can you clarify:
1. You have forced hot air now?
2. Your unit shares the blower with the a/c?

I assume yes. If so..
You might consider keeping your oil fha, leaving the blower alone; and installing an oil fired hot water heater.
You've gotten a quarter century with only bad bearings?
That is a wonderful investment.

Propane heat costs more per btu than oil.
If you have FHA now - how would you retrofit the boiler to your home?
If your blower is a shared unit- it may be have more than one fan speed that can be selected for summer use with a/c

Can you post more info?
-br

Thanks for the follow-up.

Yes, I have forced hot air now. I have an oil fired burner, a heat exchanger, and a blower unit on the back all as part of the Thermopride. There is a coil unit for A/C above the Thermopride in the duct work, so the same blower unit is used for heat and A/C.

I would retrofit a boiler by installing an oil fired boiler next to the Thermopride. Next to the boiler would be a water tank for hot water. The boiler would also be used as a hot water source for the FHA blower to heat the house. The A/C would be the same as today. What the contractor suggested was that the old Thermopride system would stay in place as a backup unit (not generally using the furnace). The unit would be retrofit with a new blower, and the hot water from the boiler would be used to exchange heat with the air passing over the hot water coils.

Not sure how clear that is, so let me review. From left to right you would see a hot water tank, boiler, and then old Thermopride. The heating source for the hot water tank would be the oil fired hot water boiler. The heating source for the FHA blower would be the boiler. The A/C source for the blower would be the same coil as exists now.

The question is whether this is a better solution from cost of install/cost of operation? Should I just replace the entire Thermopride, and then install a separate propane hot water tank?

Hmmm.
I am by no means the last word on fha from a boiler.
However, I have seen homes with it and was not impressed.
I would be interested to hear what loss there is in heat with such a system. The air that comes in contact with the water heated coils does not get as hot as what you have now.
To me that is a significant drawback.
The air in your thermopride goes through a heat exchanger that is anywhere from 400-600 degrees.

In the proposed setup you describe the water in the coils won't be much hotter than 180-210 degrees.

You'll have to run longer to get the rooms up to temperature unless I am missing something (and I could be.) I am not certain about that but I can tell you that I know a guy who has a 5 year old house and this type of setup. The heat is simply not as good. The h/o has installed 2 airtight wood stoves to make up for the shortfall. It was always cold in the house before then The heat from the registers just can never get that hot.
In all candor,
Your existing unit does not have all that much to fail though.
Properly tuned it should produce 80-84 percent.
Regardless of it's age. If the heat exchanger is sound; the only other item to watch is the burner and it's motor. Lubricate it annually and there aren't any other major moving parts.

I honestly cannot see this new unit paying for itself any time soon. What kind of square footage are you heating?
-br

I don't hear anyone talking about efficiency a 25 year lifespan is not a good investment at less than 50% efficiency when you can now get 80 to 90+ if you are getting ready to make a major investment anyway now is the time to think 10 nyears down the road I know you appreciate your service man not being a pushy sales man but someone who doesn't give you all your options is not doing you any favors either remember dollar for dollar there is no more cost effective way to green up your home than properly upgrading your HVAC system

"remember dollar for dollar there is no more cost effective way to green up your home than properly upgrading your HVAC system" - this is such pap.
Green up your home + green down your wallet you mean.

Anthro-
I would suggest your efficiency will decide here.
Check the side of your unit and see if the servicemen have recorded its efficiency after annual tune-ups.
I would doubt that your t-pride is at 50% efficiency.
I would be stunned if that low. Probably more like high 70's low 80's.

I assume it has a Beckett afg or equivalent.
The flame retention head burners really tend to negate the older efficiency arguments.

Consider that if you spend 2500 a year on fuel; and spend 4500 dollars for a system that's 10 percent more efficient; you save 250 dollars that year but spent an extra 4250. That system will pay for itself in 18 years. Not necessarily economical.

I would look into actual efficiency of your unit not assumed or supposed efficiency. That should be your guide unless you're in love with the idea of a new system.

The phrase "But I want it." trumps any other argument if you feel that way; or especially if it's being made by your better half. (And certainly you're entitled.)

What started the sales hunt anyhow? The 300.00 repair?
-br

"What started the sales hunt anyhow?" br, Two years ago the furnace mis-fired and blew our chimney piping across the basement. I was out of town and my significant other was not too thrilled. Well, this happened even worse a few days ago. The repair guy told us exactly what the problem was and then cleaned the unit but did not fix what he said was the problem! Two days later and boom, once again the repair people were out again. The new guy made that same comment as the first repairman, that the igniter (transformer) brand had a history of mis-firing and they no longer carry it. He replaced it at only the cost of the part.

