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Upstairs...Downstairs


raymac46

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Now that I have my roof intact, it was time to head down to the basement and check out the next possible house capital expense - heating and cooling. Unlike the roof (shingles are curling dude...not good!!!) the situation with the furnace and A/C are more complicated. I get the system serviced every year so I took advantage of the fact the tech was here to quiz him on the longevity of my current hardware. His comments as he worked:

  • Well, the house builder didn't put in the best quality system. We don't sell these units anymore and if you don't look after them you probably are looking at a 10-year life - it's now going on 14.
  • Of course, you do look after it so that is a good sign you'll get a longer life.
  • Installation is important and looking at the tags I see this system was installed by the best tech in the company at the time. He is now a college HVAC instructor.
  • This furnace seems to be a particularly good example. The combustion test I ran is well within spec - no problems with the heat exchanger or burners - very clean.
  • The A/C evaporator coil looks very clean as well and no signs of leaks or corrosion. The condensing unit is getting old but a start kit was put on a few years ago and that makes it a lot easier on the compressor so that is good.

Bottom line. It's in good shape for the shape it's in. Call me in again next year and I'll re-evaluate. Probably worth planning to replace because this is a bottom of the line high-efficiency furnace and just about any new model will do a lot better,

So does that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling or what?

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V.T. Eric Layton

Ah... the plight of the homeowner. Fix one thing; three others break. This is particularly prevalent in older homes like mine (built in 1953). Fortunately, my father built this house himself and he did a super good job. Thanks, Dad!

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I'm sure the heating/cooling requirements are much different in Tampa then they are in Ottawa. Up here the cooling season is 4 months at most and you are rarely pushing the system hard. On the other hand, the heating season is a 9-month slog and you want to extract as much efficiency out of the furnace as possible. A heat pump won't work though because we get too many cold days where the system is unusable and you need furnace backup. So you go with a fancy furnace and simple A/C setup.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Yup. The climate is slightly different. In Florida, we only have two seasons... the sweating season and the not-sweating-as-much season. :)

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securitybreach

Yup. The climate is slightly different. In Florida, we only have two seasons... the sweating season and the not-sweating-as-much season. :)

 

It's the same as here in the swamp we call New Orleans.

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I get my furnace serviced each autumn, but through various strange convocations of circumstance, I haven't got around to getting them back in the spring to check the air conditioning system for two years. I think it's a little late now, but I've got to be sure to get it done next year. I replaced the furnace in 2013, but didn't really have anything done to the A/C at that time since parts of it had been replaced a few years before.

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V.T. Eric Layton

This is the only method of heating I have in my house...

 

1275296656-53897_full.jpg

 

I have three of them. They keep the house toasty warm throughout the raw winter season (three weeks in January). A8wzENs.gif

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