furnace advice please

[vetspet.ind]

well, my 55% furnace finally died and i need a new unit...looking at a lenox or carrier and there is two choices, basically.......a 90% unit for 2,700 dollars and a higher tech 4,000 dollar unit which is 95-96% efficient and the 4000 dollar unit does two other things ....it will run at 40,000 or 80,000 btu's which makes it more efficient during cool but not real cold times, and it converts ac power to dc power....which makes the expense of running the motor consideralby less....my brotherinlaw says this second thing which converts ac to dc does so with an inverter motor which can be very expensive to repair if something goes wrong....my furnace guy (didnt call it an inverter motor) but said they are reliable and not real expensive now a days as they are on many newer units and the price has gone way down in recent years....any experts out there that can give me advice is appreciated as i have to make up my mind by monday...thanks a lot...steve

[FISHINFEVER]

Steve, I had a 95-96% unit that was 5 years old when I started to pour dollars into service calls and parts. The electronic circit boards seemed to be bad everytime I called for service when the unit quit working. It also had water leaks because the until was always plugged up or rusted out every couple of years. I put about $3500 in repairs before I spoke to another dealer. The high efficient units are costly and not as dependable I was told. I went with an 80,000 BTU, 80% Thremo Pride for $2600.00 installed. The dealer said he has had them in service for over 20 years with very little problems. Mine is now 10 years old and no problems yet. I could have bought another for the price I had in service calls and parts for the high efficient model. They never had the parts for the electronic circit boards either always took another 2 to 3 days in the middle of winter without heat.


FISHIN'FEVER

[manitobawalleye]

steve
forwarded this to cbprov
a friend from up here in winnipeg.
he is in that business


manitoba .... a 100,000 lakes
how many walleyes ????
i will never have enough time....

[Boatnut]

Steve,
Mine died in December. I ended up with a Trane unit but either of the brands your talking about are good. I could of went with more expensive model that offered variable speed fan and bunch of other bells and whistles but the repair costs of the more expensive models can be very expensive. I went with a 95% or so efficient and single stage blower. One thing I will consider when replacing my AC in the future would be a heat pump. The cost isn't that much more and savings will re-pay in short amount of time. basically you end up with a "dual fuel" system with the heat pump taking care of things down to say 40 or 45 outside temps then the gas forced air takes over. Something to think about. I'd rather put the extra many in something like that then the more expensive furnace you're talking about.
my 2 cents.
Mike (aka Boatnut)

"Many fish bites if you got good bait. I'm a goin' fishin', yes, I'm a going' fishin' and my baby's goin' fishin' too" Taj Mahal, "fishing blues"

[jerry bark]

Steve,

i bought the 90% efficiency lenox model about 6 years ago. i have not had a single problem in that time and my gas bill today is still lower than before i bought it. I had an early 90's vintage LP unit prior and converted to natural gas at about the same time. it has easily paid for itself. at the time the furnace guy who is a guy i went to school with and is the second generation to own the company told me that he felt that particular unit was the best choice for dependability and longevity. he felt the higher efficiency units did not justify their higher cost at that time.

good luck,
jerry

[jerry bark]

Steve,

i bought the 90% efficiency lenox model about 6 years ago. i have not had a single problem in that time and my gas bill today is still lower than before i bought it. I had an early 90's vintage LP unit prior and converted to natural gas at about the same time. it has easily paid for itself. at the time the furnace guy who is a guy i went to school with and is the second generation to own the company told me that he felt that particular unit was the best choice for dependability and longevity. he felt the higher efficiency units did not justify their higher cost at that time.

good luck,
jerry

[KHedquist]

I am in the HVAC industry, it all depends on how long you are going to stay in your house, and it always a great resale feature to have a higher efficency unit.

I put a Trane unit with the v speed fan and 2 stage in my house and my sisternlaws house they work awsome.http://trane.com/residential/product...aces/XV90.aspx

You have to remember alot has changed with reliability in the last few years.

Look at the reabte programs also, have a heat loss anaylsis done you maybe can go with a smaller unit.

Also Trane has a high heat pump that is suppose to work down to 15d
http://trane.com/residential/product...mps/xl19i.aspx

The v speed fan is nice and quiet no drafts from the blower and I dont think it went to high fire all winter

A positive attitude:-) may not solve the problem at hand:-(, but will annoy the heck out of the people around you ;-)moreyes <'{{^}}< :cheers:https://www.walleyecentral.com/photop...&ppuser=106750

[KHedquist]

I am in the HVAC industry, it all depends on how long you are going to stay in your house, and it always a great resale feature to have a higher efficency unit.

I put a Trane unit with the v speed fan and 2 stage in my house and my sisternlaws house they work awsome.http://trane.com/residential/product...aces/XV90.aspx

You have to remember alot has changed with reliability in the last few years.

Look at the reabte programs also, have a heat loss anaylsis done you maybe can go with a smaller unit.

Also Trane has a high heat pump that is suppose to work down to 15d
http://trane.com/residential/product...mps/xl19i.aspx

The v speed fan is nice and quiet no drafts from the blower and I dont think it went to high fire all winter

A positive attitude:-) may not solve the problem at hand:-(, but will annoy the heck out of the people around you ;-)moreyes <'{{^}}< :cheers:https://www.walleyecentral.com/photop...&ppuser=106750

[vetspet.ind]

thanks guys for the info...how is she doin roger?

[vetspet.ind]

thanks guys for the info...how is she doin roger?