Dead furnace

[david_42]

About a week ago I noticed the house was getting a bit chilly. Checking the furnace, I discovered that it wasn't working. It's 26 years old and had failed about 3 years ago. This time it sounded like the gas valve/control. I decided to replace it, as the people who cleaned the ducting/furnace last Summer said the heat-exchanger was rusted.

I put an electric space heater in the living room/kitchen to keep the dogs warm. Amazingly enough the insulation upgrades and new windows meant a 1500 watt heater could keep a 700 sf room warm! Another heater keeps the office and bedroom cozy.

The usual fun and games to get estimates, but I settled on a Lennox 96%. It's 1/3 the physical size of the old furnace and 80% the input BTUs. It's got a two-stage burner, so most of the time it will be running at 1/3 the BTUs of the old furnace.

I managed to get the last installation for the year, 26 Dec. Hopefully, the temperature will remain above freezing until then. Our coldest month is January.

 

[Psylocide]

You have T shirt weather right now... Lol. Good luck with the install.

 

[Yooper]

I guess 26 years out of a furnace is pretty good! I assume you use propane?

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Replaced my oil burning furnace a few years ago. It was about 45 years old, but not too bad effiency. The new one's even better!
Congrats, and I'm sure you'll enjoy lower fuel costs!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I just dug a hole to the center of the earth in my basement. it works OK in the winter and we just throw a board over it in the summer.

 

[glenn514]

My sixteen year old Lennox quit last January, just as the "Polar Vortex" descended upon us. Managed to keep the inside temp at 50°F or above by using two electric space heaters and keeping the gas oven set at 350°F with the door open to the first "notch." We were without heat for two full days. Good luck with the new furnace.

glenn514

 

[Beernik]

What a pain in the ass. Good luck.

Both of my boiler pumps went out the week before I was going on vacation for thanksgiving. And that's after having the exhaust fan motor die in February.

I'm a bit paranoid about it now. I've replaced all the working parts on the system except the actual boiler unit in the last 3 years.

EDIT: I post about the boiler and the next morning the pump becomes air bound and I have to spend another 30 minutes bleeding the system.

 

[DrunkleJon]

How much you all think it would cost to get my current all electric heat pump replaced with gas heat? The current unit is quite old and I do not have gas service to the house yet, but think it is time for an upgrade (heating/ac seems to be 3/4 of the energy consumption of the house). Plus, if I do this I can upgrade to a gas fired on demand water heater. And maybe a gas stove/oven. And can plumb in NG into a future brew stand. My wallet is already crying.