Help me with a furnace decision!

[curves2000]

Hi all,

So my parents have recently completed their annual furnace/hot water tank, appliance check from Atco Gas and the tech found their furnace had a cracked heat exchanger. I came over recently and they were debating what to do.

It's my understanding that a heat exchanger is an expensive component to replace due to the fact that a large amount of labour is involved and a lot of times, people use this as a chance to replace the furnace as its an important safety component.

Now the dilemma I have for my parents is that their furnace is a 17 year old mid efficiency Bryant furnace. It's never had any issues, ever, other than this crack. Anytime I talk to any HVAC specialist or Atco Gas tech, they always rave about the "old is gold" when it comes to some of these older furnaces and even ones older. They may burn far more natural gas but the maintenance and the replacement parts are often much cheaper and they are easier to work on. The efficiency savings from newer furnaces are eaten up by the added costs for the high tech furnaces from what I gather .

Just wondering if any CPer's have any experience with this issue or HVAC and might be able to provide some guidance on either repair or replace? I haven't gotten a full cost yet and the part is technically under warranty but it's expected to be a high cost.

Thanks!

[killer_carlson]

Everlast

Check out the Power Ring sub-forum in the Buy Sell forum.

There is a CP member named Everlast who is the resident furnace expert.

Even though I live in Edmonton he's provided sound advice on 2 occasions which saved us tonnes of money.

Hire him to do an inspection and follow his advice. Lots of CP members have done so successfully including myself. Good luck!

[surferguy]

Contact Everlast. He will give you the most in depth information about a furnace you will ever need

[GGG]

Make sure your parents have a Carbon monoxide detector. A cracked heat exchanger can allow the exhaust fumes from the burner side of the furnace into the air side that is distributed to the house.

[Bawbag]

You are as well just replacing the whole furnace

[Northendzone]

I hope this develops into a full on discussion as I would like to learn something new today

[You Need a Thneed]

All I know is the cracked heat exchanger that my home inspector found when I bought my house 3 years ago, saved me $4000 on the purchase price. I got a new HE furnace that I didn’t know I was getting when I made the deal.

[GoinAllTheWay]

A cracked heat exchanger is labour intensive but still much cheaper than upgrading to a HE furnace. I had to have mine replaced a number of years ago and while I don't recall the exact price, it wasn't much over $1000.

Every single HVAC person I have talked to has said, in no uncertain terms, keep your current furnace as long as you can. Even strongly advised against tankless water heaters.

**edit**

Actually, it was $600 so waaaaaay cheaper than a new furnace. This is a no brainer IMO. Furthermore, I think some furnace manufacturer had a recall on heat exchangers? May get a new one for free!

[Northendzone]

it is my understanding that in older homes getting an HE furanace does not always makes the most sense as you are losing heat from other areas

[OldDutch]

We got a HE furnace in 2013 as a flood replacement. It was for a 1982 home. We haven't seen the bill go down much if at all for what it is worth.

[Chingyul]

Never heard the "old is gold" quote before, but I essentially heard the same thing from the ATCO rep who inspected mine.
~1960s vintage Coleman furnace. Actually good to hear the heat exchanger is replaceable. I thought a cracked one was a death sentence.

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

We got a HE furnace in 2013 as a flood replacement. It was for a 1982 home. We haven't seen the bill go down much if at all for what it is worth.

I'm curious if you have noticed an improvment in the overall comfort level in your home? Are all the rooms consistently the same temp?

[Bawbag]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

We got a HE furnace in 2013 as a flood replacement. It was for a 1982 home. We haven't seen the bill go down much if at all for what it is worth.

How often do you turn the heat up and down ?

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by Bawbag

How often do you turn the heat up and down ?

Wtf kind of question is this even

[Bawbag]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Wtf kind of question is this even

A pretty decent one. Because if you are keeping it at a constant heat you will save money. If you turn it down to 17 degrees to over 20 the furnace works extra hards and wastes money. Try not to go more than a 2 degree temperature change

In floor heating is the way to go

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Bawbag

A pretty decent one. Because if you are keeping it at a constant heat you will save money. If you turn it down to 17 degrees to over 20 the furnace works extra hards and wastes money. Try not to go more than a 2 degree temperature change

In floor heating is the way to go

So this doesn't make any sense and I believe is an old wives tale. The energy required to heat your house and the energy leaving your house isn't affected by how often you heat.

Two caveats would be if one particular fan speed or particular burner setting in a high efficiency furnace is more efficient than the other.

I open to other reasons why large temperature swings are inefficient but I don't see it being meaningful.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GGG

So this doesn't make any sense and I believe is an old wives tale. The energy required to heat your house and the energy leaving your house isn't affected by how often you heat.

Two caveats would be if one particular fan speed or particular burner setting in a high efficiency furnace is more efficient than the other.

I open to other reasons why large temperature swings are inefficient but I don't see it being meaningful.

Yup, it would also depend on how long the temp is down at 17. It takes a lot less gas to maintain 17 than it does 21.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by GGG

So this doesn't make any sense and I believe is an old wives tale. The energy required to heat your house and the energy leaving your house isn't affected by how often you heat.

Are you sure energy will be conserved in this situition though?