Furnace shopping

Posted on November 9th, 2007 in furnace, hvac by homeimprovement

Well my 20 year old Rheem furnace just wasn’t cutting it anymore. One HVAC company claimed that I needed a new inducer motor at $700-800 ($525 for the motor and $200-300 labor; and they charged $95 to come out and diagnose the problem) another company said I needed a new control board at $329. Basically, the furnace would start to heat up and then turn off and then start to heat up again and turn off, etc. I didn’t want to dump any more money into it so it was time to consider a new furnace.

Here are the quotes that I received:

Carrier Comfort 80, 90,000 BTU, 1 stage furnace - $2210.00 - also take off $50 for Carrier rebate

Carrier Performance 80, 90k BTU, 2 stage standard furnace $2460.00 - also take off $75 for Carrier rebate

Carrier Infinity 80, 90k BTU, 2 stage variable $3060.00 - also take off $100 for Carrier rebate

other sundries - $55 to install furnace filter rack with 4″ filter; humidifier - $390; install flue liner in chimney $320.00; 5 year warranty on parts and labor and 20 year warranty on heat exchanger

High efficiency Carrier models -

Carrier Infinity 92%, 80k 1 stage = $3200

Carrier Infinity 93 - 80k BTU 2 stage = $3400

Carrier Infinity 96 - 80k BTU 2 stage variable = $4260

I also got some quotes on Westinghouse furnaces as follows:

80% AFUE Two-Stage, Variable Speed Gas Furnace - $3100

I need to pull the quote to see which high efficiency model I was quoted on but it was $3600. It was a 95% efficiency 72,000 BTU 2 stage furnace.

The HVAC company that went through Westinghouse highly recommended the 80% 2 stage variable speed furnace. He indicated that the higher efficiency models have more parts that can go wrong and that they required more service calls. I noticed that you can get a $200 tax credit for 2007 if you purchase a high efficiency 95% furnace so the difference in price would’ve been about $300 (not sure if I was quoted on the 95% though). Based on his recommendation, I went with the 80% model. As he stated, it would be a big improvement over my old Rheem. I got the feeling that he didn’t want to mess with getting the PVC venting pipe through the side of the house. I also added the humidifier. Not sure why the damn thing was $400. It seems pretty simple but after years without one and with messing with those dinky room humidifiers, I bit the bullet.

So far, the new Westinghouse rocks. It is incredibly quiet and does a great job of evenly heating the whole house. The variable speed blower and the 2 stage burn are the keys. On warmer days, the furnace runs at the lower setting. On colder days, the furnace runs at the higher setting.

If you are in a similar situation, don’t burn money on a 20+ year old furnace. It may be time to get a new one. Furnace technology has come a long ways in 20 years.

I also dug up my past gas usage to compare with this winter -

Nov 2006 - 39 Ccf
Dec 2006 - 45 Ccf Estimate
Jan 2007 - 56 Ccf
Feb 2007 - 53 Ccf Estimate
March 2007 - 128 Ccf
April 2007 - 35 Ccf

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