When’s The Last Time You Got A New Furnace? What Prompted You To Buy One?
How did you decide what heating & cooling installation company to go with?
Could you give me a short run-down of how that went, what you ended up getting and how happy/unhappy you were with the product & service at the end of it?
November 8, 2009 @ 9:45 am
In 1998 shortly after we moved into a home built in 1920. It had an oil furnace from the early 80′s and our insurance company told us we would need to get rid of it to stay insured. Also, I knew from the house we had rented previously, where we heated with gas, that we would be paying much less on heat than the previous owners in our new house had been paying for oil, and that was with an inefficient gas furnace in the rental house.
We shopped around and decided on a high efficiency Carrier furnace that had an efficiency rating of 94%. We paid a lot more for that furnace than we would have for a mid-efficiency (80%ish) furnace but I don’t regret the decision at all. When I did the calculations of how long it would take for the extra expense to pay for itself in energy savings, I assumed a modest 5% increase in natural gas prices. In fact they went up by 16% a year in the first three years alone, accelerating the savings.
The installation went smoothly except for the fact that the installers put the air intake and exhaust pipes where it was convenient for them, instead of what made the most sense for the home. As a result we had plastic pipes running along most of the ceiling of the unfinished basement, which looked pretty ugly.
A few years later when we dug out and renovated the basement, the installers rerouted the exhaust pipes in a way that made a lot more sense, so now they aren’t a problem or visible in the living areas of the basement.
I get the furnace serviced once a year and any problems are covered under the extended service plan. So far there have been no problems. It is a very quiet furnace and I continue to pay very little for heating compared to my neighbors. I would recommend shopping around for the most energy efficient heating you can find. Even if it seems like a big up-front price, you will probably be saving money overall within a few years because natural gas and other heating fuel prices are sure to go up faster than you might think.
November 8, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Hello Sara:
People don’t get a new furnace until their current one wears out. Life of a residential unit is 18-25 years, depending on quality and how it is maintained.
November 8, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
My boiler died this last January, had to buy a new one.
Happy with the new boiler, much more efficient than the old one. Got a damn good deal and a co-worker of my wife installed it for free.