[HVAC stuff] whats a good brand for a new furnace?

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^^ If somebody can blow up this pic, its a chart from the Consumer Reports website (you need to be a member to see this) which shows the rankings of furnace quality from a survey taken from 2008-2012

Bryant, Carrier, Trane among the most reliable.

York, Goodman, Amana among the worst.


In my first house, I had an Amana furnace, it had problems. In my last 2 houses which includes my current house, I have Carrier furnace and AC.... no problem to date.
 
I would go with a 2 stage myself, don't really see the benefit of modulating when compared to the price difference.

Reliability can change drastically on brands depending on which model your looking at. My parents home came with a goodman furnace, that piece of crap blows igniters every 3 years, and I've replaced half of the neighbours igniters too. Yet I find the newer models getting good reviews and having good reliability. There is no right answer really, check some reviews also before you make your purchase.
 
Whatever gas furnace you buy, it's gonna be cheaper then running a oil or electric furnace :)

i wouldn't pay for a modulating valve either.. But interesting question, single stage goes on full 3.5" w/c, what is the gas $ saved by a 2 stage valve? If you run 1st stage at about 1.5" w/c then let's say its set for 2nd stage to come on at 10min if heat demand isn't satisfied, then 2nd stage kicks in, what is the saving on the gas bill if you mostly run 1st stage vs cost of single vs 2 stage furnace up front cost difference. ? Hmm..
Is it really worth it ? ( the way I wrote this question confuses me when reading it, but it makes sense to me.. Scary)

when comparing furnace brand to furnace brand and quotes, check to see if it's got the same stuff inside, and there installs are the same(eg). Blower fan, is it a ECM DC fan or PSC fan, are you gonna have a 1 pipe venting system or 2 pipe system, will they use ABS for intake or charge extra for intake and exhaust to be 636 system. What's the warrenty offered.

Interesting thing I've come across with Lennox and the old company I use to work with is, . If you don't have your furnace service every year by qualified tech it could void warrenty down the road.. It's like a loop hole so they can get out of covering warrenty, sneaky buggers. So ask that question to the salemsan..
 
Kawyman said:
Whatever gas furnace you buy, it's gonna be cheaper then running a oil or electric furnace :)

i wouldn't pay for a modulating valve either.. But interesting question, single stage goes on full 3.5" w/c, what is the gas $ saved by a 2 stage valve? If you run 1st stage at about 1.5" w/c then let's say its set for 2nd stage to come on at 10min if heat demand isn't satisfied, then 2nd stage kicks in, what is the saving on the gas bill if you mostly run 1st stage vs cost of single vs 2 stage furnace up front cost difference. ? Hmm..
Is it really worth it ? ( the way I wrote this question confuses me when reading it, but it makes sense to me.. Scary)

when comparing furnace brand to furnace brand and quotes, check to see if it's got the same stuff inside, and there installs are the same(eg). Blower fan, is it a ECM DC fan or PSC fan, are you gonna have a 1 pipe venting system or 2 pipe system, will they use ABS for intake or charge extra for intake and exhaust to be 636 system. What's the warrenty offered.

Interesting thing I've come across with Lennox and the old company I use to work with is, . If you don't have your furnace service every year by qualified tech it could void warrenty down the road.. It's like a loop hole so they can get out of covering warrenty, sneaky buggers. So ask that question to the salemsan..
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you need a thermostat that is smart enough to control both stages. add a wire kits can be unreliable and replacing thermostat wire can be a pain. the point of a 2 stage is just to stay on low fire unless its too cold outside and you need high fire to meet demand.
 
Interesting thread. My AC pooped out a couple weeks ago, tech was badmouthing my existing Payne (& carrier) and loving York (not surprisingly the brand the company installs). It's on its last legs, so will have to do some research for a fall replacement (assuming it lasts that long).
 
One thing to remember, only lennox dealers can get lennox parts. Trane and Payne (both carrier rebrands) have excellent warranty that can be backed by any service man. A two stage gas valve runs at half capacity in low fire, ie. a 70000 btu furnace will burn approximately 30000 btu in low fire (think newer v8's cutting out 4 cylinders at cruising speeds) in spring and fall this will satisfy your needs for less cost.
Last year I installed a Payne two stage, with ECM blower, 98% efficiency, a Payne 17 seer a/c, and Bosch tankless water heater, his gas bills last winter were $50-60 a month. He's pretty happy, must have saved alot for the new victory he just bought.
 
This is how my two stage works. It has a learning algorithm, so the two stage will work even if you dont have a two stage thermostat.

It monitors for how long thermostat is calling for heat and over a few cycles will adjust its low stage vs high stage running mode.

Example:

So it spools up the fan for 30 seconds and kicks in the low stage for 10 min at which point it kicks in the high stage and goes blasting away.
Now here's the tricky part, if the thermostat shuts off heat demand within a couple of minutes the algorithm has learned over several of these cycles that in my home, going between X and Y temp in so so minutes doesnt require high stage at all, OR it calls for low stage for too long and will kick in the high stage sooner.
I lower my temps overnight and call for lots of heat just before i wake up cuz i hate getting out of a warm bed to a cold house. So the controller has learned that in the morning to bring the temps up by 5 or so degrees necessary in short time there is no point of going to low stage at all and just blasts high stage and calls it a day.
During the day though it has "learned" that to maintain my temps it needs the low stage only. And in fact its nice to have the heater on low stage only, it cuts down on those pesky temp swings i was getting with my old furnace.
 
you can also tell the furnace how long to wait before kicking in to hi fire. you can adjust some dip switches.
 
WarpTiger said:
you can also tell the furnace how long to wait before kicking in to hi fire. you can adjust some dip switches.
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That's how I set up the 2 stage, don't bother with the T stat, just flip the right dip switch on the control board in the furnace and it'll just jump to 2nd stage after the set time, 10min or 15min I believe.
 
would be better if you could fire on high fire only if outdoor ambient was low enough that low fire wouldn't meet demand.
 
Iceman said:
One thing to remember, only lennox dealers can get lennox parts. Trane and Payne (both carrier rebrands) have excellent warranty that can be backed by any service man. A two stage gas valve runs at half capacity in low fire, ie. a 70000 btu furnace will burn approximately 30000 btu in low fire (think newer v8's cutting out 4 cylinders at cruising speeds) in spring and fall this will satisfy your needs for less cost.
Last year I installed a Payne two stage, with ECM blower, 98% efficiency, a Payne 17 seer a/c, and Bosch tankless water heater, his gas bills last winter were $50-60 a month. He's pretty happy, must have saved alot for the new victory he just bought.
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For replacing AC only... So if it is between Carrier and Trane, which one?
Thank you for your answers
 
Don't spend the money on a top of the line modulating unit its just not worth it, you should be able to get a furnace rates around 95% for a decent price Imo get a unit with an efficient blower motor so your savings will carry over Into AC season.

Forget the Costco and home depot and find yourself a buddy with a gas ticket to check the suppliers for you,
 
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CruisnGrrl said:
I've been considering replacing my furnace and oil tank with propane (nat gas isn't available), what's it cost for a furnace for a 2000sqft house?
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You might consider have a proper heat calculation done to determine what size furnace you would need, but there should be an output value in btu/h on your oil furnace's rating plate you should be able to find it on the door panel or on the furnace somewhere.

Changing from oil to propane is going to cost a lot more than you might expect theres the cost of the furnace swap, the propane installation, new piping, new venting etc...
Probably will be expensive paying an oil contractor to remove the oil tank
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