forced air furnace

mjricemonica

I need advice. I need to replace a 30 year old furnace..it is a forced air oil furnace. Should I stay with independent companies or check with Sears, Home Depot and Lowes as well (I'm at the getting quotes stage right now. I live in Upstate New York above Albany.

beenthere

Do you really think Sear's, HD, or Lowes will care about your heat in the middle of the night. Since you won't be buying oil from them.

yuri

The big box companies tend to get the cheapest private contractors to install their units. Its all about large quantities and saving a buck. Not who I would want installing my unit.

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NHMaster

find someone that installs Thermo-Pride. You will not find a better furnace anywhere. Top of the line. Worth every penny.

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houseinthewoods

I got bids from three local HVAC vendors, and ended up buying a Lennox system from the dealer right up the street. There's something to be said for keeping your business close to home.

I did have an interesting situation with a water heater, however. I got a bid from one of the big local plumbing contractors, and from Home Depot. Both bid the same water heater. HD had a sale and 6 months no interest, so I went with them. Guess who showed up to install the heater. Yup, the same local plumber who had bid $200 more.

beenthere

Makes you wonder what corners they cut.

mjricemonica

Thanks for all the replys...really good advice. I didn't think about the fact that a big box store might not care if my furnace has a problem in the middle of the night and it's all about quantity and not quality so much. Thank you so much.

mjricemonica

Hey everyone,

You were all so helpful before I wondered what you think of a Lennox variable speed forced hot air furnace installed with a programmable thermostat (the old one removed) for $4300? This is with an independent company.

houseinthewoods

It's tough to compare, since the size of the furnace (BTUs) and the efficiency (ours is 96%) affect the cost. We paid close to $9000 for our furnace and high-efficiency central air conditioning.

I will say that the Lennox variable speed blower and two-stage furnace are wonderful. When the heat kicks on the blower slowly spins up to speed, so there's no rattling of the duct work. It seldom kicks into high unless it's REALLY cold out, or we've set the temperature down then back up.

We have a multi-level home, so we use the fan to even out the temperature between the top and bottom levels. When the fan is on low you barely know it's running. Our thermostat has a 'CIRC' mode that runs the fan about 25% of the time even when the furnace isn't heating.

mjricemonica

Thank you "house in the woods"...very helpful.

yuri

True story. Friend of mine's relative buys a ICP air conditioner from Big Box (ryhmes with deers). Gets quotes from 3 other contractors but likes Deers "points". Contractor who installs it was one of 3 quoters and had quoted them $300 less for same unit. Does deers work and would have done the same quality work anyway. Pretty expensive deer points.

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beenthere

Over the years. I lost a couple jobs to SEARS when they were more expensive. Because the customer could use their Sears charge card.

I don't blame the people per say. But, they could have used their regular charge card with us too. Guess Sears gives better points.

yuri

I did a real life anaylsis (sounds like our Yoyozie friend) about airmiles. Turns out they are worth about 1/10 of a cent in real currency. Can buy some of the items they are redeemable for (especially electronics) at WalMart and on sale for so little that it takes forever to accumulate them and get anything useful. I stopped collecting them and use a cashback Visa card. Won't choose one contractor just for a few airmiles. Real dollaros $$$ is what I want, not some imaginary points.

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beenthere

I think the points work out well for people that use the card everyday instead of cash for anything.

But those that just use it for large purchases. Don't get as much as they think.