Looking for opinions on new furnace

[Twitchy15]

We have a ~30 year old carrier furnace it is still working fine. When we bought the home the Atco guy said to try to keep it as long as possible since the old furance lasted and were simple to fix.

Just gathering info and might start getting some quotes to have an idea.

Are there any HVAC companies you guys would recommend? avoid?

what are your experiences with your newer furnaces?

Should i just go with the cheaper and simplest one stage furnace? as it will operate similar to what we have now but would be more efficient.

Or is it worth going towards a two stage / modulating furnace for comfort? If you are comfortable throwing out approx prices you paid that would be appreciated as well!

We have a older split level home the upstairs is on the side with the furnace and heats up like crazy and the opposite side of the house has little airflow and can be quite cold.

also interested in what brands are considered good and bad

Thanks!

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Twitchy15

We have a older split level home the upstairs is on the side with the furnace and heats up like crazy and the opposite side of the house has little airflow and can be quite cold.

Thanks!

This is more likely caused by either an issue with your ductwork or possibly deflectors diverting more air to one side of your home than the other. A new furnace wont fix this. Look at the main trunk of duct work leaving your furnace from the heat exchanger, there may be a handle looking thing. If you see one, I'll bet that's why one side of your home is warmer than the other. Try setting it to the middle and see if that improves the heat flow around your home. If there isn't anything like that, you may have a break in your ductwork or maybe they need cleaning.

If you current furnace is working fine, I'd strongly encourage you to just stick with it. Unless it's completely dead in the water, there is almost no value in replacing it.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

This is more likely caused by either an issue with your ductwork or possibly deflectors diverting more air to one side of your home than the other. A new furnace wont fix this. Look at the main trunk of duct work leaving your furnace from the heat exchanger, there may be a handle looking thing. If you see one, I'll bet that's why one side of your home is warmer than the other. Try setting it to the middle and see if that improves the heat flow around your home. If there isn't anything like that, you may have a break in your ductwork or maybe they need cleaning.

If you current furnace is working fine, I'd strongly encourage you to just stick with it. Unless it's completely dead in the water, there is almost no value in replacing it.

cool thanks for the info. We did have the duct work cleaned probably close to 2 years ago and it was fairly dirty so wouldn't hurt to have it done again been kind of waiting because of covid. I don't think i have seen any type of lever in the past but i will check. Of course the furance is directly below our bedroom with two heat registers so it comes out insane in our bedroom and pretty good for the whole upper floor. It is quite the distance from the furnace to the registers on the lower floor.. so could be multiple factors causing issues.

Yeah I don't think I will replace it till it craps out but would like to have an idea of what i should go with once it does.

[Fuzz]

Savings from a new furnace are going to be small. If you do get one, I'd recommend one with a multi speed brushless blower. This will allow you to circulate air better, with lower electrical costs, and improve comfort. As GoinAllTheWay said, though, best to make sure your ductwork is working properly first.

When we replaced ours, the big benefit was moving air more often, that kept the basement warmer, and the upstairs cooler in the summer. I didn't see much cost savings.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Savings from a new furnace are going to be small. If you do get one, I'd recommend one with a multi speed brushless blower. This will allow you to circulate air better, with lower electrical costs, and improve comfort. As GoinAllTheWay said, though, best to make sure your ductwork is working properly first.



When we replaced ours, the big benefit was moving air more often, that kept the basement warmer, and the upstairs cooler in the summer. I didn't see much cost savings.

good info! I would be okay with no cost savings but better comfort for sure.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Twitchy15

I don't think i have seen any type of lever in the past but i will check.

Trust me, they're easy to miss. I lived in my place for 15 yrs before seeing one on mine and realizing it actually moved. I just found another one elsewhere just last year. They are very discreet/low profile.

I'm no HVAC person but I think their purpose is to balance airflow and prevent exactly what's happening in your place. Super hot near furnace, cool farther down the line. I think a good way to test is to compare airflow out of the vents in the hot parts of your home vs the cooler areas. If it's blasting out of the hot areas and much slower in the cool parts, that's your answer.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Trust me, they're easy to miss. I lived in my place for 15 yrs before seeing one on mine and realizing it actually moved. I just found another one else where just last year. They are very discreet/low profile.

I'm no HVAC person but I think their purpose is to balance airflow and prevent exactly what's happening in your place. Super hot near furnace, cool farther down the line. I think a good way to test is to compare airflow out of the vents in the hot parts of your home vs the cooler areas.

