Foreced air gas furnace. 2 stage.

I agree. Closing off vents is very bad for a heating system, and even worse for a cooling system.

Gary R. Lloyd

"When the boot of government is on your neck, it doesn't matter if it's left or right"

Oops, sorry about the political sig line. I've been playing in the political newsgroups (alt.politics.libertarian), and forgot to switch.

Gary R. Lloyd CMS HVACR Troubleshooting Books/Software

I was thinking of getting anything middle of the road, not top of the line and not the most basic. ANything 90percent and higher would require more labor not to mention the larger jump up in price, for a vent and duct that takes air from outside.

Still worth it. Check your Utility Company--There are all kinds of rebates and incentives that pay off very well (up to $400) especially if you get the

What do you pay to heat your house, run numbers. A 94.5% furnace is apx

Can the ouside vent coming into the house be blocked by snow?

Also, I don't understand why using previously heated air for combustion is worse than using cold air from outside? Any faqs on this?

Based on my experience---Blockage is not an issue. Don't forget, this is a

I agree, and would add that cold air is dry air. The colder, the drier. All of that outdoor air infiltrating into your home will tend to lower the humidity. Then you pay to humidify it as well as heat it.

Gary R. Lloyd CMS HVACR Troubleshooting Books/Software

This is a bigger decision than I thought. I am considering just having the furnace serviced for now. The guy who is mailing me the estimates said that if I serviced the furnace using his company, he would deduct the cost of the repair from the estimate of replacing the gas furnace if I chose to later replace the furnace.

Labor is almost 100 bucks an hour and 30 bucks just to show up at the door. As I said before, furnace works and burns gas, but the auto blower setting doesn't work(knob pulled out), only manual( knob pushed in). Does this sound like more than a 2 hour job?

Thx

Where are you located. If you are in the snow belt, I would recomend a 90%+ furnace. Greg

You are just putting off the inevitable and based on your comments, got your head in the sand.-- "the furnace works and burns gas" not too bright a comment--what if I said that "my car works and burns gas"---- but, in fact, I'm getting 5 mpg when I used to get 25 mph. You want a new furnace but don't want to pay for one. I budget my gas bill and the monthly amount is set by the gas company based on prior usage. The year of the old furnace it was increased--for this year they decreased the payment despite the rising cost of gas. Best recollection, my own calculation of gas usage, based on Therms used, showed a (conservative) decrease of about 15-20% between the winters with and without the new furnace. MLD

I disagree....

I went through the same decision process of what type of furnace to purchase for my home in Long Island, NY

I had been using a 50+ year old furnance that came with the house. I have only been the owner of this home for about 2 years before I had to get rid of the beast. Really an ineffecient unit and oil was going up in $$$.

Anyway, I went with a 80% 2 stage unit. The 90+ units get vented through PVC out the side of the house and really need to be kept on top of to get that high rate. There are so many things that can go wrong with the furnace as well. I never like overly complicated equipment. Cost savings? Sure some in fuel, but over the long haul in repair costs????

I am using a two stage Rheem unit that keeps the house comfortable and warm.

Tom

Please note that a two stage furnace NEEDS a good two stage thermostat. If you do not use it, when the temp kicks on, it starts into low then after a default time it will cycle to high. This cycling can be bad for the unit. (short cycle ????)

With the right thermostat, if there is a 3 degree temp difference it will ONLY stay on low to heat and maintain. If its more then 3 degree its automatically goes to high. When it reaches the 3 degree mark it goes to low and heats the house gently to the desired temp.

You need to seriously improve your reading comprehension skills. I never said such a thing. Amazing what kind of self-important attention starved internet newsgroup "geniuses" are floating around.

Hey idiot, tis is obviously a temporary solution and the longer term one needs more time.

Condiser yourslef plonked, and keep howling at the wind asshole.

Interesting surmises, Tom, but first the OP was talking _gas_ not _oil_ which is one good way to minimize troubles. There have been reported problems with 90%+ gas units, relating to salts in the incoming air, and heat exchanger metallurgy. A reputable installer should be able to give you good odds on steering clear of problems, as regards unit, installation, and operation. Reducing fear-factor.

No fossil energy source is going to be dropping much, if any, in price. Expect the opposite. Never mind that waste is stupid. You may not see much benefit from 90%+ over 80% units now, but you sure will increasingly each year. Future home-buyer might well be swayed, too.

Wood/pellet units get more beautiful by the day, too.

John