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Tomorrow we're scheduled to replace our 1990, 3.5 ton 10 SEER (doubt its operating at that level now) gas furnace/AC unit for a 4-ton, 12 SEER, dual-fuel, variable speed heat pump. Living in middle TN, we don't usually suffer from sustained cold weather, so we're confident the new unit will deliver savings year-round, and the gas backup will let us stay warm when the temperatures dip below 35 F.
Just curious - anyone else changing out a working unit in the face of soaring energy prices? Or is it still the norm to wait until the old unit craters before replacing it?
Last year my furnace cleaner told me it was time to replace the 25 yr old Lennox that was in the house when I bought it. The federal govt here (Canada) has a program to provide rebates to homeowners depending on what they do but first you have to have an energy audit done which costs $100.00. That company tests your home extensively and makes recommendations on what to fix ranging from upgrades on insulation to new windows and furnaces etc. etc. Then when you have done your upgrades they come back and retest and send the data to the govt and at some point you get your rebate. The nice thing is they do all the paperwork! IThe govt probably figured if the homeowner had to do it they wouldn't bother!)
So I had a new high efficiency furnace (Trane) installed in July. I need to replace all the windows too but couldnt afford that. The company reckons I will get about a $500.00 rebate. We'll see. It is not been a really cold winter here but gas prices have gone up significantly and I can see that my gas bills have not gone up so much as might have been expected so I guess the new furnace is helping.
We just replaced our furnace with a Trane also. The old furnace was still working, but it was the original one that came with the house, (1970's ).
Our neighbor had needed a new furnace and kept putting it off, then he died and that very winter his wife had to get a new one, so my DH decided we should get one now in case something were to happen to him. ( Very thoughtful of him, I think )
It's going to be hard to judge how much we'll save this winter in heating bills since natural gas has risen so much.
Of course, keeping the thermostat lower will also make it harder to determine if it's that or the furnace that's saving money.
As we collected estimates for this project, we discovered our 2100 square-foot home originally had a heat pump when it was built in '78; that unit was replaced by the previous owners with a 3.5 ton gas unit in '90.
When we bought the house in 2000, we knew the unit wasn't in pristine condition (from all outward appearances, it hadn't been well-maintained - which went along with the two-layer, ten-year-old roof on the house and other deferred maintenance we found.) We had a small problem with the A/C unit that first summer, which further eroded my confidence in its longevity and reliability.
But we decided to "make do" with the old unit to get other upgrades and repairs made to the house. During the past five years, our utility bills have averaged $250 or so (gas + electricity) year-round, with some January gas bills running $300 to $400 (ouch.) On average, it's cost as much to heat and cool this home as our previous home, which was 30% bigger (but brand-new), in a similar climate.
Our decision to get a new unit now was based on:
1) the high energy bills;
2) the threat of natural gas prices spiking even higher this winter;
3) the fact we live in TVA country (so our electricity costs are very low compared to elsewhere);
4) the age of the unit (and the strange fan noises it made when starting and stopping);
5) the need to get heat and air into the other 400 feet of living area in this house; and
6) the fact we've had heat pump/backup gas furnace units in our last home, and we felt they were very energy efficient and comfortable, all things considered.
They're almost through installing everything except the covering that encloses the space between the unit and the house, which will go on tomorrow. I've got a lot of cleanup to do (it's been a dusty day as they've cut out drywall and sawed through tile to run the new ductwork up into the attic, etc.) But it's exciting to be almost done with this project!
I've a feeling I'll need to replace my oil furnace pretty soon. It came with the house I bought in 2001 and I think it's pretty old.
Heating is essential here in the Maine winter, I ran out of heating oil a few days ago and just got some delivered today - wouldn't want to go through that again! Fortunately it's been 20F rather than -20F! So I'll be doing some research on new oil fired furnaces. Hopefully I'll get through this winter with the old one..
Well, we didn't swap out an old system, but we just built new, if that counts. We put in a geothermal heat pump - a bit expensive initially, but MUCH cheaper than any of the 'standards'. All the heating (& cooling) costs are just the electricity to run the pump & fans. We moved into a house about 3 times as large as where we were, we have almost no gas bill now (~$20 for cooking, dryer, etc) and our power bill is only about $50 more - and there's no real telling if that's from the heat pump or all the additional lights. Definitely recommend checking them out to see if they're suitable in your area.
I looked (briefly) at geothermal, but we live in an area notorious for bedrock. The mess and expense to drill down made me rule it out as a viable option.
Terry wondering how things are going with your new heating system - perhaps it is too early to tell.
My high efficiency furnace has been in for 18 months now so I have been through one full winter and starting on the 2nd. It is hard to make a comparison of changes with the prices of natural gas going up and down, provincial rebates if they go above a certain level and mild months vs cold months but here are two figures that really tell the story.
I pay my gas bills on a budget system. They look at the previous years heating history and divide it up by 12 and that is your budget payment - every month of the year. Last winter I was paying $120/month (Cdn $)
In Sept which is settle up month - if you owe you pay, if they owe they give it back - I got a check for $350.00!
And my new budget amount is $60.00!
More $$ to play with this winter!
We did in the old house, had to there was a crack in the heat exchanger.
For $4000 we got the
95% efficient furnice,
some super fine filter,
UV in-line unit to kill bacteria,
fresh air intake added to the system.
That saved us about $50 a month averaged over year.
The house was kept at 76F year round.
Not sure if the UV thing killed any bacteria, but it helped great at
removing the smell after you burn something on the stove.
So far, our usage is staying below same-time-last year. It's hard to know for sure if that's a good comparison, because of fluctuating weather conditions, but I'm happy with the savings we seem to be getting from the new unit.
Terry, how did the new heat pump work during the recent cold spells? Are you still happy with it? Is there anything you think you should/would have done differently?
We are about to swap out two 1992 heat pumps, one was a 6 seer and the other a 7. The new units will be 13 seer which is the minimum you can get now. We are going with the newer R410A refrigerant. Unfortunately, the bigger units need new duct work which significantly adds to the costs. The upside is I will have new, clean ducts. We still have lots of little, but still expensive, things to consider like the air cleaners and humidifiers.
The gas bills during the winter were much lower than in the past (we used 60-75% less gas compared to prior years during the same months.) Even with the increase in electrical usage, we still came out significantly ahead ;o)
My new heat pump, installed last August, is not dual fuel but otherwise like yours Terry. I did get all new duct work but have had a couple of very high bills.
Twice I have had the installers back. First time was because it wouldn't heat up to the thermostat setting (68º), and it turned out the furnace was wired incorrectly. After 2 large elec. bills in Feb. and March I called them again and finally they discovered the flange to the house was leaking 150 cu. ft. a minute of heated air into the garden rather than the house.
Some people will go to any length to grow tropicals. :-))))
Good grief, I'll watch out for that! We are getting the plain electric heat pump as there are no natural gas lines here. We could have had a larger propane tank installed but it would have to be put underground and the costs were spiraling.
We are doing this in conjunction with a small remodeling job. It was time for a roof and new heat pumps it made sense to do everything at once. We are looking at a minimum of 2 months of permitting before we can even start the remodel and we can't do the heat pumps until they raise the roof, etc. Things are getting complicated.
I'm converting from oil to gas and am looking at a Trintiy Ti. It will provide both my heating (waterfilled baseboard) and domestic hot water in a single unit that is about the size of a suitcase. Anyone have any feedback on this furnace?
