Two Stage or Modulating Gas Furnace?

The old forced-air gas furnace in our future home (which appears to be 50+ years old) has been all but condemned by our home inspector. To make a long story short, the sellers aren’t going to replace it and we’d like to do it this summer before next heating season. If you needed to replace both your hot water heater and your forced-air furnace, what direction would you go? Any brands/installers to recommend? Brands/installers to run from? For those of you that have actually had work like this done in the past, is the added expense of a modulating or two stage furnace worth the added comfort/cost-savings? Is there anything we should know about the potential costs (other than the higher price of the actual unit) for these ultra high efficiency furnaces? Does anyone have a rough idea of what this will run us? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

BKsearch

in Heating 13 years and 5 months ago

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callalily | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Make sure your plumber buys all the units, not you. Their bids should specify the make and model of the equipment.

Bklnite | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Sounds like you’re going to have a modest budget (<10k) so the Jock's ultra efficent, much more expensive suggestions and converting to hot water aren't practical. Before you go down the path of the tankless hw heater, check this article by MasterPlvmber, and a consumer reports article. http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/352/Water-Heaters/27/Tankless-water-heaters http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air/water-heaters/tankless-water-heaters/overview/tankless-water-heaters-ov.htm (And if the brownstoner site adds extra characters at the end of the link, as often happens, just delete them to get to the page)

BKsearch | 13 years and 5 months ago

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We do plan on living in the space for a good while. Radiant isn’t in the cards for us, as (we hope) to never have to yank up the original floors. If we did, that would be a no brainer.   RE: Weil-McLain Ultra Series 3-UE Boilers. Jock, are you suggesting we convert to hot water? It is my impression that the installation of a new hot water system including permits, the plumbing runs over 4 stories, radiators, and the boiler would be costly and take quite a bit of time to pay off in ultilities savings. Also we are weighing the cost/benefit against the fact that the higher initial cost is going to eat up funds we’d like to spend elsewhere, so we’d need to see a substantial benefit to the hot water system. Though the tankless seems like a possible option.

parkslopemom | 13 years and 5 months ago

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We used ALL H.V.A.C. to replace our forced air furnace and A/C system several years ago. They did a great job, gave us options and we continue to use them for maintenance. They have an ad on the Brownstoner page.

Bklnite | 13 years and 5 months ago

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I got a quote for a new furnace for 6k – it was not high efficiency (might have been 2 stage). My furnace is about 50 years old too, but after having replaced over the years the fan limit control, the motor, and a thermocouple, I decided to leave it alone. A hydronic system with radiant floor heating would be much more comfortable and efficient than any new furnace. Expensive & impractical if you’re not doing it as part of a big reno, but if you are planning on renovating I’d consider that.

jockdeboeraia | 13 years and 5 months ago

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If you plan on living there to recoup the cost than a high eff. condensing boiler and a separate instant-on tankless water heater. Weil-McLain Ultra Series 3-UE Gas Boiler & Paloma makes a tankless that works great. Both are much more expensive than what most people put in their homes, but if you are going to live there awhile it will pay for itself with the reduced gas usage.