nothing showing on the CO , it is a fairly new unit and has a digital display and is a plug in model not just batteries,
Furnace is dead
- Thread starter Hawk-in-Wi
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My brother in law burns corn in his heater. They use 16 48 foot dump trailers of corn a day to feed their chickens so a little bit won't be missed
"behind the laundry" is what I was looking for. Hopefully the new furnace is one of the high efficiency ones and if so you need to get its combustion air from the outside not from in the home.
But you are right, you got a good bit of use out of the old one... not so sure the newer high efficiency ones will last as long. Some folks here will understand what I mean about the laundry and the newer gas furnaces that actually rob so much heat from the fire that water from the exhaust condenses on the heat exchanger and in that water are chemicals from the air in the house that are highly corrosive.
Oh and the way forced air furnaces are designed... even with holes in the heat exchanger they really don't leak CO into the duct work but out into the room that the furnace is in... the heat exchanger has positive pressure in it and this is why it was blowing the fire of the gas burner out of the unit,,.. still this is letting CO out into the house. I once did a check on a 'bad' furnace like this.. best I could get coming out of the duct work was 7 parts per million... then I went down stairs toward the room the furnace was in.... I started to walk in that room and my detector reset itself at 1200 parts per million... I hit the kill switch on the furnace and turned and ran out of the house... gave me a buzz for about 30 minutes....
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Hopefully the new furnace is one of the high efficiency ones and if so you need to get its combustion air from the outside not from in the home.
Yes it is and Yes it does have a fresh air line coming from outside the house and yes on the water , it has a small water pump with a discharge line running over to a drain line and the furnace guy said to expect about half the life out of this one compared to the old one , if it does really good , maybe even a little less than half
Yes it is and Yes it does have a fresh air line coming from outside the house and yes on the water , it has a small water pump with a discharge line running over to a drain line and the furnace guy said to expect about half the life out of this one compared to the old one , if it does really good , maybe even a little less than half
Sideline of the 'high efficiency' furnace: I ran a line from the furnace water drain to a gravity floor drain being short of time and not realizing the implications. The first winter was marked by several really cold snaps lasting several days. Another factor was that during the post fire cleanup, some of the equipment had scoured a bit deep near the lower end of this gravity drain. The result was the end of that drain line froze causing the furnace piddle to back up into the basement floor. There's a LOT more water comes out of that little piddle stream than one might expect. After that debacle, I'm more careful to make sure the drain is covered and protected from freezing.
Personally, I'm not enthused with the 'high efficiency' heat. Yes, the temp meets the thermostat setting but there's just no place to 'get warm' in the house.
Personally, I'm not enthused with the 'high efficiency' heat. Yes, the temp meets the thermostat setting but there's just no place to 'get warm' in the house.
instructor
Single-Sixer
Few days ago, replaced our furnace with high efficiency rating and done so with local firm that specializes in HVAC work. Two workers showed up at 8am and were done by 4pm. The previous furnace was very old and had never given us any problems, but all things mechanical have a lifetime just as we humans do. Cost was slightly less than $7000 with a service contract for future issues as they occur over a 10-year period. I will soon be 83 and wife is late 70's so the furnace will most likely be running after we have departed this planet.
Personally, I'm not enthused with the 'high efficiency' heat. Yes, the temp meets the thermostat setting but there's just no place to 'get warm' in the house.
isn't that the truth, you can tell there is heat coming out of the vents but it just doesn't feel warm like it did before from the old furnace
isn't that the truth, you can tell there is heat coming out of the vents but it just doesn't feel warm like it did before from the old furnace
I had a high efficiency furnace/AC unit put it back in 2007, and my utility bills are still lower than they were in my former house back in 2005 despite the current house having 12 to 18 foot ceilings. Other than routine cleaning and maintnance, the only repairs the system have ever needed was a recent replacement of the heat diffuser which cost me a total of $700. Of course the HVAC company recommended a whole new furnace, but I declined their recommendation. My house has stayed nicely warm during the sub zero days we have had recently. FWIW, my furnace/AC system is a Bryant.
gjgalligan
Single-Sixer
It will only last half as long as the old one??
Hertervillian
Saluki
30 ish years ago corn fired boilers were becoming popular on the farm! Most could run the wood pellets as well. Calculate your cost per BTU, fill it up and go. What amounted to an automated hog feeder system kept it going with minimal babysitting.
Having a gas or electric furnace to create a bottom temp of say 60 degrees and supplementing with a pellet stove is a strategy some employ. LP prices can be quite volatile, it's nice to have alternatives.
epags
Single-Sixer
To Hawk-in-Wi: Did they do a soap bubble test on the propane to furnace connections? The reason I ask is because when I had mine replaced the tech used some electronic sniffer device...said everything was good to go. The next morning when I went downstairs, after the furnace had come on, I started smelling gas. Ran to the furnace and turned it off. Got my kid's bubble making solution, brushed the connections, turned the furnace back on and lo and behold the connection was blowing bubbles. Gas off, call to the furnace company, they immediately came out, confirmed the electronic tester 'seemed to have missed the leak'. Many apologies and a minor refund on the bill.
