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Need some furnace help ffs

Judge Smails

Judge Smails

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2001
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Know nothing about furnaces. Think they are thingies that heat the house?

Split units, downstairs furnace is 19 years old. No heat this morning, tech tells me that we have a clogged secondary heat exchange which is causing the flames to roll out and trip a switch shutting the whole unit down. Their company policy is that they won’t replace the secondary heat exchanger on units over 15 years old for liability reasons. This guy says it would be $2200 job otherwise.

Do I find another company to see if they will do heat exchanger job? Just get the new furnace? These guys are sending out someone to give me quote on new furnace tomorrow. Is there a “smart” place to buy a furnace from (West Chester, PA).
 
I had a new furnace and AC put in this Summer and used Precision Air out of West Chester. First used Homeadvisor.com and talked to about 5-6 companies and got 4-5 quotes. I would get some quotes. You've had a good run at 19 years.



Michael Stipa -President

Precision Air Heating & Cooling

675 Tower Ln. West Chester, PA 19380

T: (610) 918-9344, C: (267) 872-2399, F: (484) 905-5427 mike@precisionairhc.com
 
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Judge Smails said:
Know nothing about furnaces. Think they are thingies that heat the house?

Split units, downstairs furnace is 19 years old. No heat this morning, tech tells me that we have a clogged secondary heat exchange which is causing the flames to roll out and trip a switch shutting the whole unit down. Their company policy is that they won’t replace the secondary heat exchanger on units over 15 years old for liability reasons. This guy says it would be $2200 job otherwise.

Do I find another company to see if they will do heat exchanger job? Just get the new furnace? These guys are sending out someone to give me quote on new furnace tomorrow. Is there a “smart” place to buy a furnace from (West Chester, PA).
Click to expand...
I would recommend replacing the unit vs fixing it. The old unit had a good run. I’m pretty sure most companies have a similar policy about replacing a heat exchanger on a unit that old. Good luck and stay warm.
 
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Judge Smails said:
tech tells me that we have a clogged secondary heat exchange
Click to expand...
I know little to nothing about furnaces, but my heat exchange went out a year or so ago.
The carbon monoxide detectors went off as the furnace was producing the poisonous gas.
Please make sure yours is safe for your family.

I called a good friend who is fire dept chief. Had never seen such high CO levels in a basement.

Again, please make you're safe!!

OL
 
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I had a new furnace put in 3 years ago. I live north of West Chester. I used the company that services my HVAC. They replaced a 28 year old system both heat and air. Boyd’s Heating and Cooling They’re located in Pughtown. (610) 286-5766.
 
Yep, not worth $2200 into a 19 year old furnace.

I would get 3 or 4 bids for similar equipment - size and efficiency, as well as consider the satisfaction rating of the installing company. Looks like you got some recommendations above.

What size furnace is it? If you have the BTU input/output and a picture of the current installation you could likely expedite getting a few bids by providing that info to potential installers via email, provided the install is pretty standard.

Since you have heat upstairs, run a couple of electric portable heaters for a few days while you get some bids and save yourself a few bucks.....
 
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GregInPitt said:
Yep, not worth $2200 into a 19 year old furnace.

I would get 3 or 4 bids for similar equipment - size and efficiency, as well as consider the satisfaction rating of the installing company. Looks like you got some recommendations above.

What size furnace is it? If you have the BTU input/output and a picture of the current installation you could likely expedite getting a few bids by providing that info to potential installers via email, provided the install is pretty standard.

Since you have heat upstairs, run a couple of electric portable heaters for a few days while you get some bids and save yourself a few bucks.....
Click to expand...

It’s a Bryant Plus 90. 93.1 AFUE. I didn’t notice btu info anywhere.
 
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massimoManca II said:
I would try to fix it yourself
Click to expand...
I would fix it myself. It's a long job but not that hard. Take lots of pictures of the wiring and understand how to read the wiring diagram so that you can put it back together. Go to your heating supply dealer and ask them what else is typically replaced such as new fire box seals and they'll help put together a package. Expect it to take about 5 - 6 hours.
 
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Judge Smails said:
It’s a Bryant Plus 90. 93.1 AFUE. I didn’t notice btu info anywhere.
Click to expand...

It would be in the model number on the tag. Somewhere in the model number is a number like "90", "100", "110", for BTU usage.

Many times the size/BTU info is on a tag inside the cover that covers the blower, so you have to remove that cover to see it.

But if the company that came and diagnosed the heat exchanger issue gives you a bid, their bid will include the size of the furnace they would supply.

I went down and looked at mine and found the input of 100k and output of 93k, but had to take the front cover off to find it. Mine, a Carrier, is 23 years old and still going strong. Replaced the AC V-coil 5 or 6 years ago, but I now look at the AC as year to year. Next issue and it's getting replaced.... When I moved into this house there was no AC, and the furnace had to be 35 years old - a Chrysler AirTemp. that was huge. House had issues getting heat to the far end. And when one contractor suggested a separate boiler for the family room on the far end and a slightly smaller main furnace, that's what I did. A partial backup, as it seems you have as well.

