Furnace recommendations

[lanman]

I am in need of a new furnace for a rental property. The property is a small cape, and the size of the furnace needed is 85K BTU, and it uses oil.

I'm told by friends that the brand of furnace is less important than the burner, and that as long as it has a Beckett burner all will be well.

Can anyone recommend a good furnace with no frills, a Beckett burner, and an efficiency rating around 85% that a non-licensed consumer can purchase at a discount warehouse. Thanks...

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[fpbear]

This review site recommends Thermo Pride OH Series.

[Boden]

[Blattus Slafaly]

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I'm not the OP- but I'm sort of looking for a furnace. Since you're the second one to say Thermopride, I had to go look. I haven't looked at furnaces for 30 yrs- so I was impressed with the idea of a

2-stage. Then I look at the specs and they confused me. At " low capacity" it has 'low fire' and 'high fire' at 70k & 85k BTU- and at 'high capacity' it has 'low fire' and 'high fire' at 85k & 106k BTU.

Is the low/high capacity different set-ups [just a nozzle & adjustment?] - or does it output all those different BTUs from the factory?

Jim

[Joseph Meehan]

I will suggest you are trying to make the wrong decision. The decision you should be making is the contractor who will put it in.

First the contractor should consider the sizing and not relay on what is there. They also should be able to consider local conditions and help you choose a brand and model that will fit your needs far better than we can. If you have a good tech, they will chose good equipment.

[lanman]

While this may be good advice, it's slanted towards what's best for the installer, not the customer. "Trust me" is hard to do with so many unscrupulous contractors running loose. Even an honest contractor may select something with a higher profit margin or minimum features allowing for easier maintenance. I'd prefer to educate myself on what's available, solicit advice from disinterested parties, and make an informed decision.

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[lanman]

[Joseph Meehan]

...

That is true enough. I certainly did not emprise the importance of your choice of contractors. It is the most important choice and critical for the job. Asking neighbors, friends, co-workers and family members is a good first step.

Keep in mind that the cheapest bid is not likely to be the best or cheapest in the long run, but it could be.

[Bubba]

[ransley]

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A regular furnace will be near a max of 83% not 85% efficient,, a condensing unit will be 92-96%, it will allow you to raise rents Quicker. Tenants move if not happy. .

[Boden]

I don't know but suspect that these are accomplished by changing the nozzle. Two-stage furnaces today make a lot of sense.

My furnaces are both 175K BTU/hr units and I run them only at the high fire level with fairly high air flow rates so that the output air is maintained at 140 F.

These furnaces were installed 15 years ago and have been trouble free. The initial problems that I had were due to an installer and engineer who made numerous mistakes designing the multi-zone control system.

Boden

[lanman]

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That's a good point. All things being equal, what is the cost difference in the monthly bill for an 83% efficient furnace vs. a 92% efficient furnace? ---- Posted via Pronews.com - Premium Corporate Usenet News Provider ----

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[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I'm probably missing a step- but roughly 9%.

Jim

[lanman]

LOL.

Is it really that straightforward, e.g., a $100 bill would be $91 with the better furnace?

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[Tony Hwang]

[DerbyDad03]

re: Is it really that straightforward, e.g., a $100 bill would be $91 with the better furnace?

You have to consider TCO - Total Cost of Ownership.

Even if it was as easy as $91 vs $100, if you paid more for the higher efficiency furnace, you have to factor in your payback period at, let's say, $9 a month. The service calls and parts might be more expensive also, so you need to look into the MTBF - Mean Time Between Failure - numbers and average repair costs. In many cases, the more complex a unit is, the higher the cost to maintain (or repair) it.

Since it's a rental, you have some other things to consider...

If the tenants pay for the heat, then you'll never see the payback for the more efficient furnace, but you will be responsible for the (possibly) higher upfront and on-going maintenance costs.

Just some things to factor in...