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QUESTION:I live in Columbus Ohio and am thinking about buying a new high efficiency
gas furnace.
Durability, ease of maintenance, and reliability are high priorities. How
important is stainless steel in the primary and secondary heat exchanger?
The variable speed motors look like a good idea but is there much advantage
over a multispeed blower?
I have only talked to one installer at this point. Called him because he
was rated high for service and carried Amana, which I heard was excellent
quality. He recommended Tempstar over Amana due to price.
What brands are recommended.
ANSWER: Can't help you, but I was going to post a similar question so I just
throw my post into your tread....
We are also getting estimates to replace our 30-year old Moncreif
120kBTU Gas Furnace. We are replacing this unit mostly for safety
concerns.
We would like to get a 90+ Furnace but we don't anticipate staying in
the house for more than 3-5 years. The big question is how much would
a 90+ unit save us over an 80+ unit in the time we live in the house?
Even an 80%+ Furnace has got to be far more efficient than our old
Moncreif Tank.
We got three estimates. The first estimate was for a 90+ 70k BTU
Amana Upflow Furnace. The total quote for installation was $2500
which included patching the chimney hold, disposal of the old moncreif
tank, and fitting the new supply and return plenum into the existing
ductwork. The problem I had with this company was the guy they had
doing the estimate appeared to have little knowledge of HVAC other
than filling out his "checklist" to figure out proper furnace sizing.
The second estimate was from a small local HVAC company. The guy used
to work at the big residential HVAC installation company here and is
in the third year of his business. The guy spent a good amount of
time going over the estimate. He also recommended the Supply ducting
should be larger in the basement. He also recommended replacing the
A-Coil.
He quoted $2200 for an 80+ ~90 K BTU Tappan Furnace with a new chimney
liner and a new A-coil. He also quoted $2800 for a ~90K BTU 90+
Tappan Furnace with A-Coil.
The third estimate was for a Gibson Furnace and the Estimate was
nearly $4,000!
I'd like to go for the second quote but I have no idea the quality of
Tappan Furnaces. Are these any better than Goodmans?
There is also a local HVAC company that would install a Goodman 90+
Furnace for the same price as the 80+ Tappan Furnace ($2200).
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