Yeah cause the heat is the exact opposite of what we want haha. hot in bedroom cool in living room

[MacDaddy77]

my 2 cents from being a former Hvac worker. If you have the $ available consider getting a high efficient tankless hot water heater at the same time. Depending on the layout of your furnace room a new furnace could potentially be tucked into a corner and new ducting used with a reducer to connect to existing main trunk lines. upgrading both to high efficient eliminates the need for the chimney venting.

could give you significantly more room in your mechanical room for storage.

[FurnaceFace]

For your HVAC needs contact Everlast.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

For your HVAC needs contact Everlast.

Ha, he's the guy who said I should stick with MY old school furnace

[Yamer]

Small bump, but I was wondering if the experts knew of any government rebate programs for new, high-efficiency furnace installations in Alberta?

Trying to navigate government rebates and programs on Google seems much more challenging than it should be. Thanks in advance!

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Small bump, but I was wondering if the experts knew of any government rebate programs for new, high-efficiency furnace installations in Alberta?

Trying to navigate government rebates and programs on Google seems much more challenging than it should be. Thanks in advance!

UCP axed all of the provincial rebates. Maybe if you get a coal fired furnace. Don't think there is anything on the Federal level.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Twitchy15

Yeah cause the heat is the exact opposite of what we want haha. hot in bedroom cool in living room

it comes down to basic hydraulics and backpressure on the respective lines. Meaning that the hot air will take the path of least resistance... so if your vents are wide open closest to the furnace more flow will go that way compared to a more distance location that has more pressure drop (ie higher back pressure). So... substantially close the vents closest to the furnace and open wide the furthest ones. Also go around feeling the walls where the ducting runs to make sure that the ducting sections have not de-attached (this happened to us). A hot wall would indicate this.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Torture

UCP axed all of the provincial rebates. Maybe if you get a coal fired furnace. Don't think there is anything on the Federal level.

Yeah, just read a Global article from last spring. Ugh.

Thanks, regardless.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I was in the market for a new Hot Water Tank and wanted to do a new furnace at the same time to get both on the new side wall venting requirements.

I ran my original quote by Everlast and he steered me to Chestermere Heating and Cooling. Cody Fagnan (yes, son of that Fagnan) was great to deal with. Answered a ton of questions over detailed emails. Pricing was excellent - my Carrier was the the price as what I was being quoted for a Goodman furnace - and I'll take the Carrier any day.

I ended up going with a 2 stage - it's the best balance of pros and cons costing and performance. Carrier modulating furnaces work best if paired with their own thermostat, and I wanted to go with an Ecobee/Nest. Max air flow was a focus of their work (i.e. a new 5" filter rack was part of the deal). Not sure if it's that, the new furnace, or the Ecobee's multi room sensor approach but I can honestly say the house is noticeably warmer than my old setup.

[jeffh]

I suggest you get nothing more than a 2-stage furnace. If your fancy direct drive motor goes kaput along with its module, you'll be looking at replacing a $1600 in parts, plus labour. Not worth it, in my opinion.

As for make or brand to purchase, I'm pretty sure the jury is out on that one. They are all so similar, but I do have a soft spot for Goodman and Armstrong.

The key thing with any new equipment is the quality of the installation. Improvements should be made, where possible, to the old ducting system, to keep airflow and air pressures strong, so you can get the most out of your equipment. Mention having them install a condensate neutralizer, complete with a proper bypass, between your furnace and drain location.

As always, I recommend replacing your hot water tank(to a high efficient model) and furnace at the same time. This should bring cost savings by the install contractor, via a bundle discount, to the possible savings for the need for multiple concrete cores, plus the elimination of a combustion air pot(cold air thing near your furnace). Then, the vent stack can be removed in future home renovations, freeing up some space above grade.

And if you have a mid-efficient furnace, do what you can to keep it going, for as long as you can.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by jeffh

I suggest you get nothing more than a 2-stage furnace. If your fancy direct drive motor goes kaput along with its module, you'll be looking at replacing a $1600 in parts, plus labour. Not worth it, in my opinion.

As for make or brand to purchase, I'm pretty sure the jury is out on that one. They are all so similar, but I do have a soft spot for Goodman and Armstrong.

The key thing with any new equipment is the quality of the installation. Improvements should be made, where possible, to the old ducting system, to keep airflow and air pressures strong, so you can get the most out of your equipment. Mention having them install a condensate neutralizer, complete with a proper bypass, between your furnace and drain location.

As always, I recommend replacing your hot water tank(to a high efficient model) and furnace at the same time. This should bring cost savings by the install contractor, via a bundle discount, to the possible savings for the need for multiple concrete cores, plus the elimination of a combustion air pot(cold air thing near your furnace). Then, the vent stack can be removed in future home renovations, freeing up some space above grade.

And if you have a mid-efficient furnace, do what you can to keep it going, for as long as you can.

Our furnace was installed 1990 would it be a mid-efficient furnace?