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OT - Lennox Furnaces
A friend is purchasing a new furnace and is leaning towards the Lennox
G60 (medium effic., 2 stage heat). She has heard however that Lennox reliability has declined over the past few years and is therefore not recommended. I would appreciate comments anyone may have on Lennox and suggestions for perhaps something better (& available in Canada). TIA for any assistance............ Laurie Forbes |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 22:28:03 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote: On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:19:54 GMT, am (Laurie Forbes) brought forth from the murky depths: A friend is purchasing a new furnace and is leaning towards the Lennox G60 (medium effic., 2 stage heat). She has heard however that Lennox reliability has declined over the past few years and is therefore not recommended. I would appreciate comments anyone may have on Lennox and suggestions for perhaps something better (& available in Canada). I just went through that 2 years ago and settled on a Carrier Weathermaker, a 96% efficient model with a lower-cost A/C unit. The blower is a low-cost-to-operate variable-speed DC unit which is so much quieter than my old low-efficiency CA model. I don't recall what make that was. I have a high efficiency furnace myself - started with a Carrier but had to send it back because of a noisy draft inducer. I looked at Trane (my second choice), .... A Trane is what I tried next - draft inducer noise still bugs me sometimes but it was not as bad as the Carrier (its the variable speed aspect of it that seems to create reasonances and buzzes). The blower motor (constant speed type) is quite quiet however. They're quite an assembly of sheetmetal, I tell ya. It blew me away when I saw him using PVC pipe for the gas furnace chimney. Air out of the unit isn't much over 100°F! They're pretty impressive alright - the "chimney" hardly feels warm to the touch. Laurie Forbes |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
am (Laurie Forbes) wrote in news:4061c458.593007
@news.spots.ab.ca: On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 22:28:03 -0800, Larry Jaques wrote: On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:19:54 GMT, am (Laurie Forbes) brought forth from the murky depths: A friend is purchasing a new furnace and is leaning towards the Lennox G60 (medium effic., 2 stage heat). She has heard however that Lennox reliability has declined over the past few years and is therefore not recommended. I would appreciate comments anyone may have on Lennox and suggestions for perhaps something better (& available in Canada). I just went through that 2 years ago and settled on a Carrier Weathermaker, a 96% efficient model with a lower-cost A/C unit. The blower is a low-cost-to-operate variable-speed DC unit which is so much quieter than my old low-efficiency CA model. I don't recall what make that was. I have a high efficiency furnace myself - started with a Carrier but had to send it back because of a noisy draft inducer. I looked at Trane (my second choice), .... A Trane is what I tried next - draft inducer noise still bugs me sometimes but it was not as bad as the Carrier (its the variable speed aspect of it that seems to create reasonances and buzzes). The blower motor (constant speed type) is quite quiet however. They're quite an assembly of sheetmetal, I tell ya. It blew me away when I saw him using PVC pipe for the gas furnace chimney. Air out of the unit isn't much over 100°F! They're pretty impressive alright - the "chimney" hardly feels warm to the touch. Laurie Forbes Although Consumer Reports has historically declined to recommend one brand of house furnace over another, preferring to emphasize quality of installation, they did finally decided to recommend Trane furnaces over others brands as being more likely to give untroubled service over the long haul. Based on CR advice, I got several estimates and Lucky Me! the Trane was the least expensive furnace, given the furnace options and installation requirements that I had. It has proven to be a good furnace so far, but I've only had it for a year, so that's not really a good trial. One very good thing is that Trane dealers will do a heat-flow analysis on your house as part of the estimate, actually measuring your windows and performing the appropriate calculations, unlike the other dealers who just made educated guesses (although they were close on their estimates to the Trane calcs). My only regret now is that with rapidly rising gas prices I didn't get the 90% efficient furnace instead of the 80% efficient. If the Trane lasts as long as it should, I might get burnt by "penny-wise, pound-fooish". One important factor in my decision was that one dealer, who almost sold me, said at the end of our interview that I didn't need a permit from the County to install the new furnace. Guess what? I called the County and they said "you sure do need one"! Even though the permit cost some serious cash, and the furnace inspection was cursory at best, I rest easier knowing that if for some reason I had a house fire the insurance company couldn't put the blame back on me for not getting a furnace install permit, and I won't encounter possible problems with future remodeling projects or house sale. -- John Snow "If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here" |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:19:54 GMT, am (Laurie Forbes) brought forth from the murky depths: A friend is purchasing a new furnace and is leaning towards the Lennox G60 (medium effic., 2 stage heat). She has heard however that Lennox reliability has declined over the past few years and is therefore not recommended. We (in SW BC) have had Miller high efficiency condensing for several years. Had a noisy blower but it was replaced under (5yr) warranty. If your friend is doing a new installation consider that even medium efficiency requires a class B chimney going up through the roof. The high efficiency brings in combustion air and exhaust combustion products through plastic pipes in the joists (basement ceiling, main floor) going to and through the side wall of the house. No holes in the roof and other advantages. Ted |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 17:34:11 GMT, am (Laurie Forbes)
