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Comfortmaker Gas Furnace

tancan
tancan Member Posts: 4
In 2010 I had a house built and it is an Energy Star rated home. 3 days ago I found out the furnace was 5 years old when it was installed. Now my question is, does technology change that much in a 5 year old furnace that I should be concerned. I am in the house now for 5 years now and the furnace is 10 years old. I have already had the blower replaced and the AC coils replaced with aluminum coils.

The builder say to call the heating company who has serviced it twice a year for 5 years, the Heating tech brought it to my attention 3 days ago.

The Model number is N8MPN100F20A1, SN: A052345491

Not sure if I should be concerned or not, my wife sure thinks so.

Thanks,

Tom

Comments

  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,476
    From what I can see it looks like a normal 80%+ forced hot air furnace, probably average performance. There are better models above it and worse models below it.

    As long as it's working ok I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure someone else will chime in if they have more information.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • GW
    GW Member Posts: 4,691
    Tom, that's not ideal...a 5 year old system being installed in a brand new home. Yet I'm not sure what the concern is, you have a 10 year old furnace with 5 years of use. An 80% furnace is just that, not high tech. Your builder most likely hired the cheapest contractor he could lay his hands on. I like how the builder told you to call the heating company. ..why doesn't the builder call the original heating company? Sounds lame

    I'd be more concerned about the size of the furnace (btu) compared to the size of the duct work and the actual heat loss of the home. If it's oversized your furnace will live a short life.

    On the coldest day of the year, what is the longest run time you might see? Not cranking the thermostat, I'm talking simply holding the same steady temp, a basic heating cycle.

    I'd also be curious if the temp rise has been checked, and blower speed adjusted, very important.

    These matters are more important than the units sitting for 5 years. Your unit should last another 15 years if it's properly sized and maintained

    Gary
    Gary Wilson
    Wilson Services, Inc
    Northampton, MA
    gary@wilsonph.com
  • tancan
    tancan Member Posts: 4
    Thanks Bob and Gary, sounds like I have more work to do in checking. 80% doesn't sound like an Energy Efficient furnace.
    I have it maintained twice a year by the same HVAC installer.
  • GW
    GW Member Posts: 4,691
    Tom, cool, just try not to start off a conversation with 'hey what's the temperature rise on the system, anyway??"---things may get really weird really fast.

    I don't know what state you're in, but yes, 80% is bottom of the barrel. It's OK for the southern states, but less ideal for the northern states. Yet, if your home is pretty well insulated and fairly tight, you may not be burning much fuel. However, if that's the case I'd be curious if the furnace is getting proper combustion air. High Efficiency furnaces are meant to be piped with two pipes, one for exhaust and one for fresh air, making it what we call 'sealed combustion'. These are typically 95 to 97% AFUE.

    You also have the old PSC blower motor (I'd be totally shocked if this was not the case), new units (not 'all new units', just the good to higher end ones) have the ECM which takes less electricity to operate the blower motor--- like 50% less.
    Gary Wilson
    Wilson Services, Inc
    Northampton, MA
    gary@wilsonph.com
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    edited December 2015
    You may have gotten the "back room parts furnace".
    Some supply houses and a few installer companies have a unit that parts get robbed off of for emergency repairs to a customer.
    Eventually the parts are reinstalled and the unit goes out the door.
    The supply house might call it a "scratch & dent" and do an annual cleaning house sale. (as is). Contractors might pick these up at quite a savings. But you have to find the right place to put them.

    For instance, I got one years ago and put it into my rental. (My headache if problems arise.)
  • tancan
    tancan Member Posts: 4
    Thanks Guys, I know this is going to be an uphill battle to get to the bottom of it with anyone admitting fault.
    I am in Fort Mill, SC, down 5 years ago from Millbury, MA and upstate NY before that. There is no comparison from the Nat. Gas to the Heating Oil cost we came from. Still cheaper here. Most Technicians here have never seen a hot water baseboard system when I tell them that is what I had before.
    At this point I am trying to get to the bottom of what is expected in an Energy Star home, I know insulation, lighting and windows but on line with the Energystar.gov also says HVAC.
    If anyone starts talking about temperature rise I will be lost for sure.
    Thanks again and everyone have a Merry Christmas.
    Tom
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,775
    Tom
    See if this helps
    http://downloads.energystar.gov/bi/qplist/Furnaces_Product_List.pdf

    Somehow i don't think an 80% qualified for the energy star rating.
  • unclejohn
    unclejohn Member Posts: 1,833
    You have a 100k input with a five ton blower. Do you have a five ton A/C unit? If not your going to want to lower your fan speed. If's it set on high that may be what killed the first motor. It would seem to me that the warranty is now up, although the first blower should have been covered. Try contacting Comfort Makers customer service dept. and see if you can get the warranty extended. If you got charged for the motor tell them that as well and see if they will help by extending the warranty. Most likely that furnace sat around for so long because it's over sized for the area.
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    That is a lot of furnace heat output for SC, unless you have a really large house.
    Back to the "Parts Furnace" theory, it may not have the original orifices in it either. (Probably to your advantage is they are smaller than original.)
  • GW
    GW Member Posts: 4,691
    Nice one- i didn't pay attention to the nomenclature---100K. a beauty! I'm in Mass and 7 out of 10 furnaces i install are 66,000 BTU. One out of 25 are 100,000 or more.

    Gary Wilson
    Wilson Services, Inc
    Northampton, MA
    gary@wilsonph.com
  • tancan
    tancan Member Posts: 4
    Well now my wife is pissed and has contacted Ryan Builders stating that we have an Energy Efficient home with a furnace that does not heat the house properly. The house is 2347 Sq Ft and has an 18 foot ceiling in the great room (which is probably the reason that room is always cold). Ryan today said they were going to contact the HVAC group of the company and have them research the history and will be in contact with us. The HVAC installer, Andersen Heating, told me there was nothing they could do about the situation. The tech is really nice and she is the one who told me it was 5 years old on install in the first place. The saga continues and more than likely we will be cold again this winter, however this last week of 90's the winter is far away from my thoughts.

    How much of a job is it to install a new furnace since everything is already in place now?

    Thanks everyone for your comments.
  • GW
    GW Member Posts: 4,691
    edited June 2016
    Oh no unhappy wife syndrome.... I hope she feeds you tonight! New furnace installation...is what hvac people do, if you want high efficiency it's a little more work getting the pvc pipes out the side of the home. If this is a condo, check with your condo board, they get weird over pipes sometimes.

    100k is a but hilarious though. Wow.

    Gary
    Gary Wilson
    Wilson Services, Inc
    Northampton, MA
    gary@wilsonph.com
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    If you have a 100,000 fire with a 5 ton blower and cannot heat the house beyond normal temps, then there is a good chance that your ductwork is undersized or not enough points of air delivery....supply registers. Questionable installations usually short change people on cold air returns...grills and actual duct work.

    But these issues usually really show up in AC cooling season, lack of air flow may freeze up the inside coil and make the outside unit suffer also.

    You said you had new blower installed....Maybe new motor?
    But replace AC coils with aluminum coils..could you elaborate on that?
  • GW
    GW Member Posts: 4,691
    I would pay 5 bucks to see the TESP (aka total external static pressure) numbers.
    Gary Wilson
    Wilson Services, Inc
    Northampton, MA
    gary@wilsonph.com
    SWEI