Being a smart-axx, I gave the bottle of bubble solution to the tech.
Being a smart-axx, I gave the bottle of bubble solution to the tech.
Yes Sir that is what they told me , too much nasty water being made and going thru the system , I guess it eats things up
Condensation from combustion contains acid as a byproduct. It can corrode heat exchangers and burners.
I have oil heat and the new low sulfur fuel burns much cleaner than the old blend. Our house is nice and warm. I know what people mean when they say they a high efficiency furnace doesn't warm the house as well as the older style did.
My wife and I own and live in a house built in 1966 that has a fireplace. This is California and it rarely gets very cold. However, when the furnace goes belly up or the power goes out, the fireplace is much appreciated.
We are moving to a house built in 1981 that also has a fireplace. When we were shopping for a house a single-story was the main priority. A fireplace was high on the list.
We needed to take out three large trees. I saved them for firewood. We are covered for a furnace failure or a power failure.
We are moving to a house built in 1981 that also has a fireplace. When we were shopping for a house a single-story was the main priority. A fireplace was high on the list.
We needed to take out three large trees. I saved them for firewood. We are covered for a furnace failure or a power failure.
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locked*n*loaded
Bearcat
I hate when those unexpected repairs happen. Idk. $6500 sounds a little steep, but everything is sky high, nowadays. No intention of rubbing salt in a wound, but I put my own HE 96% ng furnace in about 7 years ago myself, and it cost me about $1300, and that included having a new plenum made by a local sheet metal place (to my drawings). But it was a LOT of work. And it's hard to put a price on heat and comfort for the family. Although, $6500 would have bought some really nice pew-pews.
very true but when it's 0 or even below 0 outside and this coming week temps are going to be in the - teens , one doesn't have very much time to F around
I've considered putting a wood burning stove in my master bedroom.
No need for me to keep the whole damn house warm at night.
I've looked at small stoves with glass doors. I just have to cut a hole in the wall or ceiling.
My only concern is dying from lack of oxygen while I'm sleeping LOL.
Some of the new hybrid stoves suck in fresh air from outside to feed the fire so that the air in the room is not used.
Meaning the stove is completely sealed from the room it's in, but you get the heat benefits.
No need for me to keep the whole damn house warm at night.
I've looked at small stoves with glass doors. I just have to cut a hole in the wall or ceiling.
My only concern is dying from lack of oxygen while I'm sleeping LOL.
Some of the new hybrid stoves suck in fresh air from outside to feed the fire so that the air in the room is not used.
Meaning the stove is completely sealed from the room it's in, but you get the heat benefits.
I had a corn/pellet furnace that worked fine until the corrosive residue from burning corn ate it up. LITERALLY the entire combustion chamber crumbled.
It was a cheap alternative fueled heat source. I just held back the last wagon load of shelled corn at harvest and that heated the house for the entire winter.
It was a cheap alternative fueled heat source. I just held back the last wagon load of shelled corn at harvest and that heated the house for the entire winter.
"I've considered putting a wood burning stove in my master bedroom."
The problem with having a woodstove in a bedroom (or any part of the house not readily accessible from outside) is the fuss and mess of carrying wood in and ashes out through the house. This is the primary reason I don't have a small wood stove in my living room. Scattering bark, wood chips, and smoldering ashes through 3 rooms is a NO GO with Grouch Attack.
The problem with having a woodstove in a bedroom (or any part of the house not readily accessible from outside) is the fuss and mess of carrying wood in and ashes out through the house. This is the primary reason I don't have a small wood stove in my living room. Scattering bark, wood chips, and smoldering ashes through 3 rooms is a NO GO with Grouch Attack.
locked*n*loaded
Bearcat
My (ex) brother-in-law had this wood burning water boiler he was using to heat his house. It was pretty darn expensive, like $10000 or something. Did a darn good job, too. Anyway, one year he started to get a little "cheap", and since he was trying to start a business and didn't have time to go out into his woods to chop some wood, he decided that he would just get some coal and burn that. Well, he bought the cheapest, highest sulfur content coal he could find. It ended up destroying the stainless heat exchanger and it couldn't be repaired. I think the coal burns hotter than wood, so that might of had something to do with it, too. I don't know if better quality coal would have done the same thing. The repair guy told him he really screwed up. And his neighbors, who really aren't all that close to him in proximity, were really b****ing up a storm over the stink. It was Nasty with a capital N. I hated going out there in the Winter. The entire house stunk of that crap. Live and learn, I guess.
