ned@scirtp.UUCP (Ned Robie) (11/08/85)
I only received three responses to the oil or gas furnace query, but all three lean towards gas. The responses are included at the end. Warning: The information below is the result of limited research and therefore is not guaranteed to be totally accurate, but I hope it is helpful. Thanks to all who responded!! -- Ned Robie ----------- I decided to go with gas for the following reasons: - Yearly maintenance is not required for gas furnaces. - Fuel is always available and paid by the month. Oil can usually be paid by the month too, but special arrangements need to be made and you are usually charged for the credit. - I've been told by several people that gas is cleaner than oil. - I'm predicting that gas will be cheaper than oil in the long run (although I have no facts to support that prediction). - I want gas available in my house anyway. I plan to replace our electric range with a gas one. I'd also like to install a gas fireplace (for some reason I like the campiness of the ones with the fake wood). Results of some research into gas furnaces: - Efficiency ranges between 70% and >95%. The highest efficiency rating was found in the Lennox "Pulse" furnace. But it's expensive and I was told by several dealers that Lennox parts can take several days to get. You can expect to pay about $400 more for high efficiency (>%80). Whether it's worth the extra cost depends on how well insulated your house is, how big your house is, where you live, how warm you like your house, fuel costs, how long you expect to live in the house, etc. - The heat exchanger is the heart of a furnace. If it goes, your furnace is shot. All furnaces I looked at had two warrantys: one for the heat exchanger, and one for the rest of the furnace. Heat exchanger warrantys are either 10 yrs. or 20 yrs. Usually the 20 yr. warranty comes with high efficiency models (at a much higher cost). A 10 yr. warranty is standard. The second warranty is usually 1 yr. on parts and labor. - Electric ignite and pilot light ignite are available. Electric ignite saves fuel used by a pilot light, but is more complicated than a pilot light. When the electric ignite mechanism breaks, it can be expensive to fix. Pilot lights use extra fuel, but not more than $8 a month. Since gas companies usually have a minimum charge per month ($4 in this area), the cost is not that bad. Also, a pilot light will tend to reduce wear (corrosion) of the heat exchanger by keeping it dry. - There didn't seem to be much difference in quality between the brands' standard models. My impression is that the most important consideration is the availablity of parts. You don't want to have to suffer through several days of freezing cold because you're waiting on part for your broken furnace. Just make sure that whatever you buy, it can be rebuilt from parts obtained locally in one day. - In this area, the cost of installing a high efficiency furnace runs between $1500 and $1800. I decided to buy a Heil-Quaker gas furnace with 85% efficiency and a 20 yr. warranty on the heat exchanger. Cost: $1685 installed with humidifier. Good humidifiers cost between $200 and $400 installed. I decided to go with the "Sidewinder" model, although another one called "April Air" was also recommended. Both humidify by humidistat controlled evaporation. Neither model atomizes the water into the hot air. I was told to stay away from units that atomize because the water droplets can corrode the ducts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary of Responses ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sender: dnc at RTI-SEL/MCNC/BONNIE -------- I owned a house with oil heat and hot water for about ten years, but for the last seven years I owned a house with a gas furnace. I like the gas furnace better because there is no annual maintenance. The maintenance on my furnace and hot water heater use to be about $70.00. I don't know which was less expensive to operate because the houses were different sizes, and we have a gas stove an dryer in this house which affects the bill. My gut feeling is that they both cost about the same, and it probably doesn't matter because there is no way of knowing which will be cheaper next year or the year after. I had my oil furnace break down only once, and so far my gas furnace has broke down only once. Both units were quite old; maybe over thirty years old. One thing to consider with gas is that the gas company likes to get into your house every month or so to read the meter. This can be a problem if everybody in the family works. Don Corey -------- Sender: smh at RTI-SEL/MCNC/AKGUA/RDUXB -------- I have oil at home and gas in a rental property. Oil is more reliable since there are no pipes in the street to break. Gas is much cleaner and the burner doesn't require the annual clean and adjustment like oil. We got a Pomona Pack ultra high efficiency gas burner and have had no trouble. Our oil burner is an old coal gravity hot water system which has been converted to oil and works quite well. What frightens me about gas is the almost annual explosions in Reading, PA caused by gas leaks. If you already have the pipe in your house, the risk is already there so you might as well hook up. The leaks usually follow pipes into peoples basements, then BOOM, no house. -------- Sender: mauney at RTI-SEL/MCNC/NCSU -------- Everything I hear indicates that gas is the way to go. Unfortunately, I have no facts to give you, only anecdotes: I just bought a house, and the other day I have my old roomate over for dinner. As we were touring the yard, he saw the filler pipe and said Oh, you have oil heat, in a tone of voice that indicated sub-optimality. He seem relieved when I told him gas had been installed years ago. Every else seems to have the same vague idea that gas is better. Also, I just heard on the news that gas prices around here are expected to be lower this winter. Good luck, Jon Mauney ncsu!mauney