brought forth from the murky depths: I have a high efficiency furnace myself - started with a Carrier but had to send it back because of a noisy draft inducer. The only noise I hear is the sound of the air through the ES intake filter in the hall ceiling. It's wonderful! Sitting in the living room (the furnace is directly over the wall separating the kitchen from the LR), I can hear it start up, but that's quieter than a car passing by. I can hear it only when there is no other noise in the house. I looked at Trane (my second choice), .... A Trane is what I tried next - draft inducer noise still bugs me Is that the smaller fan which starts before the main blower kicks in? I can hardly tell it's on before hearing the rush of air for the main blow. sometimes but it was not as bad as the Carrier (its the variable speed aspect of it that seems to create reasonances and buzzes). The blower motor (constant speed type) is quite quiet however. What was the price difference? Mine's a 1,700sf shop with attached house. -------------------------------------------------- I survived the D.C. Blizzard of 2003 (from Oregon) ---------------------------- http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development -------------------------------------------------------- |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
to the Trane calcs). My only regret now is that with rapidly rising gas
prices I didn't get the 90% efficient furnace instead of the 80% efficient. If the Trane lasts as long as it should, I might get burnt by "penny-wise, pound-fooish". Yeah, oil fired is alot cheaper and safer. |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
On 24 Mar 2004 18:57:16 GMT, Hitch wrote:
Based on CR advice, I got several estimates and Lucky Me! the Trane was the least expensive furnace, given the furnace options and installation requirements that I had. It has proven to be a good furnace so far, but I've only had it for a year, so that's not really a good trial. I've had mine about three years now and apart from the inducer noise, its been pretty good. I did have one problem with the control board hanging in the cooldown period every once in a while (not good as the heat never comes back on) which could be reset by cycling the power off/on. All the service rep could suggest was replacing the board (at an exorbitant cost of $550 Can, supply only). Since the problem seemed to occur during periods of unstable power (I live in the country), I installed a pretty good power surge protector in the AC supply line and the problem has not reoccured to date. Laurie Forbes |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 16:45:16 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote: A Trane is what I tried next - draft inducer noise still bugs me Is that the smaller fan which starts before the main blower kicks in? I can hardly tell it's on before hearing the rush of air for the main blow. Yes - it is required to push the combustion air into the fire box and the combustion gasses through the heat exchangers. sometimes but it was not as bad as the Carrier (its the variable speed aspect of it that seems to create reasonances and buzzes). The blower motor (constant speed type) is quite quiet however. What was the price difference? Mine's a 1,700sf shop with attached house. I paid about $1,700 Can for the Trane (furnace only, I installed it myself) but the price I originally paid for the Carrier (about $1,400) was not representative as the dealer screwed up (according to the local Carrier distributor) and charged me only what *he* paid for it. Both were 80 MBTUs, two stage and non-variable speed blower). Laurie Forbes |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 20:58:30 GMT, Ted Edwards
We (in SW BC) have had Miller high efficiency condensing for several years. Had a noisy blower but it was replaced under (5yr) warranty. If your friend is doing a new installation consider that even medium efficiency requires a class B chimney going up through the roof. The high efficiency brings in combustion air and exhaust combustion products through plastic pipes in the joists (basement ceiling, main floor) going to and through the side wall of the house. No holes in the roof and other advantages. The totally enclosed combustion path is an advantage alright but you (at least I) still required the conventional chimney to vent the hot water heater. The dealer BTW told me I should install a smaller diameter liner in the chimney to account for the reduced conbustion gas volume and thereby prevent condensation in the chimney but I decided to try it as is and have had no problems. Laurie Forbes |
OT - Lennox Furnaces
Laurie Forbes wrote:
The totally enclosed combustion path is an advantage alright but you (at least I) still required the conventional chimney to vent the hot water heater. We put in a high efficiency HW heater as well. Same set up - no chimney. Ted |
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