Efficient furnace motors?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I've noticed that my electrical bill has been increasing over the past number of months for no apparent reason, and I suspect that my rather elderly furnace motor is well past its "Best Before" date and is slowly dying. It's a pretty basic furnace system, the motor runs 24/7 to provide circulation to the house. Does anyone know if there's a high-efficiency replacement motor that's available for most furnaces? Or will any old replacement motor work fine? I'd rather spend a little more on a motor that'll save me $ in the long run.

[gram]

The more efficient motors are now DC instead of AC....My parents did it in their old house and it made a massive difference

[sneek]

I am not sure if you will save. We have a DC motor and initially you hear it buzzing a bit, but after a while you have no idea if it is running. The issue is that DC motors are more costly to fix and replace, so you will save on your electric bill, but you might get hit if it fails.

[Nufy]

Why does it run 24/7 ???

Most furnace motors only come during the heating or cooling cycle...

Do you need that much air flow in your house.

A replacement motor will run you about 150.00.

Its usually a 1/3 or 1/2 hp motor at 120 VAC.


Very easy to change.

Take the motor nameplate data to princess auto and find a replacement. Home depot and Canadian Tire used to have replacements but I haven't seen em there in a while.


You would likely need a furnace tech to install a DC motor in your existing furnace.

If it can be done at all.


Good Luck.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Thanks for the advice, guys! It runs 24/7 for ventilation of some sort, it's been like that since I moved in. It's an old furnace (1978) so I'm not surprised that it's not really all that efficient to begin with. I may end up just replacing it altogether.

[Nufy]

Is your gas bill unusually high as well.

With the motor running all the time it will take longer for the Heat x-changer on your furnace to heat up....

[Khyron]

My new one comes on and off as needed, but there's an override lightswitch to keep it on constantly - perhaps you have a similar option somewhere and just don't know? Might be worth 100 bucks having a furnace guy from Arpis or something come take a look. Might just need a cleaning as well.

If you do replace, I've been told by some hvac aquaintences to stick at medium efficiency furnaces as the high eff ones have high tech mainboards that are pretty sensitive and expensive to replace, which isn't offset by the energy savings.

[Ven]

ATCO will come to your house and do a complete inspection and test for free. They won't try to sell you anything and they don't do repairs, just an unbiased inspection/opinion. We get it done every couple years.

[asifka]

Originally posted by Ven
ATCO will come to your house and do a complete inspection and test for free. They won't try to sell you anything and they don't do repairs, just an unbiased inspection/opinion. We get it done every couple years.

Which number you call?? i dont mind getting it done if its free:thumbsup: