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#631668 - 10/31/10 11:58 AM New furnace
JPbarbless Offline
Juvenile at Sea

Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 172
Loc: Seattle
The old furnace needs to be replaced very soon. I now have oil heat. I want to replace with either gas or a heat pump.I live in the Seattle area. I"m confused as to the best way to go. I would like to have heat and air conditioning My house is 3500 sq ft. Any opinions would help. I need the most cost effective unit as I hope to retire in the near future. And as alot of people are finding out It wont be as rosey as I once thought it might be. okbye JP

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#631682 - 10/31/10 12:51 PM Re: New furnace [Re: JPbarbless]
Irie Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 11/26/06
Posts: 4358
Loc: South Sound
Get bids like you would any other construction job. I looked into it a couple years ago and some of those guys tried to sell me the moon.

Might wanna look into getting a bank loan.

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#631687 - 10/31/10 01:18 PM Re: New furnace [Re: JPbarbless]
SBD Offline
clown flocker

Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 3743
Loc: Water
House I just bought came with gas furnace/water heater and so far I'm really impressed with how well it heats the house and tank recovery. Still waiting for my first bill though.
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#631696 - 10/31/10 02:32 PM Re: New furnace [Re: SBD]
Dave Vedder Offline
Reverend Tarpones

Registered: 10/09/02
Posts: 8587
Loc: West Duvall
I had a heat pump and got rid of it after the fourth $600 repair bill.
_________________________
No huevos no pollo.

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#631697 - 10/31/10 02:47 PM Re: New furnace [Re: Dave Vedder]
Carcassman Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 11/21/07
Posts: 7410
Loc: Olema,California,Planet Earth
We just replaced the furnace and hot water heater, both gas. Went with Wa Energy Services. The furnace is a 97% efficient, up from the 70% (20 years ago) that was original equipment.

We have gas heat and hot water and it seems pretty good. Will be interesting to see the bill, though.

I do know that when we replaced hot tubs that the electrical bill went down as efficiencies have sure been going up.

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#631716 - 10/31/10 04:46 PM Re: New furnace [Re: Carcassman]
Rivrguy Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 03/03/09
Posts: 4393
Loc: Somewhere on the planet,I hope
If you have natural gas go with a gas furnace and gas ON DEMAND hot water. The water thing is real savings.

After that a heat pump will save you a lot especially if your duct work is in already. The new ones are very efficient but you have to have it matched to your home requirements. Need to go with a solid company and not necessarily the cheapest and bids that have the same component quality.

Mine have been American Standard or Trane and loved them.
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Dazed and confused.............the fog is closing in

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#631728 - 10/31/10 05:52 PM Re: New furnace [Re: Rivrguy]
Idaho Mike Offline
Carcass

Registered: 01/01/03
Posts: 2211
Loc: Post Falls Idaho
I had the same heat pump at my old house for 19 years until I sold it last January. Never had a problem with the heat pump until the day after the house went on the market. Fortunately the realty company I used included insurance to cover most of the cost of replacing the pump.

Now that I am in my new house with natural gas, I would never go back to a heat pump, unless natuarl gas was not an option. The house heats up fast, I throw a switch for the fireplace, and instant hotwater anywhere in the house. I do miss my woodstove though, but I can burn wood out on the cement deck.

The problem with the heat pump is its not much good below 32 degrees, which at that temp and below requires a furnace. I don't know, maybe the newer ones are better. I can't tell which is cheaper yet as I am paying an average based on the previous owner, but so far, it is less. When the power goes out your gas is still available. Just need a generator to run the fan. You would need a pretty good sized generator to run the heat pump.

Retirement is great, even in this down economy. I retired a few months ago and the advantage is that you start out learning how to live in a down economy, rather then living high off the hog and then suddenly everything hits bottom. Oh yeah, you can fish and hunt all week and stay the hell out of the woods and off the water during the weekends. So many advantages and so few downsides.

Good luck.


Edited by Mike@North Bend (10/31/10 05:57 PM)
_________________________
"90% of Life is just showing up and doing the work". Tred Barta Sr.

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#631775 - 10/31/10 10:09 PM Re: New furnace [Re: Idaho Mike]
Salmo g. Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 03/08/99
Posts: 13520
JPBarbless,

In the Seattle area, it may be a tossup between gas furnace and electric heat pump. If you have SCL, your electric rates are quite a bit less than PSE I think. If that's the case, the heat pump will be more economical.

I don't have natural gas as an option, so an electric heat pump, even at PSE rates, is less than a propane fired furnace. I just built a new house and installed several heating options. I have electric heated water radiant heat in my basement floor. I have it set at 60, and it was 61 today. I have the heat pump furnace thermostat set at 55. It was 62 when I left the house yesterday after burning a small fire in my fireplace that puts out a lot of heat. It was 60 when I got there today, and without touching the thermostat, it was up to 63 when I left; must have been working pretty hard. Then, just for the luxury of it, I installed electric radiant heat under the tile floor in the master bath, but I'll keep that turned off until I get fully moved in.