We also had a repair to the blower unit, and the whole unit needs to eventually be replaced at around $700. So in summary, my wife is convinced that we have the equivalent of a late model auto and are putting good money after bad. Now having said all that, my guess is that we really have fixed it this time. We could put a new blower unit in and for $700 be running for years to come....maybe?

On the efficiency front, I will have to call our oil supplier. It is a Becket burner with recent nozzle(s). It has a new igniter. My guess it is in the 70s at least. I don't know anything about "flame retention head burners" but I'll ask them.

We have under 3000 sq feet to heat/cool. But keep in mind that we have a finished attic that does not get the best heat or A/C coverage - mainly A/C is the issue because the heat rises. What we find is that if we go on vacation the attic is bad for two days, then it is great (a bit warmer) all winter until we turn down the heat again (for vacation). We have a slave zone on the duct work to the second and attic floors which works very well to balance between 1st and 2nd. The attic is the least balanced and tends to be the warmest.

So these are all the costs my HVAC contractor gave for new equipment:
$4800 - New Thermopride
$775 - New 52 gal 10 year warranteed electric hot water
$1200 - New LP 52 gal 6 year war. gas hot water
$700 - Blower direct drive
$7500 - Peerless boiler & heat coil
$1400 - Water heater off of boiler
$1600 - Air handler

So for just under $10,000 we could have a boiler system with FHA....br is going to hate that!

For $1500 we could fix our hot water problem (electric) and our blower problem. For $1900 we could solve our hot water problem (LP) and our blower problem. etc.

Great Post Anthro- gave me a chuckle.
The problem with your unit was what's known as "delayed ignition."
Your transformer can be replaced with a number of common configurations; and is a reasonable repair. If the transformer was the source of the d.i. - you're good. It's a scary sometimes intermittent thing until you know what's going on and get it fixed. As far as the rest goes; you know what they say "Buy a furnace, prevent a homicide, and save a marriage"
Kidding.
But I do understand. Were it me.. I would replace the WH with the 775 electric. Why? because you get 10 yr warranty.
The gas one for 1200 but only a 6 yr warranty is too much for too little. As far as the furnace goes I would save my money until it forced my hand..Now I know the symptoms on the Thermo were dramatic and unnerving, but any furnace that has a delayed ignition from a bad transformer will do that. It's only a 60 dollar part. I've seen units that scared the daylights out of the homeowner with a boom - purr quietly from the moment the transformer was replaced. The h/o swore the unit was possessed beforehand.
Your Thermo is not "dying", With proper setup and maintenance you can expect 80+ percent efficiency with each heating season, but on the other hand you and the missus have to do what you both agree to and can afford.
-br

Save your money! seriously the design for an oil-fired forced air furnace hasn't changed in sixty years. I can almost guarantee even with that old burner you are still touching 80% efficiency. DO NOT throw your money away and buy a new furnace. last i checked thermopride has a TRANSFERABLE lifetime warrenty on their heat exchanger, it might be pro-rated, but if not, that means you will never have to pay for the part should it go bad and doubtfull if it will.

here's what i would do:

#1. New beckett flame retention burner, can be found at supply houses and online for much less than $700.00, however if you're not sure how to install, might as well pay the guy and have him install all in one package. btw, lightly used, perfect condition high efficiency burners are available from beckett, carlin, and riello for as little as $100/each on craigslist etc; i have a rather extensive collection myself as backups for my office buildings and other various rental properties that are oil heated, it's nice to always have an extra on hand when you can find them for $100, sometimes less.

#2. New variable speed blower motor, check around; don't let the furnace man overcharge you on this, they can be found online and many other stores that will fit your system.

#3. OIL-fired water heater, it's a bit more up fron but MUCH lower operating cost than propane and never any lack of hot water; remember propane has about 1/2 the heat (btu's) of #2 distilate oil (heating oil) so, be aware of that when comparing operating costs, propane will almost always be MUCH more than oil.

berlin gives some good advice, the igniter thing can be corrected, there are universal transformers and igniters that can be used. also when purchasing any unit make sure the warranty includes labor as most warrantues are parts only and one can get a nasty shock when he gets a hefty labor bill for a warranty repair. with some shopping around you should be able to find a suitable blower for a lot less than 7oo dollars and also locate someone to install a suitable universal ignition replacement. Good luck Iggie

Ok, all the good advice on this forum has convinced both my wife and I to keep our Thermopride! That is quite a feat. So now we will consider the accessories.

