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QUESTION:I have been researching various forced air gas furnaces, both mid & high
efficiency units. I've examined Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Rheem/Ruud, York,
etc...
I would appreciate any advice or experiences you would be willing to
provide. Please DON'T bother telling me to ignore brands and select solely
on the basis of the dealer. Yes, I'm very well aware of the value of a
quality dealer and have therefore selected & interviewed major local
installers of all the above. I'm now close to a decision point and I'm
simply interested in feedback, positive or negative, with these or other
brands.
ANSWER: Below is a what I've found in my dealings to date. Understand that I am a
potential consumer, not a vendor so any of the findings herein are my
solely my considered opinion, right or wrong. Don't shoot the messenger...
don't forget, I've had my ear twisted by lots of HVAC salesmen!!! {:-)
1. Typically, the high-efficiency (90%+) furnaces are about $700 to $1000
more than similarly constructed mid-efficiency units of the same
manufacturer.
2. Installed prices (Cdn $) were in the range of 2200 to 4500 depending on
the technology and brand.
mids $2200 to 3000
highs $3000 to 4500
3. Variable speed fan units added about another $800 to $1000 more to the
expense or the regular 2 speed high efficiency units.
4. Pretty well every body has a lifetime warrantee on their heat exchanger
(h/e) units.
Some vendor findings:
a) LENNOX:
Lennox makes some fine units but the net is full of messages of folks
complaining about parts problems , prices and simply getting them. Also,
their recent recall of their G14 Pulse Furnace (supposedly only pre-1990)
gave me a bit of a scare. FYI - The newer Pulses are G21 models. I gacve
them the benfit of the doubt and checked with dealers and their home page.
I found that their recall program permited either a defective heat
exchanger exchange or alternatively a $400 credit on a new furnace. Not
very impressive! I spoke with a vendor at a recent home show and he said
they are actually checking all Pulses for corrosion problems.
Other's complaints were about the noise problem of a Pulse. However,
supposedly if installed by a Lennox trainded dealer and if according to
Lennox Specs (anti-vibration floor pad, insulated planum, vibration
dampener accordian type baffle attachment etc...) they are quite quiet.
Given the above, I shyed away from the Lennox Pulse, and looked at their
90%+ model G26 units. The fear I have there is the parts problem again.
B) TRANE:
Looks like they make some real quality stuff. Typically, their units
seemed to be a $100 to $200 more for the equivalent Lennox unit. They
specifically carried equal units with variable speed fan motors - example
the XE90 & XV90. The variable speed is supposed to be a great electricity
saver.
C) Carrier
I get the impression that these guys make great units, the cadillacs of
the industry! Their Carrier MVP has the DC variable speed motor and sounds
like it could save quite a bit in electricity. They run about 92 to 96%
efficient, depending on how large the unit is. However, I am a bit leary
of their warrantees - - maybe a great motor but if it's only warranteed
for 3 years and it goes in 4, it's far too expensive to replace. Given
that the MVP installed is close to $4500 and I would have to buy an
extended warrantee... Hmmm
D) YORK
They too seem to make nice units. Of course, everybody does, unless you
ask a salesman about the other guy's! {:-) Anyway, the component parts
seem to be good and their warrantee is great! It was the only one that
offered parts & labor warrantee, 5 years If I'm not mistaken. I recall the
salesman mentioning a 10 year parts & labour coverage which wasn't too
expensive. I will have to check into this further to see if it is dealer
or manufacturer.
In all, I am trying to get some consumer feedback on furnaces. I've had
all the vendor poop, so the end-user feed back is the proof I need. They
all sound great. I guess the big decision is how long the payback will be.
Will $800-$1000 more for a DC or variable speed motor save me that much
money, and if so, how long will it take to recoup that cost? What about
the cost of replacing expensive parts like that? Will the extra $700-$1000
for a high efficiency furnace pay for itself. If I end up spending $600 in
gas costs a year on a mid-unit, the extra 10-15% savings of a high unit
might only net me $60 to $90 per year savings. Is 15 year payback
reasonable? Just some things to ponder.
My last question : I didn't quite understand your point about a redundant
system. Why do you need two heating systems? The only thing I could
figure is that you were talking about a hot-water radiator type system.
You'd have to check building codes to see if the HAC and HW could be shared
or not.
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