On 12 Jan 2006 11:00:08 -0800, "Harry Muscle"
wrote:

I'm in the process of deciding which furnace to get to replace my
existing furnace which is ready to die. I've been told that high
efficiency furnaces are not really worth it since they cost more up
front and they cost more in repair costs in the long run so in the end
high efficiency vs normal efficiency will have cost about the same, but
the high efficiency will have broken down more often due to it's
complexity. This makes sense ... but I have one more quick question.
Are dual stage furnaces quite complex and prone to break down also?

I've thinking of maybe getting a 80% dual stage furnance which would be
a bit more efficient than a single stage 80% furnance. But I'm
wondering if it's worth it. Would a dual stage 80% furnace be as
complicated as a 90%+ furnace? Are the parts just as expensive to
replace/repair as a high efficiency furnace? Or in other words should
I stay away from dual stage furnaces for the same reason I would stay
away from a high efficiency furnace (high repair costs, higher chance
of break down).

My experience with furnaces of this decade is that they're quite
dependable. I'm running a two-stage 94% efficient York (Diamond 95, I
think) furnace, installed in April 2003 that has saved us quite a bit
of money on the gas bill. Just from memory, my monthly budget outlay
for both gas and electric now is $210, and this includes running the
central AC installed at the same time as the furnace, whereas the old
1963 Williamson behemoth that preceded these two units (no central AC
with this), ran the monthly budget to about $265 (and remember again,
no AC), and that was in 2002, before the natural gas price hike. So,
I'm very pleased with the cost savings and the efficient heating of
this furnace, and I'm in western New York, the same climate as you.

I really would recommend you consider a two-stage high efficiency
furnace. I did NOT get the variable speed fan because of my concern
about these breaking down, however. That saved me a little $$ on the
initial outlay.