Furnace gone- being taken for a ride?

[Carl11]

morning all...house is built in 75, I live in central Cali ( Bay area) , its is the original  'Day and Night' furnace. Its been making loud popping noises for a year or so, kept meaning to get around to it but, it kept working...until it didn't.....Sunday early am motor would ruin when  thermostats kicked up but no heat.

Guy came out that afternoon,  did some trouble shooting etc. announced that the actuator ( fancy name for solenoid imho) that flows the gas on command from the thermostat was shot, he did get it to open manually,  the lighting element took its time, finally lit the flames were white, a bad sign etc etc...

So, he says its approx $900 for a new actuator, the lighting element and the heating element are shot too, add another $500-700 or so, then add labor...I mean wow....could 2 K to fix this?

Of course he then says; its 45 years old,( it is), which is waaaay past its lifespan, I got very lucky and spending 2K to fix a 45 year old device when a new one would cost $4-5K is a waste.....

I sorta get that, but the questions imho are; is he quoting a huge repair price so he can up-sell me?  I have a 2500 sq ft home, the heat runs maybe 4-5 months a year and generally only at night and on weekends....is 4-5K realistic as in it being to low? Getting a standard 80% efficient unit costs by the looks of its $4-5 alone.

If anyone can share their experiences, I would be very grateful.....thank you very much.

[Another Reader]

I have the same size house in the San Jose area and got a new 80 percent efficient 100,000 BTU Trane furnace installed for $2,000 in December, 2012.  Hard to believe they would be more than twice that today.  My Day and Night was 23 years old, the board went out and there were other problems.  Don't let the dealer sell you the expensive 95 percent efficient furnace.  You won't save enough on your PG&E bill to justify the cost difference plus you will have to redo your flue to a condensing flue that exits the structure in a different location.  The Trane product is an excellent product, better than what else is out there.

[Carl11]

Thank you very much Another reader,.

Yes, in fact I read your thread (made back in 2012) which is why I regged here, informative commentary etc., example, yes I decided that the 90% efficiency is a waste.

I shopped the internet, for 1k I can get a top of the line 80%er....why I would pay a 4X mark up is beyond me and I wont.  I will definitely look at Trane first.....

I am waiting a decent interval before I call the manger of the repair co. , I'll drop by and spill the details when we dicker.

[topshot]

If you have any connections in HVAC trade I wouldn't write off the 90+ furnaces. I got my Goodman 95% at cost ($815 about 8 years ago), replacing an excellent 80% unit we had put in just 8 years prior. With tax credits and gas co rebates it only cost me maybe $475 (I had paid someone 75 to run the threaded pipe since I didn't have that skill) so it was a no brainer. Running a new PVC flue is easy, too.

However, I suspect you don't really have winter in the Bay so likely hardly run your furnace at all so may have much longer payback period. You definitely need a new furnace though. It would be a waste of time fixing a 45 year old gas furnace. $900 seems high for a gas valve. I'd think the heat exchanger would be closer to that (I assume that is what you meant be heating element). However, $4k for an 80% seems incredibly high to me. If that is with a new AC as well then maybe. If it's also 45 yo then you're incredibly lucky.

[thedigitalone]

We had to replace our furnace a couple of years ago and just like you the initial quotes for a new furnace + installation were crazy high.

We finally bought the replacement (high-end) furnace online and had it shipped to us, for about 50% of what the contractors were quoting.  Once it arrived I contact a couple of local HVAC companies for a "pull and replace" bids and let them know that we already had the replacement furnace, in the end labor was less than $600, all told we saved over $2k vs the initial quotes.

We haven't had any problems, I do assume that any warranty was voided by not going directly through an authorized vendor, but I'm willing to risk that.

[KarefulKactus15]

So unfortunately for you, the market for labor is hot hot hot right now.       Contractors are writing their own paychecks.            You are very possibly going to receive a ton of absurd quotes.      I'm flipping a house right now and quotes are crazy.      How can some people come in 450% of other people?

Anyway I like the idea of buying the unit and getting pull and replace quotes.      Also I'd do the 80%efficiency.   

The condensing units have more parts , require more maintenance and are harder to install and cost more.  You won't get your $s worth in your climate.    Simplicity = win

[Carl11]

First thank you all for your input and remarks......I appreciated the advice and information...

So, the story closes this way, all in $2600 and done ( well plus $80, I gave each guy a $40 tip).

Its a Bryant, a higher end of the mid range models 80%eff.

Originally it was $2900. all in, everything labor etc. But they hit a snag in that they didn't pay attention and it saved me $300 bucks;)

They installed the unit as it arrived.......the airflow pull and push was configured at the factory naturally,  apparently they can be configure to pull intake from above or below of the unit, mine happens to be a top feeder.....so, the guys install it, insulate, re-pipe wire and call me downstairs ready to go and.....sure it works nice breeze blowing nice and warm but....

I am standing there in my atrium and getting hit in the back of the neck with the breeze....that cant be right and its not..........the large intake port is now an outflow vent...they hooked it up with the flow backwards......lol.

So, they stand their smack their heads and call their manager because its the end of the day and they see I am a little miffed, they put me on the phone, he apologizes asks if they can come back tomorrow to change the flow etc. of course I am outraged, ( well not really) he offers me $300 to make me happy and sure, I'm happy....they swap it and it runs perfectly.

The Bryant they put in was $850 at Lowes so, adding 2 men all day, other parts they bought etc... they did a very neat tight insulation job, cleaned up very well, all together I think everyone made out OK....