Buying A New Furnace

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Mimsy, Feb 9, 2016.

  1. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    ...is incredibly boring! o_O

    This is nowhere near as fun as researching, for example, computer upgrades or eye shadow textures! I just needed to get that off my chest before I go back to the review websites. Ugh.

    Yes, the furnace in our house is broken. Technically it's operational, but we can't run it because it is very much dying in an epic way and the moment it croaks, it will start to vomit carbon monoxide into the house. 7th grade biology class said that is a Very Bad Thing, so the furnace has been off.

    In January. :eek:

    The cats are sulking in a major way. The dog is indifferent, thanks to superior fur, and snoring on the couch. The humans are stressing over the price tags attached to new furnaces.

    Things like these make me wonder why I was so eager to grow up. :D
     
  2. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    How well does reverse cycle air conditioning work over there? Here in Australia a gas furnace was cheapest to run for heating but now reverse cycle air conditioning is cheaper and the bonus is it heats, it cools and also dehumidifies. The new Daikin one I just had installed 3 weeks ago also filters dust and can be controlled by android devices.
    Keep warm and and sending warm thoughts ;) here is some nice Aussie sunshine as it is currently 26C here which is much cooler than the last few days ;)
    [​IMG]
    Good luck with your furnace hunting:cool:
     
  3. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    Pick a well established company with the best reviews. Also check the BBB. We have here 90-100 employees and can do a decent size house change-out in a day. With financing too.
    If you go to temporary electric space heaters be careful with those also as dangerous for a different reason.
     
  4. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Good advice on type of heating/cooling:)...but did you have to rub it in with how good our weather and living style is...:p
     
    Mimsy likes this.
  5. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    The perishing furnace is a gas furnace, since gas is the main source of heat for houses as well as cooking appliances where we live.

    The Guy went online and found a local company with great user reviews and an A+ BBB rating, and called them this morning after we had established that the furnace indeed had stopped running (perk of working from home is that you can do things like that). The tech was able to fit us in at the end of his shift, right after I got home from work, and he was very friendly and professional. Very upfront about what the problem was and why we had to stop running the furnace RIGHT NOW too, and he asked us to sing a liability waiver that if we decide to run the furnace after he warned us, anything that harms us is entirely our fault. In a law suit obsessed culture, that's not unreasonable.

    He then went straight on to offer to let us borrow space heaters from his company, at no charge, so we wouldn't be so uncomfortable in a freezing cold house while we decided on whether to repair or replace our ex-furnace. Told us that way we could take our time and make sure we were completely comfortable with our decision. Whatever we end up deciding they can get the job done the same day as soon as we call them before 9:00 in the morning to let them know what we want, so we are now trying to decide which furnace we want to purchase to replace the old one with.

    (Seriously, very good impression of this company so far. If they do a good job with the install they will be an auto-recommend when friends and co-workers need furnace help.)
     
    Imandy Mann likes this.
  6. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    Yeah, in northern climates the gas is always the way. Reverse systems are only good down to a certain degrees. Then either electric heat strips or a gas burner has to kick in. Sounds like your choice of service comps are on target. Wish you well and remember that this type of repair doesn't come around often. Major repair or replacement goes for a long time. Check the warranty details also for any required tune-ups or maintenance.
     
    Mimsy likes this.
  7. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    That's the main reason we decided to replace instead of repair. The old furnace is in very bad shape (it is ooooold), and at the point where a replacement is a better use of money than a potentially very long string of costly repairs. The quote the tech gave us includes a 5-year guarantee on parts and labor, as well as a regular maintenance service for those first five years.

    The Guy will call them tomorrow morning to set up the furnace install. Since our water heater runs off the furnace, this makes me happy. I can wash my hair again! :)
     
  8. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    There you go I didn't know reverse cycle only works down to a certain temperature...... but when you actually think about it it makes good sense as in order to work the gas has to evaporate in the evaporator coils to cool and condense in the condenser coils to heat. Reverse cycle changes the gas flow between the two units.
    Thanks Imandy Mann it is true you do learn something every day lol ;)
     
  9. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    Don't listen to legalsuit, that photo is beautiful and made me smile. :)
     
    legalsuit likes this.
  10. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Good! I was just worried that while we were enjoying the sunshine, you were feeling the cold.:)

    Cheers

    LS
     
  11. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Glad you like the pic..... before I got the new air con we could have done with some of your cold over here:) It was 40C during the day and only got down to 28C at night:eek: After my original main house air con died on boxing day it took until the middle of January to get a new one. It was faster to get a new one than get ours repaired as it was the busiest time of the year and parts were going to take three months minimum to arrive :rolleyes:

    Hope you find a good furnace.
    The brand we have is still working and nearly 26 years old. It has never been repaired although it does get cleaned out and checked over every year. It is a gas fired Brivis Buffalo 120 and we have a 6 bedroom 30 square house which it heats with ducts under the floor. This is a similar model and ours was installed in the June of 1989.
    [​IMG]

    We probably won't use our gas heating quite so much this year as my son will be moving into his own place in a few months and my daughter is now only home a few days a week.
    The new split system reverse cycle air con will heat our end of the house (kitchen, dining room, family room, my office and our bedroom) easily and now I am told it is about one third cheaper than gas to run :cool:
     
    Mimsy likes this.
  12. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    Nah, I'm good. Not as comfortable as last night, but well warm enough. The electric space heaters are very effective, and I own lots of warm socks and sweaters.

