that the installer checks this thoroughly as well as keeping the temperature rise across the HS within manufacturers specs.

Jim Davis_7

It is not as much the furnace as the contractor that installs it. If he does a complete combustion analysis, checks airflow and Delta T, he can tell you how efficient it is really running. Two stage variable speed is a good option as long as the first stage is then tuned properly. If not it can blow cold air 90-95 degrees for 10 minutes every time it comes on.

The best water heater would be instantaneous. Sidewall power vented water heaters themselves are not more efficient, just easier to vent. Any other choice would gain you very little.

Greg_40

Everyone will have opinions on brands. To help clarify the Carrier "up to 96.6...": one model in that series does have an AFUE of 96.6%, the others have slightly less, the upflow models seem to get one more % AFUE than when installed as a downflow or counterflow. Same furnace, but it can be installed in four configurations, with upflow being slightly more efficient in the end. The Carrier Infinity is the most unique of the options listed due to it's control network.

The installer will make or break the whole deal. Go with one who makes you the most comfortable overall. The one who took the most care in calculating system size, evaluating ductwork and expressed the most concern in attention to these sort of details. One percent here or there is not really that huge a deal in efficiency. If you want to qualify for some sort of tax credit and need a number above 95 as an example, it may be a big deal then.