Furnaces & Air Handlers
We work on ALL furnaces! With over 70 years of experience, we have come across almost every possible heating device and system. (although there are some that may be baffling for a while)
Furnaces
Why we recommend each:| Furnace Brand | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
Rheem | Is the most reliable furnace on the market. It just doesn't break down. We have a financing plan available - through Rheem itself | A little more expensive than the other brands |
Amana | Best name recognition - has been the most popular Have a very reasonable extened warranty program - for just $99 - you can get a 10 year parts and labor warranty program. The most inexpensive and relaiable in the industry. Extended warranty plan is with Amana themselves and not through a 3rd party company. | In the past, not quite as reliable. Now they are very reliable. |
York | Very well made. | Not quite as reliable. |
We are qualified to install all furnace, however we choose to focus on 3 brands. (Please contact us regarding all other brands)
Furnaces are broken down in two ways:
A. The heat it will produce (BTU – british thermal unit). The BTU is determined by the energy load of your specific house, there are many factors that are taken into account and often a computer program is used to calculte all of the factors. Some key factors are: Size of the house, number and size of windows, heat producing appliances, etc.
B. Efficiency. The efficiency of a home heating system has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. Origionally, the best you could expect, was about 70%. Because 30% of energy is lost, a flue about 6″ in diameter was needed to allow the gasses produced from the burning to be removed. When furnaces became more efficient (this was done by keeping the heat in the furnace longer so it could expell the heat into house more- hence being more efficient). This efficiency was increased to 90%. Since less waste is produced, a smaller flue is needed.
Although you may want to increase your efficiency from a 70-80% to a 90% or more, (you will save money on your fuel bills). The problem is that you will need to do some construction. The (metal) flue from the old furnace will need to be replaced with another type of flue (PVC). THis change is required due to the fact that although the higher efficiency furnaces produce less waste, they are more conscentrated and contain caustic materials that will destroy the metal flue. This change in the flue may cost more than the money you will save with a more efficient system.
Amana Gas Furnaces - http://www.amana-hac.com/Home/Products/GasFurnaces/tabid/1163/Default.aspx
Amana Energy Savings Calculator: http://partner.goodmanmfg.com/amana/calculator/Amana2/calAmana.jsp
Rheem Gas Furnaces – http://rheem.com/products/heating_and_cooling/
York – http://www.yorkupg.com/homeowners/furnaces/select_a_model.asp