Any plans to add on to your home? If so consider going up to the next higher BTU output model. Or if your home is older and you have added insulation and replaced windows you could possible go down a size. If you are unsure if your furnace is sized correctly have a couple of the contractors estimating do a start from scratch heat requirement sizing of the area being heated....

Good luck, and let us know how you end up proceeding.
 
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Judge Smails said:
Know nothing about furnaces. Think they are thingies that heat the house?

Split units, downstairs furnace is 19 years old. No heat this morning, tech tells me that we have a clogged secondary heat exchange which is causing the flames to roll out and trip a switch shutting the whole unit down. Their company policy is that they won’t replace the secondary heat exchanger on units over 15 years old for liability reasons. This guy says it would be $2200 job otherwise.

Do I find another company to see if they will do heat exchanger job? Just get the new furnace? These guys are sending out someone to give me quote on new furnace tomorrow. Is there a “smart” place to buy a furnace from (West Chester, PA).
Click to expand...

Replace it Judge.

Newer technology can generally pay for itself in about 3 - 5 years.

19 years was a great run sir.

Get some quotes sir.

Delco provide a great lead.
 
GregInPitt said:
Yep, not worth $2200 into a 19 year old furnace.

I would get 3 or 4 bids for similar equipment - size and efficiency, as well as consider the satisfaction rating of the installing company. Looks like you got some recommendations above.

What size furnace is it? If you have the BTU input/output and a picture of the current installation you could likely expedite getting a few bids by providing that info to potential installers via email, provided the install is pretty standard.

Since you have heat upstairs, run a couple of electric portable heaters for a few days while you get some bids and save yourself a few bucks.....
Click to expand...

Judge, with the weather changing for the worst, better sooner than later however.
 
Pardlion said:
My boiler is almost 50 years old. Is that a problem?
Click to expand...
The camp I bought last year had one that was about the size of a Panzer tank. It had to be mid 70s model (at least). If I could have moved it the scrap might have paid for the replacement.
 
You're lucky you got 19 years out of it. I'd replace it, but do be aware that they are going to tell you to replace the AC unit along with it. Brands don't matter all that much, as all of the biggies are good companies (American Standard, Trane, Bryant, Carrier, Lennox, etc). A number of those companies are owned by the same megacompany and are selling the same units under different badges (for instance, AS and Trane are sister companies and sell pretty much the same stuff; same with Bryant and Carrier). The installation is probably more important than the brand.
 
Delco Lion said:
I had a new furnace and AC put in this Summer and used Precision Air out of West Chester. First used Homeadvisor.com and talked to about 5-6 companies and got 4-5 quotes. I would get some quotes. You've had a good run at 19 years.



Michael Stipa -President

Precision Air Heating & Cooling

675 Tower Ln. West Chester, PA 19380

T: (610) 918-9344, C: (267) 872-2399, F: (484) 905-5427 mike@precisionairhc.com
Click to expand...

He’s coming by today. Thanks for the lead. Helps to know you did legwork on quotes. I have service contract with R&D that gets me 10% discount so we’ll see how they compare.
 
Also find out with a higher efficiency furnace whether or not your chimney would have to be replaced. I've heard of people needing to have that done and that's an added cost.
 
RochLion said:
Also find out with a higher efficiency furnace whether or not your chimney would have to be replaced. I've heard of people needing to have that done and that's an added cost.
Click to expand...

In these parts a 90+ high-efficiency furnace renders traditional venting useless... they’ll most-likely choose to run two 3” pvc through an ext wall for intake and exhaust
 
Judge Smails said:
He’s coming by today. Thanks for the lead. Helps to know you did legwork on quotes. I have service contract with R&D that gets me 10% discount so we’ll see how they compare.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you can get a full 10 + year parts and labor warranty. I think the Fall and Spring service fees are like $125 or so. Very pleased with the furnace and AC system. I met with 5 vendors and selected these guys.
 
massimoManca II said:
In these parts a 90+ high-efficiency furnace renders traditional venting useless... they’ll most-likely choose to run two 3” pvc through an ext wall for intake and exhaust
Click to expand...
I did not catch if it is a gas or oil furnace? I assume gas. If you are going with the high eff. units and using plastic as the vent, then it is a condensing furnace. You will also need to make sure they but in a condensate neutralization receiver and pipe that to a drain. You cannot run a condensing flue in the old vent piping/stack. The next thing to make sure of is the distance the vent terminal is from an opening in your home. depending on unit type you may need to be 4 feet away from openings. If you do not do this type of work, do not mess with it yourself. the old saying is gas goes BOOM!. I would also replace a 19 year old unit
 
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