Posted: 12/1/2005 6:26:40 PM EDT
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Well I'm tired of nursing my 35+ year old furnace. After $700 worth of repairs last winter, I'm looking at that and maybe more right now. My less than year old $300 stack switch had a meltdown when the heat exchanger cloged. About 9 months ago I just had it vacumed and tuned up. The same time as the stack switch replacement. I don't know if the heat exchanger has cracked either. I figure it's time to replace it. Right now I'm looking for opinions and references for anyone in the Portland area. I don't have gas plumbed at this point. I'm thinking heat pump at this point with a electronic boost heater when it gets colder. I'll probably need to do some financing on this as well. Any input is greatly appreciated. And just to tie this into gun related......... this is putting a dent in my fun gun fund!!!  I still need to submit a form 1 and a form 4 which I have at my sheriffs right now.Nox 
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That's a great idea, definitley worth checking into for rebates. You might get a bunch of it paid for just by putting in a premuim efficient system! |
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In 2003 we remodelled and put a 4-zone Honeywell Envirazone zoned system tied to a 16 seer AC unit with a plus90 (94% efficient) two-stage all singing, all dancing furnace. After a few teething troubles relating to dip switches and optimum settings, I'm the only one I know who can keep the upstairs at the same temperature as downstairs, and the south side as cool as the north side without having hot or cold spots in the house or running around like a lunatic playing with registers all day. I like natural gas, and the humidifier makes things more comfortable. Bills aren't too bad, but I'm working on better insulation for this 1977 house. Cheers 7.62 |
if it gets below 20 the furnice kicks in. My furnice runs about 5 times a year. We have pretty mild winters really. A bit colder than the Valley but not like say LaGrande or Bend. Patty |
Yup. Night = 65 degrees. At work = 60 degrees. An hour before I come home 68 degrees. Mmmm...smell those savings. 
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So your heat pump will provide enough heat for you even below freezing? How warm can you keep the house when it's down around 32' outside? I'm thinking if it gets real cold outside, I can just fire up my fireplaces. That is if I had something to feed them with. BOO- Yep, I have had a programmable thermostat for several years now. Works great, it's just my furnace that I have to dink with each year. And when I say dink, that's not meaning standard service for maintaining. Thanks guys for the input. Nox 
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It's dead! It will cost about $500 - $700 just to get it to the point to see if the heat exchanger isn't cracked. If it is I have to replace the furnace. I'm at the point where I'm tired of it being a constant "?" when will it break down for real. Maybe this is it, but it'll cost me a bunch just to see. With the cost of oil this year and the low efficiency of the furnace, I figure $1000 - $1300 in cost of oil alone. I run the furnace from 4-5 months out of the year. I figure that I won't be spending near that in extra electricity for a heat pump. Plus I'll have AC in the summer. Nox
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Heat-pump: mine serves as both heating and cooling. It works well down to a few degrees above freezing, then spends a lot of its time iceing up and de-frosting -- if it can't keep up there is an electric heater which kicks in. You really can't tell the difference, appart from the little indicator on the thermostat which says secondary heating is on -- and of course the speed at which the electricity meter spins around. I wouldn't have any problem reccommending getting one -- the original one which came with the house was fine for heating, but a bit on the small side for cooling, so I replaced it last year with a new (bigger) one. With a clever thermostat you never need to touch anything, switches from heating to cooling as needed. |
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I was trying to remember -- I think it was ~ $5k, but it was a complete replacement, high efficiency, new air-handler and a constant velocity fan, electronic air filter etc. It was also one size up on what the calculations suggested was needed - the calculations came out to the same size as the old one - which used to run pretty much continuously on 95 degree days and struggle to get the temperature down to 78. The person doing the calculations explained that they are supposed to run a lot -- because you want the airfrom the house to circulate a lot, to get the moisture out as it passes through the cooler. Humid air always feels hotter. Well, we don't get that much humidity in OR. I could unserstand it for other regions. So got the bigger one anyway - runs MUCH less often, and I can set the thermostat to 70 on a 95 degree day and it pulls the temp down to that level very quickly. |
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I set my thermastat at about 68 in the winter. My electric bill is a 100 bucks a month, year round [I have it set so I pay a set rate] and that includes air conditioning in the summer which is very nice. Its typically 100+ daily from Mid July to Mid September so life is good with airconditioning. I do have a newer very energy efficient house. Patty |
Well......no, I'm not happy I lost it. It would have been a great opprounity for me and my kids. It had a heat pump too. It wasn't hooked up mind you but, it was there. I don't miss the garbage though! 
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