Choosing a New Furnace for an Old House

Rather Square
by Rather Square
When we bought our 93-year-old house, the furnace was ancient but still working. And then it died dramatically one cold night during last winter's polar vortex! So we went through the process of researching new heating and cooling systems, and choosing the best one to fit our old house.
We worked with an HVAC specialist who walked around the entire house with us and inspected the layout of the rooms, our insulation (or lack thereof) situation, and our overall energy needs. He then gave us a system recommendation – including size, power, and efficiency rating – based on these findings.


Over the next few days, the old furnace was removed…
…and the new one – a two-stage 97%-efficiency model - was installed. It delivers consistent heating with fewer temperature swings, plus it’s much quieter than our old furnace.
In addition, the installers re-routed the exhaust pipes to better vent out the side of our house. They drilled through the outside wall and put an unobtrusive cover over the pipe openings that blends into the color of our stucco.
As part of this new overall HVAC system, we had a new air conditioner installed as well.
We’re happy to report that this new heating and cooling system has been working really well! During cold weather, it’s nice and toasty inside our house, and in hot weather we’re cool as cucumbers. We've been programming our smart thermostat to better customize our heating and cooling cycles, and this allows us to easily track how the new energy-efficient furnace responds to our old drafty house.
We received $1,000 in energy efficiency rebates from our utility companies toward this purchase, and we’ve definitely noticed improvements in our utility costs since the new furnace was installed. For example, our gas bill from last month was $100 less than the same month a year ago (when we still had our old furnace). Yay!


But even though our new furnace is sized properly for our home, it’s only part of our overall energy strategy, and it won’t work up to its full potential until we address the other things on our list. In our 93-year-old house, we’re still dealing with largely un-insulated exterior walls, some old windows and doors, and an attic with deteriorated insulation that probably isn’t working very well… all of which allows a lot of our carefully heated and cooled air to escape to the outside. We're working on a way to get more insulation into our walls as a next step. But until then, we're enjoying our new furnace.
More details and info at our blog post below and at RatherSquare.com!
Rather Square
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  • Betty Johnson Betty Johnson on Nov 02, 2015
    That would be nice to have a furnace with less temperature swings. Maybe we should get a new furnace. It would probably be quieter than our current model. If it will save me that much on my electricity bill as well, it will be worth it. I'll have to do some research on it. http://www.marylandoilco.com/Furnace-Repair-Dundalk-MD.html ;
  • John White John White on Jun 19, 2018

    As you mentioned in your thread that you had bought a 93 year old house and your furnace suddenly stopped working at night. Furnace is an important part of the HVAC system if it will not work then your HVAC system can't works efficiently. So you have to change or replace your furnace. An average life of a furnace is between 16 to 20 years. After then everyone should change their furnace. Before purchasing a new furnace you should check some of the things


    • Type of the system
    • Fuel source
    • Zoning system
    • Indoor air quality
    • Variable speed blowers
    • Quality installation
    • Pricing
    • Correct sizing
    • Warranty
    • Rebates and incentives


    If you are thinking to hire professional and experienced HVAC Contractors near you then contact us http://www.whitemechanical.com/contact-us


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