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Heating & Air Conditioning

Furnace works fine...should I replace it?

13 years ago

I bought a house last year at the tail end of the heating season, so I'm just getting a feel now for how well (or not) my furnace will work. So far it seems to work fine (although it cycles on and off a lot) My power bill is outrageous. I don't know how old the furnace is, but I'm guess several years. Are newer electric furnaces much more efficient? Would it be worth it to replace the furnace with a newer one?

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Comments (4)

tigerdunes
13 years ago
valzone

what is your location?

what size home?

what age, size, and efficiency of existing furnace? exactly what do you have-gas furnace or heat pump with air handler?

frequent cycling(more than three/hr) is an indication of possible oversized furnace. oversizing was quite prevenlent by dealers yrs ago, ie more is better whenin the old days.everyone knows furnaces should not be oversized period. of course, heating fuel was cheap.

post back.

IMO
neohioheatpump
13 years ago
what are you heating with? energy savings over time will pay for the equipment.
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The height of the chimney has nothing to do with the fact that you can not vent both up the chimney, it needs to be able to vent the right amount of air so both pieces of equipment will vent properly. Based on the total number of BTU's total your venting you have to have X amount of square inches of venting for both. If the furnace you currently have is a condensing furnace 90% or better you can or maybe able to have the furnace vent to the outside using PVC piping, which will save you $1500 and should only cost a few hundred to have done. If your furnace is less than 90% and the fact that is is 14 yrs old now would be the time to upgrade with a VS 96% AFUE furnace that has a ECM blower motor will save a huge amount on your electrical as well as alittle on the NG monthly bills. Besides that when the Stimulas bill is signed into law provided you have quailifing equipment installed there is a Tax credit of up to 30% to a maximum of $1500 per piece of equipment as a Tax credit for the 2009-2010 tax years which would cut your install cost nearly in half. And with the ECM blower motor and a 2 stage furnace will give you all the comfort you'll need to keep your house temp even thru out your home, and as I said before the ECM motor will cost you no more than what it cost to have a 40 watt left on 24/7, which generally speaking should not be more than $5 or $6 a month equates to pennies/day !!
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gitrdone if you can get through the cooling season, I would just wait till the spring.In the meantime, you can go ahead and do your due diligence by checking around and make an informed decision. I don't expect prices to be much different by waiting if any. Be aware, there is no reason to purchase a high eff condenser whether AC or HP without a matching furnace with VS blower. If you elect to keep your existing working furnace, I would add a good basic 13 SEER HP probably a Carrier/Bryant with matching evap coil and new stat. IMO Good Luck
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Thanks for the questions. A point against a heat pump is where to locate it - no AC currently, no real room next to house, not much out back, they're loud(ish) and the windows are thin... Some answers: Insulation from original post: Had attic taken to R49 and dense pack cellulose blown into the exterior walls. Double hung windows on first floor (~20) are original, single pane. Basement and upstairs are double-pane. House is better sealed than when I got it, but certainly not drum-tight. Electical rates: We currently use ~500 kWh per 30 days, our roughly 17 a day. Summer Billing Cycles (April - September) First 10 kWh per day at 4.66ÃÂ¢ per kWh All additional kWh per day at 10.71ÃÂ¢ per kWh Winter Billing Cycles (October - March) ENERGY CHARGES: First 16 kWh per day at 4.66ÃÂ¢ per kWh All additional kWh per day at 10.71ÃÂ¢ per kWh Gas Feb 2013 Delivery charge - 89.39 therms @ $0.3924 per therm = $35.08 Feb Feb 2013 Delivery charge - 89.39 therms @ $0.56627 per therm = $50.62
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Well the latest quote is in and it's the best so far. It's for two America Standard Freedom 95, two stage, variable speed furnaces. A 60k BTU system for the rental unit ( it gets a $600 rebate after installation) and a 100kBTU unit ($300 rebate) for the larger upstairs apartment. The quotes include everything; permits, thermostats, hard wired CO detectors, and removal of old oil tanks. 60k BTU cost $5500 100k BTU cost $5900 I will get $900 in rebates so the total cost for the install is $10500 I talked to the contractor as I believed that the units were oversized. The furnaces are purchased from the gas supplier and are the ones approved for rebates. He said a single stage 40k BTU unit will be fine for the rental apartment, but American Standard does not make a 40k BTU two stage unit and the 60k BTU unit will cost the same after the $600 rebate and it will be quieter, cheaper to run and will keep the tenants a bit more comfortable. I could get a 40k BTU Carrier Performance 96, there's a $300k rebate on that. He says an 80k BTU unit would be ok for the upstairs two floor apartment as far as heating goes, but from experience he feels that the larger fan capacity of the 100 kBTU unit is needed to get the air up from the basement to the top floor.
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bus_driver
13 years ago
The original post sort of hints that the furnace is electric. If so, newer ones are not more efficient. But a heat pump might be. And electric furnaces can use very small temperature differentials which does cause frequent cycling. That is not bad for electric furnaces, not so good for some other types, especially oil.
moonwandrr
13 years ago
Not knowing what you have for heating system, nor where, I can make a recommendation that will save you money in any case. Contact you local gas company and ask about a Rinnai Energysaver wall furnace. These small high efficiency wall furnaces have been in use for many years. The unit will provide all the heat you need during the spring and fall. During the dead of winter, it will compliment your central heat as it will circulate the warm air in the home, filter it and add to it as needed. The unit also has a built in though small humidifier to keep you comfortable if you choose to use it.
I have seen neighbors cut their fuel bill but 40-50% but using these. It uses outdoor air for combustion, so it is clean and efficient, but although vented, does not require a chimney.

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