[furnace1]

Hi,

I know nothing about furnaces and need a new one (I'm a mental health counselor at an inner city alternative school and am furnace challenged).

I have two bids:

1. Carrier 58VMR105/Riello/ECM. Including everything:
2. ThermoPride OH6/Beckett/ECM. Induding everything:

What I am looking for is fuel efficiency and reliability. I am a bit puzzled by the price discrepancy though.

What do you experts think?

Thank you for your time!

cheers,

[Edited by BaldLoonie on 09-22-2006 at 04:10 PM]

 

[BaldLoonie]

Sorry, I'm supposed to edit out prices that are posted.

But since I did see them

Thermopride is one humdinger of a furnace and does cost the dealer considerably more than other brands. The 13 ga copper coated steel heat exchanger will outlast anything out there, especially these lightweight models used in many brands today.

Is the difference worth it? Hard to say. If you are going to be in the house 20+ years, probably. If that Carrier isn't maintained carefully or the furnace runs hot for whatever reason, that HX is toast where the Thermopride will take about anything, within reason of course. Properly maintained, the Carrier should be fine. Put the difference into insulation, windows, something that cuts your bills year round. For that diff, you can do a he!! of a lot of insulating and tighening of the house and actually get your money back.

 

[furnace1]

Hello BaldLoonie,

Thank you for your reply, and I apologize about putting in the prices.

I've done some searching on this forum and the overall consensus seems to be that Thermo-Pride is the way to go. And yes, we will probably be in this house for at least 20 more years. I am most concerned with quality, reliability, efficiency, and overall peace of mind. By the way, we did have an energy audit performed and we are getting the house completely insulated, etc., next week. We will also get a rebate on any furnace we buy, as long as it meets the electric company specs.

Again, thank you for your time!

cheers,

 

[comfortdoc]

Be sure the new furnace is sized and setup to reflect the reduced heat loss from the building envelope improvements.

 

[captainrat]

where do you live ? oil is not going to get any cheaper.
i cant imagine what it will cost in 20 years

 

[furnace1]

I live just outside of Boston. When the reps came to spec the job they did ask about insulation and I explained about the energy program and how the house would be fully insulated by the time the new furnace was installed. I'm sure that even if oil prices come down it won't be by much, and chances are they will go up.

The Thermo Pride OH6 model recommended by one company has a heating capacity of 73,000 BTU/HR. The Carrier is 70K to 105K. Our home is 1,008 sq/ft. Single floor ranch with 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. Full basement.

Thank you again for your time.

cheers,

 

[BaldLoonie]

My house is 1000 sq ft, no basement, though they don't add much to the heat loss. I can heat below zero with high fire on my 2 stage gas furnace turned off. That's 48,000 input, 38,000 BTU output. If you are insulating the place, make sure their load calc takes that into consideration. That Thermopride output is 60,000 BTU. Could cause some short cycling and wider temp swings.

 

[captainrat]

i know electricity is highr up your way, however gas seems like a better choice, do you have gas available ? that is a lot of btus for your house. be careful

 

[furnace1]

Yes, gas is an option, but we'd have to accomodate for it. We are planning on adding an addition some time in the future (a second floor).

What is short cycling and wider temp swings?

Thank you!

cheers,

 

[seatonheating]

Yes, gas is an option, but we'd have to accomodate for it. We are planning on adding an addition some time in the future (a second floor).

What is short cycling and wider temp swings?

Thank you!

cheers,

Short cycling = more $$$$$

Wider temp swings = less comfortable

That's all you need to know. Make sure they do an ACCA approved heat load calculation on the structure. If they go "huh?"...find someone else!!