Furnaces

[bhs91]

How tough is it to self install a natural gas furnace? Looks like I would save a lot in labor.

[BobT]

You don't actually save labor, you pay yourself the labor rate by doing it yourself. Do you have the knowledge and proper equipment necessary to properly connect those gas lines so you don't blow up your house and properly adjust the fire, blower speeds, etc. so it runs at peak efficiency?

[bhs91]

Not even close. What would be a reasonable price for a 95 percent efficiency, rheem, installed.

[Surface Tension]

It is not going to be that much if your just replacing an old furnace and money well spent. Otherwise the scope of work will be over your head and I mean that respectfully.

I was going to suggest that if you want to cut costs ask the installer what you can do as an unskilled assistant.

He probably won't do that because he has found when he has, the homeowner is not very reliable. Not there when they are needed, very seldom lives up to their end or the bargain and in the end he'll be doing the work or having an employee do it.

Its worth a try though.

[Powerstroke]

Your best bet is finding a friend or friend of a friend who is willing to do the job on the side.

The guys above have got it right. Its not so much the actual install, but its the fine tuning and the custom work that needs to be done with the electronics and the ducting. A good friend of mine is a commercial HVAC guy here in the metro and he's done plenty of jobs on the side, but the few times I've had him come over and trouble shoot or help me with a problem he ends up doing the work and I end up asking lots of questions but instead just get in the way.

Also, don't get be surprised if some of these guys get upset about the request of doing it on the side. Most HVAC guys are union guys and some are more loyal than others and may be offended.

[Tom7227]

I had a 95% Rheem put in about 5 years ago. There was minimal duct work to do and I guess I could see a good DIYer being able to pull that off. The grunt work wasn't all that bad. The had some pretty fancy saws to cut the holes for the air intake and exhaust and I'm sure those large circle blades would eat a big hole in anything you were going to save.

But once that was done the tech's were pulling out gauges and electronic jobberdo's that had more different functions than anything any homeowner has ever had. There was a lot of time spent getting things set up. I think two guys were at it for at least 3-4 hours. This work was done by a well respected firm here in White Bear and so it wasn't like Mutt and Jeff were on it for the first time. My guess is that a homeowner would be hard pressed to get the thing to work at all and has a very slim chance of getting it to work well.

It may be different with some of the less efficient ones.