Furnace advice question

[Dan Thiem]

I would like to know what brand of home furnace does everybody own.

I've been burning wood in an outdoor water boiler for eight years and now I would like to get a new furnace.

Has anybody recently bought one, and what was the pros and cons.

Thank you in advance.

[Chad711]

Dan you should think about going with a Electric boiler (Electromate) if you are in an area with ripple( low cost off peak rates) or a gas/lp boiler like a Munchkin high efficiency boiler, they are great systems. You already have a water coil so its worth thinking about.

That being said, there are tons of brands out there. My best tip would be to go with the reputable company in your area. I dont recommend fly by the night moonlighters, most of the time you will regret it.

The company I work for sells Trane/Bryant, I also like RUUD and Lennox furnaces. I do NOT like Goodman, COLEMAN (the worse out there), or carrier systems... This is coming from a guy that works on them, 10 years at it...

[rod bender]

Thanks for the input Chad. I'm going to be building a new home soon. My builder wants to use Carrier. Not a good idea? Who makes what brands? Is there only a few manufacturers out there or does everybody make their own. Thanks for your knowledge!

[Chad711]

I wouldnt go as far as saying Carrier is bad. Their early 90's high efficiency furnaces were though. They are better these days so dont worry about that. Alot of the first High Eff furnaces had issues.

As far as who makes what.

Ruud/Rheem same thing.

Carrier/Bryant same..

If you email me I can give you a link to another site that will give great info.

Chad711 at paulbunyan dot net

[efgh]

we installed a heat pump-air conditioner combination that runs on off peak thru R.E.A. electrical co. Above 20 degrees the heat pump heats the house, below 20m degrees a Lenex gas furnace takes over, newer heat pumps will work at a lower temp. than ours, we will be getting a new one this summer to take advantage of the lower temp. operation, we are well satified with this system, no problems in 8 years. Forgot to mention you change from heat to cool on the thermostate. real simple system to operate and no up keep.

[anyfishwilldo]

If you are building a new house, the best way that I could recomend would be the wiersbo(in floor water) heat. It is about the best heat out there. It also uses about 1/2 the energy that forced air uses. Another benefit is then you can run it in the garage.

[Chad711]

Quote:

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If you are building a new house, the best way that I could recomend would be the wiersbo(in floor water) heat. It is about the best heat out there. It also uses about 1/2 the energy that forced air uses. Another benefit is then you can run it in the garage.

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The best IMO system out there is a Heat Pump combined with a system like Electromates Warmflo system. It has many features, the best being that you can (I can I should say) program the ICU to put out say 106 degree supply air. It WILL put out 106 degree supply air. With a Heat pump, you may only get say 90 degree air, the lower the outside temp goes the lower your supply temp is going to be. Even at 0 degrees a heat pump can put out 85-90 degree air.

Anyways the electric systems supply heat through a elements. You need another 12 degrees of temp, it may kick on one element plus another. The system works great, and if your in an area that has off peak rates it IS the only way to go.

In floor heat is great and I agree if your builing new, go with it. You could go with electros boiler with a Munchkin backup (gas).

The main thing is finding a company that knows what they are doing. make SURE they perform a Heat loss calculation so the system is sized properly. If they say naw we dont need that I do it in my head, run. Sorry but 90% of those guys are wrong..

[lawdog]

I have a buddy who's a furnace repair guy. He says Trane makes the best units. That's what I bought when mine died (on his recommendation) and it was a dang good unit. Sold the house and don't know how it is now, but that was 4 years ago and he said they were the best. (HE DOESN'T SELL ANY BRAND BY THE WAY, JUST FIXES/INSTALLS THEM INDEPENDANTLY).

[Dan Thiem]

Thanks everbody,

I knew I could get some good advise here.

[rod bender]

OK, now how about some advise or recomendations on the new plumbing they're putting in new homes. IT's the flexible tubing. Better than copper? Cost more/less? Last longer? Easier to fix?

Thanks!!

[JohnMickish]

New house I'd go with floor heat in the basement cement. Once you have that mass warmed up it takes forever to cool off. If you are lucky enough to be on an R.E.A. use an electric boiler. Heat the upstairs with a conventional forced air furnace (that way you have duct work through out the house for the A.C.) your heat will rise from the warm floor in the basement and your furnace will hardly run. That way you have a backup incase you lose power and need to run your heat off a generator. (Make sure you use a transfer switch or you could injure a lineman)

As someone mentioned you can also heat the garage with another zone. No more puddles on the floor. Anothe advantage of floor heat in the basement is you will never get that musty smell that comes from the moisture you typically have. The warm concrete takes all the humidity out.

It's a spendy way to do it, but it's the most energy efficient way to do it.

[Mike89]

we have had our carrier for just under 2 years and are very happy with it, but if I was building new i would have in floor heat hands down!!!! Mike

[minneman]

Rodbender, the piping that your talking about for plumbing to me is a no brainer, its much easier to work with (less labor) and does not sweat like copper.

[rod bender]

How much more are you talking? I'll be building a 2000 sq.ft. walk-out ranch. Double the price? Any other suggestions for a first time builder?

[Chad711]

The flexable tubing is great. Especially for the installers! But yeah its fine, no worries!

[minneman]

Carrier is a good choise, they have components that all work together as a system off of one controler, ac/heat/air to air. see their HSOforum.

If I was building new and wanted the best bang for the buck, heat pump would be top of the list, air scource heat pumps can heat down to near 0deg,F. after 0 a high ef gas with elec plenem backup.

if you want 300% eficency go with the ground source heat pump. heat the place for $30-50/mo and cool it for $8-10/mo

get your money back in 3-6 years.

[getrdone]

Check into centralboiler.com, seems to be one of the best, and lot's of info.

Getrdone...