I played around some different ideas, here is a layout if we have to keep the wall. Yes, the broom closet is very small, but decent enough to hold a vacuum, mop, or broom. I may have to do shallower base cabinets on the broom closet wall. The furniture layout in the dining room looks cramped, but we have not bought anything yet. These are the dimensions of a set I have my eye on; however I may have to keep looking for a smaller dining room set. There shouldn't be alot of traffic to the upstairs, the 2 kids bedrooms are there, but they aren't with us full time, and chairs will be pulled in, etc... Also, this may be interesting for you, but there is a door for every doorway in this house (excluding into living from current dining). Not all the doors are hung, but they are still with the house. That's 11 interior doors on the main floor (including closet). The entrance to the sunroom used to have double glass doors, but those were removed along time ago and are not around anymore unfortunately.

Getting back to the subject of furnace replacement: I replaced my furnace and A/C units last month. I upgraded to high efficiency units although it means that I won't be able to trouble-shoot and repair my furnace as I did in the past - too much electronics. Also, I must have yearly inspections made to keep the 5 yr warranty in force. I am anticipating a 10% reduction in my gas usage, maybe more. A local company did the installation and met building codes. They also pulled the building permit. I arranged for the final inspection after job completion. My old furnace was 41 yrs old and the A/C 16 yr old. What triggered this job was that the AC quit this summer. This package included: 100,000 btu/hr furnace, about 95% efficient (Replaced a 125,000 btu/hr furnace w/about 70% efficiency) 3 ton AC, SEER 14 (Replaced a 10 SEER unit) Furnace and A/C made by Carrier. Inlet and Outlet PVC pipes installed. Chimney liner (for the gas hot water heater). Added a dedicated 20 amp circuit for the furnace (reused existing 40 amp 240 V for A/C. The old 40 breakers were replaced with 30 amp breakers to match the lower demand of the new A/C. About 8 ft of new air duct was installed to fit the return duct to the new furnace. New digital thermostat installed. Installation time: 1.5 days. Cost: About $8400 Major change: increased efficiency and much reduced air flow up existing chimney. I may find that I will need to increase basement circulation. Both units work well. The real test comes for the furnace in a few months. After about 2 winter months, I will be able to calculate the fuel savings. This can not be done merely by comparing last years fuel use to the present due weather variability. My fuel bill includes degree heating days and this can be used to make a fair comparison. Calculate btu per degree-day to compare. The one missing variable is wind velocity. My heat demand is sensitive to outside wind. To reduce possible wind variation, make calculations over several months and average the results. The more months used, the smaller the wind variance. What forced this work was the failure of the A/C unit. The old unit had lost most of its refrigerant. The cost of testing and repair of the of the old unit was not a good investment. I would have had a patched unit with maybe the old compressor on a 41 yr old furnace. These new, updated units increases the sale value of the house and that is a real consideration. At our ages, we may be faced with moving out within 10 years.

Wayne, The Goodman furnace model you posted is a top of the line Modulating gas furnace also according to what you posted it is replacing a 100K 93% gas furnace that is 20 years old. Modulating means this top of the line gas furnace will modulate based on the heat load needed to heat the home. The homeowners that are suggesting you to reduce the size of this furnace are doing so without running a heat load calculation. (They often tell you to do this --- but they never practice what they preach.) Nor are they taking into consideration that your current duct system is probably sized for a 100K BTU furnace. So you put in the 80K BTU furnace without addressing duct work etc... nothing but trouble. (20 years is a long time to run a *supposed* over sized furnace----- if it doesn't make sense? You're in the fiction section of the internet.) If this were a new home build in 2020, yeah an 80K BTU furnace *MIGHT BE* the better choice. Amana top of the line model is: AMVM97 Thermostat: I would stay away from the Nest. Other than that either the Amana or the Goodman can be controlled with any off the shelf thermostat. If you want to control it from your phone I would suggest pairing it with Honeywell stat that works with Honeywell Redlink. Your HVAC company should be able to set this up for you. Either the Amana or the Goodman (top of the line) furnaces are good choices for your climate. Modulation of these start in the 60,000 BTU range and gradually heat up as the load dictates. As cold as your climate gets I would go with the 100K BTU model ------- you've got 20 years under your belt with the old one. How much more proof would you need on sizing? If it's on the internet it must be true? yeah we know how that turns out......

This is what the steel buck looks like looking upward on the outside. Two window people have looked at it and said nothing about the horrible, rust, mold, whatever. One said he would pop in a replacement window. The other said I would not like a replacement; I should get the buck painted instead. The house was built in the early 80s. I don't think the original owners were particularly careful about things. Is this kind of rust typical or something to be alarmed about? I would really rather not tear out the buck even if I could find someone to do it. I seriously doubt I could find someone.