Have you seen any savings with your new High Efficiency Furnace?

[Outie4000S]

Hi.

I'm thinking of getting a high efficiency furnace installed. A friend did his 2 years ago and said he hasn't seen any real savings compared to his old furnace.

Just wanted to hear from others that may have one, did you see any kind of energy savings?

Thanks

[Star1995]

No savings here, although I do notice that the house is a more constant temperature. With the old furnace the basement was freezing and the upstairs comfortable. Now it's a bit cooler in the basement than the upstairs, so I think this is due to the furnace/fan running more often than the old one.

[Outie4000S]

That is the same response that my friend was saying. We had an estimator come in saying that we'd save $60 ish in energy costs... I was skeptical.

[Darell_n]

At absolute best case scenario the new furnace will save you around 16% of your consumption (not total bill). Most likely less. Do the math and see what your savings could be and how many decades your payback is. Technically there should also be a small electrical savings , but as already mentioned the newer furnaces run longer so the power savings in all reality could be in the negative.

[sputnik]

With gas prices so low, you really aren't going to see much in terms of savings on a HE furnace.

The real benefit of a HE furnace is overall comfort level in the house.

If you get one with a DC variable speed fan and a modulating burner you should notice your house to be much more stable in terms of humidity (since the air isn't going out the chimney anymore) and temperature. Not to mention a much quieter operation due to the DC fan.

[ExtraSlow]

variable speed fan sounds like a good idea. Having the fan kick in and out can lead to some big swings depending on your setup.

[Tik-Tok]

Quieter operation, more consistent comfort, and less dust in the air are the exact reasons we're getting one installed this summer. Any fuel savings will just be bonus. Although I suspect we'll save more on electricity from a HE furnace than gas, our ancient fan sounds like a high bypass jet engine starting up

[mr2mike]

From what I hear, any savings should be saved for the repair of the unit.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by mr2mike
From what I hear, any savings should be saved for the repair of the unit.

.... or you could just get a Bryant.

[mr2mike]

Hey, I don't have one. Mid Efficency all the way. Easier to repair. From what I hear, the high eff. ones are all circuit boards and require special tools or your replacing boards.

Like I said, this is what I hear. Unsure of brand or if some people might not
know how to properly maintain their stuff.

[Outie4000S]

Thanks for the advice beyonders. I've got several quotes over the past week or so, and only one of them claimed I'd have any big savings in my energy costs.

Like so many things in our lives that we can upgrade ourselves from cars to computers, I wonder if a person wanted to, could they take a 17 year old furnace, pull out the gas valve, but in the a modulating etc type, slap in a new circuit board, and dc motor, and call it a day? Has anyone ever done this? (ignoring the venting issue)

There really isn't much else ( besides the heat Exchanger) that would differ much from 1996 tech to 2014 tech is there?

I have a feeling that this type of thing would be highly frowned upon since it could lead to CO poisoning . But lets ignore that for now too :P - lets say were putting this furnace in the detached garage.

[Tik-Tok]

FYI H.E. furnaces require different venting. There isn't much to it, but personally I wouldn't f#$% with my house furnace myself. I did my garage no problem, but where I sleep? Nyooop.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Outie4000S
Thanks for the advice beyonders. I've got several quotes over the past week or so, and only one of them claimed I'd have any big savings in my energy costs.

Like so many things in our lives that we can upgrade ourselves from cars to computers, I wonder if a person wanted to, could they take a 17 year old furnace, pull out the gas valve, but in the a modulating etc type, slap in a new circuit board, and dc motor, and call it a day? Has anyone ever done this? (ignoring the venting issue)

There really isn't much else ( besides the heat Exchanger) that would differ much from 1996 tech to 2014 tech is there?

I have a feeling that this type of thing would be highly frowned upon since it could lead to CO poisoning . But lets ignore that for now too :P - lets say were putting this furnace in the detached garage.

That is about the same as turning a 17 year old Honda Civic into a helicopter.

[Outie4000S]

Originally posted by sputnik


That is about the same as turning a 17 year old Honda Civic into a helicopter.

HAHAHA Yeah, its a crazy question.

[BrknFngrs]

Originally posted by sputnik


That is about the same as turning a 17 year old Honda Civic into a helicopter.

Give Arash a call; this project is right up his alley

[blitz]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
FYI H.E. furnaces require different venting. There isn't much to it, but personally I wouldn't f#$% with my house furnace myself. I did my garage no problem, but where I sleep? Nyooop.

Even my mid-efficiency one needed different venting than the 1976 original. They had to run a sleeve through the original one to maintain a certain velocity.

[jeffh]

Outtie, that would probably work but would likely cost more than its worth and would take time tinkering with it. Tho, you could likely sell your old mid as they are still good furnaces and could be better suited for a cheap garage/shop application. Care to share your quotes(high-low$$)?

[Outie4000S]

Originally posted by jeffh
Care to share your quotes(high-low$$)?

I've received 3 Quotes so far for the following equip
Furnace, Hot Water Tank, new filter box (large 5 or 6 inch filter), and a humidifier.

Home Comfort Group ( ont based company) They came in at 6800

A1 Service Expersts AKA Chesney's Came in at over $7000

Action Furnace at $6006

All were comparable in equipment and BTUs but home comfort group was offering a furnace that wasn't reviewed that well.

Action Furnace has a 10 year parts 10 labour warranty - yo just pay a 65 dispatch fee. And the Amana furnace has a great warranty life time heat exchanger, and if it fails within 10 years ,they just replace the entire furnace.

All the above quotes were their first offers. I didn't do my negotiations yet.

[jeffh]

Thanks for sharing.

[gamman]

New HE NEED service. The old ones ran forever. Hardly needed service. Ask the receptionist. If you find a receptionist with 20yrs of experience she will tell you new ones need service or they stop working cause they are so effective t hat they can sense such minor subtle differences and stop working. Usually when its cold and exhaust has frozen up. Savings? On gas bill, sure less gj's. overall $ out your wallet over time? No. Your furnace maintenance person will tell you also. Not the sales person selling the new crap.