raymac46 Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 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? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Always nice to get good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 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! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 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. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Yup. The climate is slightly different. In Florida, we only have two seasons... the sweating season and the not-sweating-as-much season. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 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. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrke Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 This is the only method of heating I have in my house... I have three of them. They keep the house toasty warm throughout the raw winter season (three weeks in January). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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