Home furnace brand recomendations

[WarPony]

Well, here I am again with another appliance question for everyone. My furnaces' ignition control box finally gave out this morning. The new box is about $300 but the bottom of the heat exchangers are rotted out so I don't want put out the money to gimp it along til I replace the whole unit anyway.

The one I have now is a Trane and it's about 20 years old so I think it's done a nice job. I've only had to replace the ignitor twice and that's it, as far as repairs go.

Trane, Carrier, Rheem............ those are the ones I can come up with right off the top of my head.

Thanks for any input, buddies!!!!!



Jeff

[JIML1943]

look here go with 90+ will save bucks in the long run.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/you ... opic=12530

[Jim540]

The ones I install are sold by Johnstone Supply. Goodman is the brand and I have had very good luck with them over the years. They come with a lifetime heat exchanger warranty. You can buy them yourself and save some money. You have a choice of 80% or 92 or 93% ( can't remember on the higher efficiency ). Depending on the square foot of your home and size of the bower assembly you are probably looking at $400 to $600.

[bledsoe3]

My brother works for Trane and he swears by them. Of course he may be a little biased.

[Kevin A]

My brother works for Trane and he swears by them. Of course he may be a little biased.

As long as he doesn't swear AT them.....

[Luckey]

I have been in the heating and air conditioning business for about 7 years now and have been putting in American Standard products the whole time. I love them, they are the cadillac of furnaces. They cost a lil more in the beginning but they make your money back in no time. They come with a 10 year parts and labor warrranty. Depending on your house and how well it's built, they can develop a system for you. They are very dependable and user friendly.

Thanks for listening
Jarred

[Boodro]

I bought an American Standard, which is the parent company for Trane. When I was getting quotes, the 4 salesmen said the same thing , go with American Standard. I went with the 92% & variable speed blower, makes a HUGE difference when heat or air is needed. My gas bill & electric bill went down after replacing my 78% furnace. Good luck !

[cguardsman]

We have a Ruud heat pump system that has been very efficient. it is backed up with propane when the outside temp gets below 25.

[WarPony]

Thanks alot for the responses, guys!! I've been doing some poking around at my local heating and AC businesses and was wondering about the heat pumps. I'll ask some questions when the dude comes to my house and shoots me an estimate. I have also found out that my energy company, Westar, has some programs that have low interest loans if you buy an energy efficient heater, AC, fridge, dryer......... yada, yada, yada. I'm still looking at different programs to see which one is right for me. I may just buy the part that's broken to get me buy until I can do some more investigating the pros/cons of "forced air" vs. "heat pump".

Jeff

[Grumpeyyy]

Hey Jeff

I just read your question about furnaces. I've been installing furnaces for about 2o years. Trane or american standard make a good product. But almost as important as the furnace is the installation. If its not installed rite then I don't care how good a furnace is. The install makes all the differance!!!!!!!!!!! Make sure the dealer sizes it for the house and also he checkes to make sure the ductwork is sized properly. If you do not have the proper air flow on any of the new furnaces you can ruin a new furnace in a couple of years.

Find a reputable dealer and good luck


Gene

[WarPony]

Make sure the dealer sizes it for the house and also he checkes to make sure the ductwork is sized properly.....

Thanks, Gene. I'll ask those questions tomorrow when the quote dude shows up.

Jeff

[bledsoe3]

Jeff, I personally like heat pumps. I had them put in both of the last two houses I had build. I know in my last house me and my in-laws house was built at the same time, my bills were cheaper than theirs and my house was bigger. They eventually had one installed too.

[Mark72]

Jeff,I have a Rheem heat pump. The expansion valve stuck and ruined the compressor when it was about 5 years old. The parts where under warranty but I still had a pretty big bill to pay for labor and freon. The worst thing about a heat pump is that they loose their effectiveness when the outside temp drops below about 20* Mine has a set of electric heating elements for backup . If your typical winter is really cold for a long time I would go for a high efficiency gas unit. Oh and one other thing My thermostat only fires the electric coils only after The temp inside drops 2 degrees below the setting. What happens is on nights that the temp is cold enough that the heat pump can't quite reach the desired temp but warm enough that the temp doesnt drop the system runs all night non stop. They make thermostats that engage the back up after the system fails to reach the desired temp inside after a set amount of time even if the temp doesnt drop inside the house I would be sure to not get the type I have now ever again.

Mark

[bledsoe3]

Mark is correct about the really cold weather. I should have mentioned that I use a forced air gas furnace as a back up. It kicks in automatically when it's too cold or I turn up the heat more than 5 degrees than the current temp.

[Dooner]

JEFF! What ever you do, do not try to get by with the furnace you have. If the heat exhanger is rotted out any, carbon monoxide gases will be let into your home and will kill you. When I was a service tech for Barker's Heating and Cooling (Lennox dealer), we could loose our license for letting a furnace still be used after finding a bad heat exchanger. We would have to disconnect the gas from the furnace and plug it up.
If anything, go to WalMart and purchase a small oil filled radiant heater and a box fan. Set that up in the house with the box fan blowing on low behind it and you will be very comfortable till you decide what you want to do.
As far as my recommendation on a brand, they all are good and bad. Find one that fits your budget and has a good warranty. I've seen a Chrysler furnace last 42 years and seen a Carrier last a month.
And there are a lot of units that are exactly the same and made by a single manufacturer, but have different brand names on them.
Most all units have the same internal parts. Like AC units, the compressors are ussually Copeland or Tecumpsi (speeling?). The only manufacturer that I know of that makes theier own compressor is Lennox.
Do your homework. Look at the pics, you might see the same unit being sold be two or more different brands. Go with the cheaper one, you'll get the same unit.
Hope something here will help you. Be safe Jeff.