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I saw someone post about a mattress yesterday and was hoping one of you knowledgeable people could help me with a furnace. Our current one is at least 22 years old, since we haven't replaced it and have been in our home since 1994. I'm in the SF Bay Area, so heating isn't a big component of our utilities bill. Of course I'd like to find something that is energy efficient (but also don't want to go broke on it). I did have some quotes awhile back (2012) that ranged from $3k to $5k, but couldn't tell you the units that were recommended. If you know of a good middle ground unit that is reliable, I'd love to hear your suggestion. Thank you in advance to some of the most helpful posters on City Data (I really love the retirement forum...so many nice people here).
Consumer Reports give top reliability ratings of gas furnaces to American Standard, Trane, and Carrier.
I think the best deal is to go for 80% efficiency because the payoff in your area for a more efficient unit would be many years.
Furnaces can last a lot longer than you expect. If you keep them clean and change the filter regularly you might get over thirty years of use. I live in Colorado and my furnace has hung in now for 24 years.
I've decided to wait until it croaks before I replace it. I expect to pay about $2.5K
Anything you buy is going to be sufficiently energy efficient for the small amount of use you need in the Bay area. Have your old unit inspected. It might work perfectly and last for another 22 years. If you are looking to help the environment, remember that manufacturing a furnace uses energy and generates pollutants.
Have your old unit inspected. It might work perfectly and last for another 22 years.
Statistically speaking, that highly unlikely.
A 50 Y/O furnace could last another 50 years but stuff made from '70 on just isn't made to last. Aside from sentimental attachment, cars are a great comparison. A 69 Camaro will last longer than a 2016 Camaro. Older stuff was less efficient but rugged and not a lot to go wrong. As time has gone on, efficiency and safety brought with it components that are made a lot more cheaply and more components to fail.
Unless you live in Pacifica and are home all day/every day, you won't realize an ROI from a high efficiency furnace. Furnace efficiency can be misleading because it doesn't reflect "system" efficiency. Leaky ductwork can easily be have a greater negative impact than the positive impact provided by the higher efficiency burner process. Duct leakage testing was mandated in 2014 requiring that your system not leak more than 15%. That will add 500-1500 to a project price pre 2014. What used to be a $2500/1 day project now goes for 3-4ish/multiple trips. Blame the tree huggers for that, not the contractors.
I think the OP asked for specific recommendations regarding a new furnace. Can somone tell which system they chose and if they are satisfied after a year or two usage? As with other utilities, I guess there are some popular models out there.
One thing to consider is if can manage the replacement yourself. If you replace it with an identical system and are just swapping out units, it can be very simple. We did ours a few years ago and it was easy, peasy. Disconnected the old furnace from the chimney, fuel line, and power source. Lifted it off of the return air source. Then put identical unit back in it's place, hooked up the chimney (this was the hardest part, just making sure to have the correct high-heat sealant), re-attached the wiring for the motors, and screwed the fuel line back in. We did it in less than a day, and that includes a 40 mile round trip to go and get the new furnace. It was very hard at all and saved us $1k on the installation.
You should have it checked every year, including testing for leaks in the heat exchanger.
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