Furnace Efficiency

[Yppej]

My forced hot air furnace used to have efficiencies in the upper 80's but is over 20 years old and now down to 80%.

If you have replaced a furnace at what point did you do that?

Several people have told me natural gas is more efficient and I have a line to my house, but the utility company is horrible, a monopoly with no accountability, and I do not want to go that route. If anything I would like to get my hot water off gas and onto oil if/when I replace the furnace. The oil tank I already replaced some years back. Oil heat is common in my area with a good competitive market for fuel, repairs, and installations.

It would be nice to add central air also, but I think that could involve other things like upgrading the electric.

My inclination is to stick with the furnace until it dies.

[Tammy]

Solar. Wind. Those are my favorites. Utility companies will argue and drag their feet though if you go those routes.

[rosarugosa]

Yppej: We have an oil fired furnace that we installed in 1988 (for $2500, which seemed like so much at the time). We replaced our oil tank in 2007. Our stove, hot water and dryer are all gas. We have no plans to change and probably will not replace the furnace until absolutely necessary.

[Yppej]

My house does not face in the right direction to rely on solar and the lot is too small for wind with current zoning regulations. It may be too small for geothermal as well, but in any case that would be very expensive, though at least it has been done in our area.

RR I'm glad your furnace is still going strong. That gives me hope mine will last longer too with the regular maintenance I give it.

[Float On]

We are sadly all electric. The heat pump central air had to be completely replaced in the summer of '12. I think it was $6-7 thousand. No one does oil around here , they haven't brought gas to our area. I'm not interested in propane though that may be the only option for 2nd heat source.

[SteveinMN]

If you have replaced a furnace at what point did you do that?

We haven't replaced our furnace yet. It is on the schedule, though, since it will cost thousands (also have a central air conditioner which likely will need replacement and they should be replaced together anyway). Previous owners installed both in the late 90s so they're 20 years old. Both are inspected annually by a company I trust and what I'm told is that they're both in good shape and that parts are still available -- including the main logic board, the unavailability of which apparently kills many furnaces and air conditioners while the rest of it is just fine.

So we're saving on a five-year plan and hoping not to wake up some morning to a very cold house. There's just something about going for whichever company can procure the furnace we need fastest and whichever tech is around to do the job that leaves me unsettled. We followed the same plan for the water heater we replaced last fall. I could research, ask my questions, get bids, and schedule so we didn't get cub technician Jimmy Olsen, out on his first real water heater installation gig, installing a unit he hadn't been trained on because that's what they had hanging around.

Our furnace also is 80% efficient and still clocks in at 82-84%. I'm guessing we'll replace it with a 90+% efficient furnace because Minnesota. I wouldn’t mind zoning the heat, either, since the below-grade (finished) basement is still chilly when the rest of the house is comfortable. OTOH the basement is not in use that often and if we plan ahead a bit the electric fireplace does a decent job of warming it up. I haven't done all the research I want on that yet.