Heat went out over the weekend. Given the fact that this unit is well past its life expectancy I’m fearing the worst. If that’s the case, I’m looking for advice on a new unit.
Most of the area it would cover would be an open space in a 2-story house. We have a separate unit for the upstairs bedrooms - fortunately that unit is newer and working well.
Q: Do you need heat right now?
Q: Does the heating unit also provide AC?
These questions are for determining an optimal time of the year to replace. If the answer to both is yes, then do it now.
If there is such a thing as a dual-heating unit (meaning it can supply heat from Electric or gas), get that. No one knows what will run out next.
What’s your climate like? Do you want/need gas or electric, or are you flexible?
I’m a huge fan of heat pumps, and the newest generation will work well to about 10° F or so (i.e. coefficient of performance >2.0), the new Mitsubishi Hyper Heat maintains full performance to 5° F. If you need heating for colder ambient temps then you’d need electric or gas backup, which adds cost. And it’s a heat pump, so it’s also AC if you want/need that, it would be a whole all-in-one system.
Subtropical climate, consistently humid in the summer, winters are fairly mild but still pretty cold. Spring/fall gets cold in the morning but highs usually in the 60’s to low 80’s.
I believe my current unit has a heat pump according to the thermostat settings.
i need numbers, please
Is the AC the same age as the furnace? If so, replacing them both at the same time saves some expense, but brings forward the capital cost of the AC. I had the flip two years ago, AC out on both units, heaters were 27 and 10 years old respectively. I replaced both.
Our climate is similar, I went high efficiency (90% IIRC) gas, plus a slight SEER upgrade on the AC (16 instead of min 14), variable speed blower (blower is shared by AC/heater). The high efficiency gas requires an outside air source and exhaust to be added. It is generally PVC piping, but might be an extra hole in your exterior, which might complicate installation.
If you need to spend all that CAS big money, check out a ground source heat pump. Super efficient, but not a wide market yet. Might be hard to find a contractor. Doesn’t suffer from temp diff as much as air source heat pump, and you are a mild climate.
Not cold compared to you.
Me too. They are awesome and very efficient.
Yep that is what makes it so great imo
Yeah, my furnace is 24yo and the AC compressor is about 13-14yo. Gonna do a roof this year and then next year I’m getting a heat pump with gas backup. And hopefully rebuilding my windows, that’s costing me a lot of efficiency.
Get multiple quotes. Some salesman are extremely sleezy and will try to massively overcharge you.
Turned out some critters have been living in our crawlspace, chewed something up. Fortunately just a $99 charge and I’m already under contract with a pest service so hopefully they will solve the problem before they do any damage.
At some point we’ll have to replace both the heating and A/C unit, the technician said that he could install Carrier units for around $7500. We’ll be saving up for that.
Check out Bryant. They are made by the same company as Carrier and many models are the same except the label. You may get a lesser warranty with Bryant.
I’ve a friend who was an HVAC engineer for years and he’s a big Bryant fan.
DTNF’s link was a good read. Carrier is the gold standard, Bryant looks like it’s good too but not state of the art. Also considering Lennox since they work with Costco so I’d probably get a good deal. They are the most energy efficient, but repair costs are higher and they are noisier.
Furnace needs to be replaced; I’m getting a quote on a new system next week. Might look into a heat pump, since there is government money available to offset the cost.
I looked at heat pumps some years ago, and they weren’t up to snuff, but we’re getting there. I’ve read a few articles lately that say they are there now. Relatively inexpensive and inexpensive to run. I’ll be looking hard at them next time we need a furnace.
I also looked at these really cool wood furnaces made in Sweden. Like this https://www.mbtek.com/products/uni-15
They’re cool, you have a 500 gallon water tank, the wood burn is controlled by computer, heats the water then it’s in home passive water heating that lasts for days. No good for urban but a neat idea for rural.
House-elders: How often does a furnace simply “go out” and need major repair/replacement, versus one “going bad” for some time and you know it’s got maybe a few years left?
I’m in a newer-build house and will have to consider it eventually. For now I just get it serviced.
The furnace still works, but the CO count is 129 ppm as of the most recent cleaning: better to replace the beast now than have it crap out in the middle of winter. Furnace is 16 years old.
Did you get >1 year of notice and this was the final call? Or was this “aw shit must deal with suddenly I guess”?
This is an “Aw, 
!” moment. Luckily, the gubmint has various subsidies for upgrading home heating. 
My experience has been it works until it doesn’t. Keep your filters changed regularly is the best advice I have.