Furnace replacement recommendations

[cidley69]

In the market to replace my 34 year old furnace.

Anyone replaced their furnace lately and can comment on installation company or brand?

From my limited research sounds like should go with:

2 stage
Variable speed fan


Not sure if it's worth the extra cost to get a gas modulating one, thoughts on these?

A1 Chesney quoted me a Lennox 99% efficiency one, cost roughly $10k. This seems to be several 1000 more than a 96% efficient furnace. What's the payback period on saving 3% on gas burning, is it worth the extra cost?

Zone systems seem crazy expensive, anyone have comments on these?

[bjstare]

Cheap and simple > expensive and complicated. I have a 96% efficient run of the mill Goodman furnace and it’s been reasonably good. The guys at W&J said the higher end ones (higher eff, variable fan, etc) have significantly higher failure rates.

Unless the 34 year old one is broken, I’d probably stick with that one. My first house had a furnace from the 80s and it was the best furnace I’ve had.

[ExtraSlow]

Most reliable will ha e fewest features.
Payback on more complex systems is never, because you'll have more repairs. That being said, variable fan and 2 stage gas do make a lot of sense.
I don't know what I'll do when I need to replace this furnace.

[Darell_n]

Everybody has summed it up correctly. Don’t replace your furnace to save money in the long run, because the long run is twice the lifespan of the new furnace. Ignoring the high initial cost, one breakdown will cost you 50 years of energy savings.

[SJW]

I just replaced my furnace and my AC with trane products. Installed by peter the plumber. Fantastic service. My furnace was 25 years old and my AC was 15 years old. Guess what the lifespan of each is?

Cost was about 14.5K.

[Darell_n]

End of life for a furnace is generally when the heat exchanger cracks, all the other components are easily repairable. For A/C end of life, I’d say when any 2 failures occur at once of indoor coil leaking, outdoor coil leaking or compressor failure. Obviously it’s done when your drunk neighbour runs the outdoor unit over in the winter or a crackhead steals it for copper.

[killramos]

So does anyone make a “don’t be poor” level of furnace that doesn’t require major service in 18 months.

[SJW]

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So does anyone make a “don’t be poor” level of furnace that doesn’t require major service in 18 months.

Learn to service yourself. Don't follow that health and safety shit.

[ExtraSlow]

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So does anyone make a “don’t be poor” level of furnace that doesn’t require major service in 18 months.

If there is a brand made with legitimately better components, I think it would be worth considering. Seems that different brands are just different types of shitty. Was once told that "goodman" was all made in the USA from thicker gauge materials so it was at least mechanically better, but I think that either was never true, or isn't now. They advertise that they do QC in the USA.

[Darell_n]

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So does anyone make a “don’t be poor” level of furnace that doesn’t require major service in 18 months.

None that I’m aware of. Just be eternally and humbly grateful that Trudeau still allows his peasants to burn gas for warmth at -30°. Although electric heat is comically simple and reliable.

[suntan]

Well other than there's probably not enough copper on earth to do that.

[ExtraSlow]

Doesn't stop many jurisdictions making natural gas heat illegal.

[g-m]

2 stage is really nice and a DC blower fan is apparently more reliable and quieter spin up my plumber said. He also said your furnace will last a lot longer and in particular the heat exchanger if you regularly get the gas pressure valve adjusted. He said a common reason for heat exchanger cracking was the furnace running too hot because the valve would let too much gas out for too long and the exchanger was having to deal with more heat than design. I trust him because he's a good friend and that does make sense.

Apparently the mid efficiency furnaces are the best and most reliable but king trudeau won't let you buy them or buy heat exchangers for them.

[msommers]

Yeah if you have a mid-efficiency, repair that sucker for as long as you can!

[MOB68]

I just had a 40 year-old Lennox replaced with a 96% efficient 60,000 BTU Trane with 2-stage burner and ECM motor. It cost me $5,310+gst installed by PTP a couple months ago.
Very happy with the work which included installing new PVC/ABS pipes out the side of my basement. My house temperature is much more moderate now since it heats on a low setting once it reaches the set point.
Also good to no longer have a fresh air pipe dumping icy cold air into my basement all the time.

Warranty terms:
12.5 year parts and labour warranty on furnace or A/C as long as customer
purchases maintenance package ($1200 for the furnace or $600 for the AC) OR has
equipment maintained by a certified technician annually for furnace and every 2
years for A/C. If equipment isn’t maintained, warranty may be void.
Warranty can be transferred if home is sold but reverts to 10 years from date of
install

[schurchill39]

After having a Lennox furnace in my last house I don't think I'd ever want to have one again. Troubleshooting was a pain in the dick and getting some of the bigger parts sucked because Lennox will only sell to plumbing and HVAC companies.

[mr2mike]

Pic of the furnace you're wanting to replace?
Might know a buyer. Those never die.

[Tik-Tok]

So, we can't buy mid-efficient furnaces in Canada, but is it illegal to import one from the US and install it? They still seem to make them without problematic PCB's etc.

[benyl]

Do not get a zoned system. Better to get two furnaces than a zoned system. I regret that choice.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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So, we can't buy mid-efficient furnaces in Canada, but is it illegal to import one from the US and install it? They still seem to make them without problematic PCB's etc.

There's possibly a weird rule about CSA certification on its electrical system that might prevent its import.