how old is your furnace

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

how old is your furnace

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

6 year old York.

The one it replaced was a 35 year old made in Canada Claire Hecla.

The installers for the new said the reason it lasted so long and didn't kill us, was the heat exchanger in the Claire was cast stainless, heavy and of very high quality.

While far more powerfull and efficient, the The hecho en Mexico York has a stamped and pieced together stainless tube exchanger. If it goes 20 we'll be lucky.

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have a mid efficiency almost 30 years old. Has worked so well I havent done anything with it. Total gas bills with furnace and hot water are around a grand a year. No need for high efficiency here. 2800 square feet but well built!!

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

I help out at our local community hall. It has two natural gas furnaces that are at least 30 years old. Theyre serviced regularly and dont give us a problem. But, the last time they were serviced the new service company warned that if a belt ever goes, wed be stuck. Apparently, v-belts for furnaces are obsolete?? I find this very hard to believe and have been asked to either verify or source a couple spare belts.
These are old units for sure, but the previous tech said the exchangers were in good shape. Not a computer board or chip to be found. Dead simple

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

66 Beau wrote:
But, the last time they were serviced the new service company warned that if a belt ever goes, wed be stuck. Apparently, v-belts for furnaces are obsolete?? I find this very hard to believe and have been asked to either verify or source a couple spare belts.

That makes no sense. Those belts are used on farm equipment as well as industrial equipment. Hard to imagine they are obsolete. Maybe from the manufacturer but not in the aftermarket.

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

My thoughts exactly Carl. I wasnt there when the tech told the building manager. She may know very little about furnaces, but she knows what a v-belt is and she is certain thats what the tech said. I havent measured them, but I did have a look and theyre standard 3/8 v-belts. Time to find a different service company I think.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

The oil furnace was a year old when we moved into our house in 2013. We used it one season but the oil tank expired (and oil is expensive) so we opted for the heat pump and wood stove. Wood is free on my property and the heat pump costs about $100/month to run in the winter.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Built the house with electric heat 24 years ago. No oil tanks, no maintenance, no oil deliveries, no furnace replacements, no CO worries, no regrets.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

We have a high efficiency Buderus (made in Germany) oil furnace. We got it installed about 7 years ago. Our house is heated by hot water rads. It took 4 guys to get the furnace into our cellar. It rocks!

Lt1 Burb · Addicted!

I have a 10 year old top of the line Trane that I installed when I built my house, helped that I worked for Trane at the time.

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Pontiacanada wrote:
We have a high efficiency Buderus (made in Germany) oil furnace. We got it installed about 7 years ago. Our house is heated by hot water rads. It took 4 guys to get the furnace into our cellar. It rocks!

Non-condensing Boilers | Boilers | Products | Residential (bosch-thermotechnology.us)

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

mine has a diagnostic light that flashes codes. its giving a 42 code that says low inducer motor speed. It is turning slow but every time i shut the power switch off to the furnace and back on the motor runs at proper speed confuse Gona replace the motor and see what that does

66 Grande guy · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Only in Canada. Guys getting excited about their furnaces. Kinda funny.

I must say that since that it is -23 out here this morning I'm sure paying a lot more attention to mine than it usually gets. Supposed to be -30 or lower at night all week so this is the time a guy starts thinking of contingencies like the wood stove we never use. hmm.

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

66 Grande guy wrote:
Only in Canada. Guys getting excited about their furnaces. Kinda funny.
I must say that since that it is -23 out here this morning I'm sure paying a lot more attention to mine than it usually gets. Supposed to be -30 or lower at night all week so this is the time a guy starts thinking of contingencies like the wood stove we never use. hmm.

-30 we will hit plus 8 tomorrow Ken

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

70 SS ACADIAN wrote:
mine has a diagnostic light that flashes codes. its giving a 42 code that says low inducer motor speed. It is turning slow but every time i shut the power switch off to the furnace and back on the motor runs at proper speed Gona replace the motor and see what that does

Just what we needed, a CEL on the furnace. Anyone doing the UPGRADE on their 20-30 year old furnace?

see2xu · Addicted!

Go on the Gates Rubber site - they can provide pretty much any diametre and width V-Belt imaginable.

dualquadpete · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I converted to furnace from baseboard heat in 96 on Propane, then converted it to Natural gas when it came here. Getting notices from Enbridge to up grade to new furnace?? Last time it was serviced the tech guy said "it's running at 96% efficient and why change it" "!!!!!!!!!!

unruhjonny · Guru

our house has the Lennox furnace installed when the house was built in 1982.

I went through with the home inspector before we bought the house (in late 2004);
The inspector suggested that the furnace would probably outlast the house.

I've replaced some parts on the furnace since that time (I'm not a hvac guy so I can't remember the part names), and unless something major warrants rrplacement, I'm dead set on maintaining this one and letting a little inefficiency be ignored.

I worked briefly as a helper for a private hvac company before settling in a job in my current field, and learned that many people don't realize that the high efficiency furnaces installed in the last twenty-five or so years all have extra maintenance that is neccisary (read: extra costs), and essentially the electronics burn out after a while which necessitates the entire furnace getting replaced;
Sure you save on monthly bills, but in the grand scheme of things it's costing you more.

To me replacing a perfectly fine lower efficiency (but built like a tank) furnace for a higher efficiency furnace just to save on monthly heating costs is the same kind of logic as replacing you ten year old Honda Accord (which is running like a top and long since paid off) with a Tesla just to save on gas.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have the same philosophy, Im married to the same woman for going on 47 years. Lots of new models around but the maintenance would be a lot higher.

68 Grande · Guru

Built a 2 story 10 years ago and have a York Affinity furnace heating 3300 ish ft. This modulating furnace has the variable DC motor and has been running non stop circulating air now for 10 years. Suppose to be 98% AFUE.

Had to replace the heat exchanger 4 years ago and the exchanger has warranty until 2044. Technicans don't like these specific Yorks as they say they are to complicated.

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

70 SS ACADIAN wrote:
mine has a diagnostic light that flashes codes. its giving a 42 code that says low inducer motor speed. It is turning slow but every time i shut the power switch off to the furnace and back on the motor runs at proper speed Gona replace the motor and see what that does

got a used venter motor today off Kijiji, furnace is back up and running smile