Question:

The home I am purchasing has the original 1982 furnace. The inspector indicated that although original it was fine. I am hoping to replace it in the next 3 years. The AC doesn’t appear to be original. Does one usually replace an AC when replacing a furnace? I am accustomed to having an electronic air cleaner. It will be part of any new system I get. In my current home I have the fan run continuously with the electronic cleaner. I am sure this is expensive. I recall that in new systems the fan motor is DC and this is much more economical. Is this true? Am I likely to get a savings by buying the furnace in the summer? Thanks for your advice, Doug

Response:

furnace questions  

The home I am purchasing has the original 1982 furnace. The inspector indicated that although original it was fine. I am hoping to replace it in the next 3 years. The AC doesn’t appear to be original. Does one usually replace an AC when replacing a furnace? I am accustomed to having an electronic air cleaner. It will be part of any new system I get. In my current home I have the fan run continuously with the electronic cleaner. I am sure this is expensive. I recall that in new systems the fan motor is DC and this is much more economical. Is this true? Am I likely to get a savings by buying the furnace in the summer? Thanks for your advice, Doug

Doug,  It is a judgement call on replacing the a/c when replacing the furnace, depends on several things:  Budget, condition, age, and seer rating. I don’t like to suggest a certain brand but in this case I will, with the understanding I’m not making a broad base brand recommendation. If you are going to run your fan continuous to enable an electronic air filter to operate, I would go for the Trane or American Standard variable speed furnace.  It allows you to place the fan on continuos at 50% speed and the power consumption is only 12% of rated power.  This will save you big $ over a single speed  furnace fan and will also give better comfort.   Get three quotes at least and compare "apples to apples".  That is easier said than done. Does it make a difference when you replace the furnace question.  Just don’t pick the busiest time of the year, usually that is in the Spring and early Summer for most parts of the USA.  In the Northern parts it could be in the Fall.  If it is just a change out, it most likely can be done in a day. John Williamson

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Question:

there is no available chimney convenient for the oil (or propane) system, which implies that i would need to add an all-fuel chimney.

An oil-fired system would require the added expense of a chimney. With propane you can purchase direct vent systems. Propane storage tanks must be outdoors so you need to find an appropriate location for them. Often larger tanks are stored away from the house, so a trench needs to be dug for the supply line. You’ll need to consider additional landscaping to hide the tank. Oil tanks, on the other hand, can be stored in the basement [FYI: Massaschusetts fire regulations state that an oil tank can be no closer than 5 feet from the burner]. Oil also requires an annual cleaning/maintenance ranging anywhere from $25-75. Has anyone considered using a closed solar panel loop for the supply of the heat pump, as opposed to a geothermal source? -al sung Rapid Realm Technology, Inc. Hopkinton, MA

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a house with closed loop vertical, system is 3 years old, we’ve had the house for about 2 years.  No draw backs so far.  We love it. Heating and cooling in one system, realitively quite (cooling produce more noise than heating), no outside equipment, no tanks. PJL, could you tell us something about the dimensions of the system? What depth & size hole or holes needed to be poked for the system?  Is it glycol that circulates?  Must the surrounding soil be welow water table or does just contact with dry soil provide enough heat xfer? What is the total (say, heating) btu capacity of your system and what kind of circulating flow do you need to run to get enough heat transfer?

That’s a lot of questions I can’t answer right now, ‘cus I’m at work.  If you really want to know, send me an email (remember to fix the spam block) and I’ll look up all the details. —

Question:

We have to replace our forced air gas furnace this summer.  I have moderately severe asthma, and want to replace the system with one more friendly to my illness.  I’ve found our current furnace to be a wonder circulator of dirt, even with new filters.  I am considering getting a furnace mounted electrostatic (?) air cleaner, but have heard pro and con on how well they work.  A humidifier would be nice (winter air is very dry here), but I’m worried about molds (we currently use a vaporizer to humidify the air).  Any recommendations on brands, reliability, etc., would be welcome.

Response:

We have to replace our forced air gas furnace this summer.  I have moderately severe asthma, and want to replace the system with one more friendly to my illness.  I’ve found our current furnace to be a wonder circulator of dirt, even with new filters.  I am considering getting a furnace mounted electrostatic (?) air cleaner, but have heard pro and con on how well they work.  A humidifier would be nice (winter air is very dry here), but I’m worried about molds (we currently use a vaporizer to humidify the air).  Any recommendations on brands, reliability, etc., would be welcome.

Do not install furnace directly on concrete floor, as cold floor in summer conducive to condensation and mold growth in blower. Do not install humidifier!!!!  Have inspected hundreds and always broken and contaminated. Use media filter (6 x 6 x 25 inch-type), not electrostatic as latter requires constant maintenance to keep efficiency. Have ducts cleaned but specify to "penny bright" condition; less than complete cleaning can exacerbate symptoms. See home page for other suggestions. Good luck. Jeffrey May http://www.cybercom.net/~jmhi

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Me too. Any information on Furnaces and/or Household Airconditioners would be most appreciated! Consumer reports does not have anything on this. Somewhere this information must exist. Any ideas? Thanks in advance SG

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We just installed a Trane XR 80 along with an aprilaire humidifier and an elecctro-static air filter.  It has eased the asthma quite a bit. No more waking up at 4 am to take a hit from the inhaler!  We have a small problem with molds growing in the corners of the walls on the norrth side of the house, but it’s onlly a small problem…I clean it away with kitchen cleaner (lysol).  We keep the humidity up to about 30% and it has helped our head colds too!  We also had our heating vents scrubbed out by professionals.  They put some chemical in them which kills molds and crud for about 2 years.  It was costly but well worth it. Ann B.

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Grumpy) writes:   Me too. Any information on Furnaces and/or Household  Airconditioners would be most appreciated!  Consumer reports does  not have anything on this. Somewhere this information must  exist. Any ideas?  Thanks in advance SG

I have a vague memory of a Consumer Reports issue a couple of years ago on energy-effiency products, including air conditioners and furnaces. They have done several reports on air conditioners. I don’t recall them covering any issues regarding furnace/ac air filtration and/or asthma. There are several higher-efficiency replacement filters available for forced air furnaces and also for air conditioners; these can help with dust and pollen. I have used such filters in our window unit air conditioners and have been quite pleased with their effectiveness, although I tend to use the HEPA filter in addition during the bad stretches. Mark — Mark Feblowitz,   GTE Laboratories Inc., 40 Sylvan Rd.  Waltham, MA 02254

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(Richa rd Buckley) writes:

+ +We just installed a Trane XR 80 along with an aprilaire humidifier and an +elecctro-static air filter.  It has eased the asthma quite a bit. No more +waking up at 4 am to take a hit from the inhaler!  We have a small +problem with molds growing in the corners of the walls on the norrth side +of the house, but it’s onlly a small problem…I clean it away with +kitchen cleaner (lysol).  We keep the humidity up to about 30% and it has +helped our head colds too!  We also had our heating vents scrubbed out by +professionals.  They put some chemical in them which kills molds and crud +for about 2 years.  It was costly but well worth it. +Ann B. ecuse please But like in medicine, should you not go after the cause of the problem…. why the mold is growing there in the first place. ps-mp;d like all living things needs food and water….why is the area constantly wet…== get the leak fixed ! then you can rid of the mold spores and make some headway regards tom c.

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