"Frank McElrath" wrote:

I see that the Feds will give us up to $1,500 if we replace our old furnaces
with a high-efficiency furnace.

I've lived in my house for 20 years, and when I bought, the furnace was a
"few" years old. So I am guessing that it is at least 25 years old, and
probably about 65% or 75% efficiency.

Should I take advantage of this opportunity and upgrade?

Only you can answer that question. I just replaced my 25yr old
oil&air furnace last year. My old furnace was 80% efficient
according to the last smoke test. I looked at supposedly 90%
efficient oil furnaces that were new technology-- only available from
one manufacturer- and several thousand dollars. For last year's
rebate the furnace had to be 90%- I don't know about the 2010 rebate.

Then I saw a 80% efficient furnace on craigslist for $500. It was
new-old stock. It works for me. FWIW- it seems to be using the
same amount of oil as my old one- just quieter & without the rusty
firebox. . . and if something breaks I can find parts for it. But
even without the rebate I'm a couple grand ahead of the game.

I am thinking that one of these days, even though the furnace works fine, it
will crap out - probably in January.

I live in Maryland.

So I doubt your heating bill is a huge one. That's where you start.
What can you save with a new furnace? Can you save enough to pay
for a high-efficiency furnace? Or will you get enough 'warm fuzzies'
from being 'green' that the $$ doesn't matter?

Jim