1) Is the flame retention burner really 30% more efficient? Why didn't the oil company mention it? I just bought a new igniter from them. This was of course a somewhat rhetorical question as they have incentive not to help with efficiency :-) but I'm still surprised others did not mention it.
2) How does an on-demand tankless propane unit compare to a 50 gal oil hot water tank for cost of operation?

Well
I think that's a sound decision.
Now let's talk about your existing WH.
It's 52 gal electric?
It's 25 yrs old?
Does it leak?
Has it needed any repair by you thus far?
-br

"How does an on-demand tankless propane unit compare to a 50 gal oil hot water tank for cost of operation?"

about half the cost of propane. and if you're considering tankless, then the higher upfront cost of an oil water heater is negated, tankless propane will cost anywhere from about the same to much more depending on output.

One of the ways I make money is the leasing of commercial and residential properties; In many instances my lessees pay a flat fee and the utility cost comes out of my pocket. I've spent time crunching the numbers on water heaters and been very unimpressed with tankless, three of my units have tankless Natural Gas appliances due mostly to space constraints (i expanded the usable sq footage of the apartments slightly) and I am very unimpressed with the operating costs. there was no savings and MUCH higher initial cost than the old NG tank heaters. I have a lot of experience with oil water heaters and they have very low operating costs, are simple, few problems and just work well with virtually unlimited hot water.

My existing WH is electric and 40 gal. It is 25 years old and the service tech said the only reason it is still going is because it is a high end unit (for it's day). It is not leaking, but by the time it does leak I will not have time for any options or considerations. The electric company estimates I am using over $90 / month for HW at $0.14/KWH. Up in NH electricity is high. No repairs on the unit in the 4 years I owned the home.

I am fairly sure I'd like to replace this with something other than electric. My wife does not like surprises, so we would like to do something with it this summer and not wait for it to fail even if I could get a few more years.

Do others agree with berlin on going with an oil WH over tankless propane? Is it really lower cost of operation than tankless?

I also would appreciate if anyone has an efficiency rating number for the flame retention burner? I just want to see that the investment in the burner is warranted.

Thanks again.

- Daniel

I have included a link to a URL that has a comparison chart for various water heater types. They add the install cost to the annual operating cost to give a lifetime cost. This gives a high cost of operation for oil fired hot water. For some reason they only give a 55% efficiency for oil fired hot water. Not including a heat pump option, they have "demand gas" as the lowest cost followed by a "condensing" gas storage. I question the 55% efficiency number they have for oil fired. One unit I found is a demand Toyotomi Oil fired hot water unit. This is rated at 88% efficient. Isn't that the best of both worlds? High efficiency, tankless, and oil fired?

I also see the wisdom in oil fired tank system because I do see some down-side to tankless. The concern is that the water temp varies over time on output, and if you have a sudden multi-use condition it can be overextended. Anyway, lots of options but I am curious about the "condensing" water heaters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings

Anthro let me ask:
"How handy are you? - Have you ever done any plumbing work?"
-br

Yes, I have done plumbing work, but I'm better at electrical (I am an electrical engineer). Not sure where you are going with that, but my significant other is quite conservative and probably would not want me to be installing significant plumbing parts. On the other hand, I am about to install my own humidifier and will save $350 on that job.

By the way, a salesman came out and from his input it looks like a Bock oil hot water heater makes a lot of sense.

Ha, no just asked because of what you said about being under the gun if your present tank began to leak.

You can drain the tank (which is recommended maintenance) and put a tray under it. It will cost you 18 dollars. Then you can not be under pressure if your tank begins to weep.

OTOH a Bock is pretty nice. I did go look at the Toyotomi link. Cool.
I would not be afraid of that design (tankless) because tankless coils in regular boilers are common; and work well.

You might just ask the installer put a tray under the one you go with.
That way you'll never get "caught."

Wife like the Bock idea?
-br

Yes, the Bock is popular. No new vent pipes or blowers, no risk of on-demand hot water issues, economical given the oil btu value. I figure the oil btu advantage is almost as much as the on-demand savings. The only better option is the Toyotomi, which has both advantages.

I always thought that hot water tanks go all at once, like a tsunami, but good to know they may slow-leak.