New Gas Furnace recommendations ?
 

Looking for few 'gas' furnace replacement recommendations ?

Furnace has been acting erratic and not hold heat at set temperature.
Situation started after recent power outages, but has been having issues heating during extreme cold temps.

Had HVAC tech review, and he said my 'heat exchanger' in the furnace has cracks and is leaking, causing furnace to run erratic.

Going to get a second opinion, but would like to hear feed-back from the Forum on possible replacement options.

Current furnace is a Trane X90 is only 17 yrs old, BTU output 60,000.
This is way under-powered for the size home I have (two stories-2800SF)

Thanks for you feedback, much appreciated !

If it's a hot air furnace and it has cracks in the heat exchanger then you could get dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in your home, not something to put off for very long. Make sure your detectors are working!

Great heating contractor.
 

I've had my home in Gilford for over 20 years and have been thru several heating contractors, none of which I've been overjoyed with. I finally found a terribly talented contractor named Jorge Sanchez who owns JLemos Heating and cooling. Jorge's work is outstanding, he understands modern systems and takes the time to set your heating system up properly. In my homes history I've had instances every year with no heat that required intervention as simple as a reset button press or in some cases a service call. In the 4 years I"ve been using Jorge, never once have I had those issues. My oil use has been lower as well with a far cleaner running system.

JLemos heating and AC
603-943-4535
JorgeSanchez15@MSN.com

Thanks for the info.
My furnace system runs off 'propane', does Jorge Sanchez service gas systems ?

That 60K BTU furnace could indeed be badly underpowered, if for example the home is poorly insulated and leaks cold air terribly. But if the home isn't all that old and built to code, 60K BTU could be grossly oversized. For example, my house has about 4,000 sqft of conditioned space over two levels but is kept quite comfortable when it's below zero outside by a two-ton heat pump in just first stage, putting out about 19K BTU/hr. But this is for a superinsulated class house, which your house unlikely is.

The failure of your current system to hold setpoint could be due to just erratic operation of a failing system rather than capacity. The correct furnace size should be determined from a properly done Manual J or other appropriate calculation for the specific house. Don't pick a contractor who isn't willing (or doesn't know how) to do the necessary calculations.

One reasonable way of calculating corrrect unit size is from fuel usage over a suitable period of time. Here is a good article on doing this: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com...nace-or-boiler

I believe so but I'm not sure. A quick call to him will answer the question. FYI Jorge is in Nashua but despite the distance he is worth the call. He has several customers in the lakes region.

We used Steve Buy in Moultonborough for our propane Viesmann system- he did a great job. He has not needed to come back yet in the 4 or 5 years since the install!

Trane is definitely a good brand...
 

We replaced our gas furnace in our last house in MA in 2015. The HVAC contractor we used was a Trane shop. They came out and sized the proper unit based on the size of the house, etc, so that is something you definitely want to have done. Also, we selected a Trane unit that was high-efficiency, (90+ %, I believe) and also a heat pump, as that type of unit qualified for a nice rebate that Mass had at the time, (NH may also have a similar program through "NH Saves", so check that out).

We presently use Lakes Region HVAC in Bedford and at the lake and are very happy with them. I believe that they recommend Carrier products for FHA and AC, and Viessman for boilers for FHW. I think as long as you go with a name brand, (e.g., Trane, Carrier, etc), and have it properly sized by a competent HVAC firm, you should be fine.

Energy Audit
 

By all means, ask for an energy audit. And go from the recommendations.

There is energy-efficient energy furnaces available. Check the gov website.
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/furnaces-and-boilers

There should be energy rebates and tax credits coming up this year. Take advantage of them if you decide on a new furnace.

Never returned my phone calls.
Seek a contractor that will return phone calls.
This was for oil burner service. Water/anti-freeze system.

Try Callahan AC/HVAC in Moultonborough. My go to


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My first garage. I put in a 100,000 BTU hot air propane furnace.
That was over 20 years ago. Still operates fine.
The brand is Goodman.
The retail price at the time of purchase was $1,250.00.
The contractor price was $450.00.
Give one an idea of the markup that is being charged to customers.
That price was for the unit only.

In any brand, same model. The units are all the same size, same housing, using the same components. The only difference between a 25,000 BTU, 50,000 BTu, 75,000 BTU, or 100,000 BTU - is the number of the actual burner tubes.

The reason I chose a 100,000 BTU unit is that I wanted heat quickly.

A lower BTU unit may be more efficient but the unit will come on and off much more frequently. So . . on . . off . . on . . off. . quite often. And ultimately placing more wear on unit. The igniter, the fan, etc. working harder and more often.

Best to get a name brand that all service folks know, where replacement parts are readily available, and can be fixed by any technician.

That's pretty much the opposite of what happens when you install a heating unit that is too big versus one that is properly sized. The burner in the oversized unit will repeatedly hit its high limit and turn off until it cools enough to turn back on. Keep in mind that in a furnace the fan will continue to run, that's what cools the heat exchanger down. This repeated cycling of the burner is what makes the unit less efficient and increases wear on the unit. It is better to have a system that is properly sized and does not cycle while heating.

You are on the right track with the brand name advice, but I wouldn't necessarily go by brand name, what I ask for is a unit where all parts that can fail are either in the tech's van or in stock at the distributor. Usually this rules out most super efficient burners and systems. For propane around 90 % seems to be the magic number. For oil, maybe around 87%.

In general I like to avoid variable speed motors and hi-tech busses/communications on board. Wifi enable is another thing I really don't want in my hvac equipment, other than the thermostat. Those components obsolete out pretty quickly.

Bigdog, I would find a good contractor, who sells good equipment. Have them properly size the unit to your house. If you need ducting modifications then get them done as that is usually the issue if you are having problems heating with forced hot air. Tell the contractor that you want a unit where if he shows up to fix something he'll have the parts on his truck.

Steve at Gunstock Hvac just did our propane boiler, manifold, superstor, baseboard heat and a Samsung split system. Great guy and he WILL call you back.

We had the same experience with Steve , made appointments and dident show up. Waisted 8 months on this guy . Found someone else out of Sandwich that was great . Trying to find his name

Nope.
Neighbor build new home. Had analysis.
Stated all he needed for propane hot air was 25,000 BTU.
Does provide heat.
But the burner and fan go on and off multiple multiple multiple times.
To the point that he is going to remove furnace and get a replacement with more BTU's.

So much for "analysis".

Sounds like he had a bad analysis. 25,000 btu is not enough for any house in NH. Hope he found a new contractor.

I second that thought. Analysis was made back in 2015 and the determination was not made not on square footage but on the number of bathrooms. I have a 1200 sq ft condo with two bathrooms.

Don Morin my HVAC guy agree and he installed a 75K condensing boiler with on-demand water. Been very happy with this setup.

Since Don Morin retired, I had to different HVAC companies doing annual maintenance. Both say the furnace is too big. I'm happy with it.

Still finding an HVAC company that knows the latest technology.

I had a 2 car garage with a gas heater twice that size!

Agreed, not enough for nearly all houses in NH, but quite adequate for the relatively few built to be superinsulated, and for a new house design the heat loss at design minimum outside temperature can be calculated fairly well. See my post #5 above in this thread. To be sure, some like to have heat blasting out to feel toasty.