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needs a new furnace, which brand is worthy

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budcollector1

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
found out my heat exchangers is cracked toda, so now we are gonna be calling contractors tomm for a new furnace. my question is which company makes the best natural gas forced air unit? mine is a counter flow. i have a comfort maker now, it is 16 years old, i havent had alot of issues with it but it has not been perfect.
Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
budcollector1 said:
found out my heat exchangers is cracked toda, so now we are gonna be calling contractors tomm for a new furnace. my question is which company makes the best natural gas forced air unit? mine is a counter flow. i have a comfort maker now, it is 16 years old, i havent had alot of issues with it but it has not been perfect.
Thanks in advance
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I'm always leary when replacing a counterflow furnace. The reason being is that I don't know how good the ductwork is. It might not be big enough for the newer hi.-eff. furnaces.
Do you have A/C? How many returns are there? How large is your house?
 
#4 ·
Quality installation is really the key, yes some brands are better than others but the best brand is still crap with a bad install. Most are all made with the same parts such as limits and circut boards. The only real difference is the heat exchanger quality. Look at the warranties.
 
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#5 ·
16 years old for a furnace is poor. You probably have inadequate airflow which caused the cracked HX. Have the prospective contractor test the static pressure when he does the heat loss/gain calculation
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
air2spare said:
16 years old for a furnace is poor. You probably have inadequate airflow which caused the cracked HX. Have the prospective contractor test the static pressure when he does the heat loss/gain calculation
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that may have been from the poor insulation the house had for the first 13 years of the furnaces life, it ran constantly before the new insulation install. so there is no one company better than the other? i know there is or was some real crappy furnace manufactures out there, i have the servicing company giving me a quote for a carrier and a trane, so far. i will have them check the static pressure ( i have no clue what that is)
 
#7 ·
budcollector1 said:
that may have been from the poor insulation the house had for the first 13 years of the furnaces life, it ran constantly before the new insulation install. so there is no one company better than the other? i know there is or was some real crappy furnace manufactures out there, i have the servicing company giving me a quote for a carrier and a trane, so far. i will have them check the static pressure ( i have no clue what that is)
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As Air2space said, it could be lacking on proper airflow which could crack the H.E. and also make the furnace run "constantly".

I had a customer tell me his furnace "runs a lot". I told him it was probably just the blower (mostly). I knew the furnace was large enough.

Your furnace might be bumping the limit on really cold days when it has to run longer.
 
#8 ·
Amana offers a lifetime warranty on their HX

If your contractor doesn't know what static pressure is or the tool to check it you should show him the door as well
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
George2 said:
As Air2space said, it could be lacking on proper airflow which could crack the H.E. and also make the furnace run "constantly".

I had a customer tell me his furnace "runs a lot". I told him it was probably just the blower (mostly). I knew the furnace was large enough.

Your furnace might be bumping the limit on really cold days when it has to run longer.
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well as i said, BEFORE i had the ceiling reinsulated it ran alot, not anymore it runs alot more efficient or it did, lol. there are 5 returns i would think that is good return amount but like i said i will have to make sure. the company that came out today has been in busin in this area for along time so they should know whats going on. im just trying to feel out a good brand of furnace. thanks
 
#11 ·
budcollector1 said:
well as i said, BEFORE i had the ceiling reinsulated it ran alot, not anymore it runs alot more efficient or it did, lol. there are 5 returns i would think that is good return amount but like i said i will have to make sure. the company that came out today has been in busin in this area for along time so they should know whats going on. im just trying to feel out a good brand of furnace. thanks
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It's not the number of the returns, but the size. I don't mean the grille size but the duct size.

I saw a house under contruction where the hvac guy was using a 3" holehog
bit per 14" x 6" grille!!!!

He must have found he could get the job done quicker with this little "shortcut".

Like my last boss told me, "The customer will never know the differance".
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
ok that im not sure of i know they all go to one main trunk then in to furnace, the furnace is right in the middle of the house the longest return run is 15'. what size return would i need for 1900 sq house? ok i think i am catching this, i know all returns are in walls so there is 4 that are 8 x 12 that is the screen size and the hole isnt much smaller. i also have 1 that is 32 x 8 .
 
#15 ·
budcollector1 said:
ok that im not sure of i know they all go to one main trunk then in to furnace, the furnace is right in the middle of the house the longest return run is 15'. what size return would i need for 1900 sq house? ok i think i am catching this, i know all returns are in walls so there is 4 that are 8 x 12 that is the screen size and the hole isnt much smaller. i also have 1 that is 32 x 8 .
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You're probably 30%-50% short on return air. Of course, that's a guess from here not knowing the return air pipe size.
But if it's like most, you have 6-6" flex runs.
 
#16 ·
what every co. you choose make the investment in them not BRAND... have the duct work redone to go with the new equipment you will not regret it. if you dont they can always say i told you you needed larger ducts and the warranty will not cover due to ,lack of inadequate air flow to/from the return and supply trunks
 
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#20 ·
You're going about this in the wrong way. Find a contractor who will do a load calculation, check your duct capabilities, and who will clearly explain the difference between builder grade, mid grade, and hi grade equipment.
Brand really doesn't matter. They all make builder grade/mid grade/hi grade stuff.
Truly not a lot of difference.
 
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