Sg

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#631787 - 10/31/10 10:58 PM Re: New furnace [Re: Salmo g.]
SBD Offline
clown flocker

Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 3743
Loc: Water
http://www.rubypipeline.com/

The good news about Natural Gas is this pipeline should connect the NW to the ample supplys of the Rockies and the Midwest in the spring. The whole Bradwood line of Bullchit was we were going to run out unless we imported LNG from the Middle East..No impacts to salmon and smelt and for the most part it just enlarged an existing pipeline and who know's maybe we can bring some troops home.
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#632145 - 11/02/10 10:43 AM Re: New furnace [Re: SBD]
jimh Offline
Returning Adult

Registered: 11/08/02
Posts: 459
Loc: Area 8-1 to 13, WA
You could also consider a Natural Gas furnace with a AC combination if you want AC. We survive without AC for the week or two when it's needed, but I have friends who love their AC. In hindsight, I probably should have added AC when I replaced my furnace.

Run the math for the more energy efficient equipment. When I ran it before mine was replaced, the break even point for a high efficiency furnace was so far out, it just wasn't worth it. The same thing goes with buying a higher output furnace. In this area, it just doesn't get that cold. The same thing goes for the ondemand type water heaters vs a conventional natural gas model. The initial outlay is a lot compared to what you are saving.

The savings may make sense now, but don't assume it does.
_________________________
Wear a PFD if you want to live.

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#632186 - 11/02/10 01:54 PM Re: New furnace [Re: jimh]
Rocket Red Offline
River Nutrients

Registered: 02/14/06
Posts: 2540
Loc: Elma
I have just moved into a house I remodeled (last May) and during the remodel I replaced all of the heating systems. I would love to have used in-floor radiant heat but couldn't for structural reasons.

What I have is a 3 phase heating system. I use a natural gas insert set on a thermostat in my living room which is central to the house. This pretty much heats 2/3 of the house (1/2 of downstairs, all of upstairs). I have a gas line stubbed into the master bedroom for a small gas stove, but I don't think I will ever install one we will see after this years storm season.

I have a heat pump, the biggest one I could afford which heats down to about 33 degrees, and then an electric furnace for cold temps. It was going last year during that December cold snap. I don't think you need a gas furnace around here, we just do not get that many really cold days where you can't use a heat pump. Our heat bills so far are about half to 2/3 what they were in our prior house which had a small heat pump.

I think that the A/C is nice to have, I only used it a few times last summer, but it comes in handy when you have a large gathering and the house heats up due to all the people in there. You can cool it down really quickly.

The on-demand water heater is awesome. I would highly recommend one of these if you have a busy household. We bought the biggest one they made at the time and mounted it in the attic next to the showers. We have the multiple shower heads in the master shower, and then the kid-bathroom. There is almost no drop off in pressure or heat when all 3 showers and the bathroom sinks are operating on hot. One of the best mechanical items we bought for the house.
_________________________
WDFW - Turning outdoorsmen into golfers since 1994.

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#633499 - 11/07/10 10:17 AM Re: New furnace [Re: Rocket Red]
JPbarbless Offline
Juvenile at Sea

Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 172
Loc: Seattle
OK so I decided to wait for a while on the new unit, Got oil yesterday 3.299 gal $835 Fired up the beast nothing. Checked the reset pushed it a few times rumble rumble, Damn thing would not keep going. Thought it needed a new filter or nozzel. Called the store to see how long they would be open. 20 min till they left. Pulled out nozzel and ran down for parts. Had everything I needed Back home pulled out the filter kind of different from the one I had but it said it was a replacement. Made it work. replaced nozzel fired it up nothing FRICK FRICK""" checked for flow out of pump 1 squirt then nothing. pulled pump out blew air in all the holes reinstalled. got flow. installed burner started it up nothing boy im pissed now pulled it back apart and found I forgot to put the nozzel on. So now I have a bunch of fuel in the thing and can,t get it out so F+==:"k it back togather and fire it up RUMBLE RUMBLE SMOKE SMOKE I'm about to blow the thing to hell when it starts running ok Other than it looks like a funeral pire out my chimney It cleaned up after about 10 mins Now it appears to be ok After all this crap I am covered with black soot and oil Whole house stinks What a cheap Dumass Should have got the new furnace last week. Now this damn thing better last or I will have to pay to get rid of the oil Hope someone gets a laugh out of this, my hands are still black and the house stinks okbye JP

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#633505 - 11/07/10 10:54 AM Re: New furnace [Re: JPbarbless]
SBD Offline
clown flocker

Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 3743
Loc: Water
Pretty sure furnace oil is just undyed diesel shouldn't have to much trouble getting rid of it if you have to.
_________________________


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