    And then I told The Guy I was very cold and he had to sit very close to me under the blanket on the couch and keep me warm while we watch Netflix. :D
     
    legalsuit likes this.
  13. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    :DYou vixen you...;)

    (Have to admit, that is one good thing I like about Winter for that same reason...:p)

    Hope you resolve the heating issue to your satisfaction.

    Cheers

    LS
     
  14. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    The new furnace has been installed. The house is warm and cosy, and i had not realized how noisy the old furnace was until I heard the new one. Or rather, I can't hear it. Very nice.
     
  15. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    I know you are relieved to have it taken care of. A few years ago we had to get a new heat pump furnace/air conditioner that is all in one unit because our old one was running both air conditioner and the heat at the same time. Took us a day to figure it out, it was like I'm hot and 30 minutes later I'm cold, then I'm hot again. :eek:o_O
     
  16. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Youch sounds like an expensive bill.......lucky you were quick to figure it out otherwise you would have a huge power and gas bill too :cool:
    Years ago we had a water pipe burst under the floor of our house and we only worked it out three months later after our water bill was over $1400 when it is usually only about $150 :eek: We didn't see any water flowing anywhere as it was flowing into an old stormwater drain under the house. The fix required all new water pipes through the house :eek:
     
  17. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    Yikes $1400 water bill and new pipes is a major hit all at once.
    Joffa we are all electric, but yes a large power bill that month. Average electric bill is around $150 a month. Water is cheap here, even in the summer when I water my flowers outside we never pay more than $28 a month, but we don't have a sewer charge either.
     
  18. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    The house is still nice and warm. Even better: We have hot water again!! :)

    The water heater used heat from the furnace. No hot water for two days was... let's say it was trying and leave it at that.
     
  19. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Yep and it happened about four months after my daughter was born and my wife was off work....ARRRGGGHHH :eek:

    Jeez you couldn't even have a hot shower to get warm :(

    Really makes you appreciate things a lot more when you have to go without them for a while ;)

    Glad the new unit is really quiet and you have heating again :) :D
     
  20. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Yeah! Good one.

    OMG...I can imagine what that first shower must have felt like...Well done to get things organised to your satisfaction so quickly!
     
  21. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Great news! A cold shower or bath in the middle of winter is not on. :eek:
    On another note...
    We only use electricity - no gas.
    Last month's bill came to $9.61.
    But, we don't have air conditioning, and the geyser is turned off during most of the day and night.
     
  22. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Wow! $9.61 electricity bill. Unbelieveable.

    My house is cool in summer and warm in winter without air conditioning (double brick house with good air flow, aspect and trees helps). If really, really cold in winter, then heater (gas - used for heating, cooking) is turned on a couple of hours at lowest setting which warms the whole house, then turned off after a couple of hours as it gets too hot.

    Electricity is only for lighting and appliances and being environmentally conscience, only turned on as required so the quarterly bill is reasonable. But no where as low as yours. Guess it falls down on location and service provider.

    Well done!
     
  23. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    $150 average electric bill with all electric house is actually low for this area. I was just estimating an average and may of erred on the high side.;) In the Spring and fall when we have mild temperatures it will drop to around $75 but in the coldest and hottest months it can reach $200 or a little over. I know people who pay in the high two hundreds in the hottest or coldest months. Also know a lot of people who have gas furnace, hot water heater, and gas dryer and pay $200 or more a month for gas in the winter and still have a electric bill close to $100 a month. So I am not complaining.:) Only thing gas we have is a fireplace and gas grill and don't use them all the time.
     
    Mimsy and legalsuit like this.
  24. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    If the bills are monthly, that's pretty expensive. When I properly economise use of utilities, my quarterly bills for electricity and the gas bill are what your people are paying monthly!

    I guess it depends on what type of competition there is amongst the service providers. Little competition means little choice for the consumer.
     
  25. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    It is not like we have more than one power company to choose from. You have to get it from the one that provides it to your area. It would be the same with natural gas if we lived in a city and had gas. If you use propane gas and can buy it from whatever propane company they choose. On the bright side as I mentioned water is pretty cheep.
     
  26. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Same here. My cousin lives remotely so he has no choice when it comes to service providers and has to pay what they charge as there are no other providers competing (sucks!). So he pays premium prices as you stated.

    As for water, here we pay for what we use. New laws now have water tanks (to capture rain water) for new buildings, so those people make some savings. People like myself in older places are not obliged to install water tanks, but everyone is encouraged to be water wise (which makes sense, as it reduces your water bill!:))
     

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