I decided not to upgrade after researching more. It would take basically 50+ years to pay the difference. Going from a 95% to 96.7 is not huge. Our house is very well insulated and no drafts. I'll be happy i'm sure with what I got. I'm just picky and want the best. Seems American Standard/Trane are very well built and respected. AC is in good working order and A-Coil is clean. So we will wait on that to fail before we upgrade. I appreciate everyones opinions and advice on here.
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Heat exchanger crack thoughts
- Thread starter mrrooG8
- Start date
I decided not to upgrade after researching more. It would take basically 50+ years to pay the difference. Going from a 95% to 96.7 is not huge. Our house is very well insulated and no drafts. I'll be happy i'm sure with what I got. I'm just picky and want the best. Seems American Standard/Trane are very well built and respected. AC is in good working order and A-Coil is clean. So we will wait on that to fail before we upgrade. I appreciate everyones opinions and advice on here.
danski0224
Well-known member
The variable speed motor would have been a nice and worthwhile upgrade.
The variable speed motor would have been a nice and worthwhile upgrade.
Yup, even more so if it was an upgrade from single stage to two stage heating.
MattFirebird
Member
The variable speed motor would have been a nice and worthwhile upgrade.
Right up until it fails. Then you need a second mortgage to replace it.
Our outfit charges $900 to $1200 for an ECM motor change. Compute the lifetime ROI/payback on that.
Depending on the brand of furnace the motor controller has to be "Flashed" for the particular furnace or the appropriate board has to be changed, or a plug in module ships with the motor. Pain in the ***.
I will not install a furnace in my house that uses an ECM motor.
The furnace guys even told me not worth the upgrade. The old furnace did a good job of heating the house evenly. The new one seems to be even better. Nice and quiet and Better airflow out the vents. They said the repair costs on the variable speed and two stage are crazy. Even if I did the work myself. The wife is happy and I'm only out $200 for a new furnace. Win win.
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danski0224
Well-known member
Right up until it fails. Then you need a second mortgage to replace it.
Our outfit charges $900 to $1200 for an ECM motor change. Compute the lifetime ROI/payback on that.
Depending on the brand of furnace the motor controller has to be "Flashed" for the particular furnace or the appropriate board has to be changed, or a plug in module ships with the motor. Pain in the ***.
I will not install a furnace in my house that uses an ECM motor.
An ECM motor is built better than the standard PSC motor.
I'll damn near guarantee you that almost any variable speed ECM motor failure is due to either improper ductwork, restrictive evaporator coil or restrictive air filters- any of which will escalate the TESP beyond the design limits of the motor because the VS ECM will attempt to meet the CFM settings on the board.
Increased energy consumption is another benefit of crappy ductwork/filters and an ECM VS motor.
Don't blame ECM motor failures on ****** low bid installs.
mrobins297aaa
Well-known member
Right up until it fails. Then you need a second mortgage to replace it.
Our outfit charges $900 to $1200 for an ECM motor change. Compute the lifetime ROI/payback on that.
Depending on the brand of furnace the motor controller has to be "Flashed" for the particular furnace or the appropriate board has to be changed, or a plug in module ships with the motor. Pain in the ***.
I will not install a furnace in my house that uses an ECM motor.
I couldn't agree more, I wouldn't have one of those $1000 motors in my furnace.
Not to derail this cracked heat exchanger thread .........The thermistor repair is and easy cheap fix for many of those ECM motors.
There is something to be said for comfort, even heating and quiet two stage furnace.........mine fires on high maybe 5% of the time. Kinda like the pickup truck with every option, nice ride but might not make economic sense. But the furnace upgrade is not as bad as the $11,000 refrig or $12,000 range with red knobs.
There is something to be said for comfort, even heating and quiet two stage furnace.........mine fires on high maybe 5% of the time. Kinda like the pickup truck with every option, nice ride but might not make economic sense. But the furnace upgrade is not as bad as the $11,000 refrig or $12,000 range with red knobs.
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Dr Stan
Well-known member
do you really think they haven't a strategy for these scenarios?
I'm absolutely sure they do, but when the negative news hits the local paper, etc they get the message.
BTW, when I lived in MS there was a heat exchanger manufacturer near Starkville and we used the plant manager to teach time & motion. A large portion of the heat exchangers used in the US came out of that plant made to the buyers specs. Even so there were units that could go into multiple brands of HVAC units.
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An ECM motor is built better than the standard PSC motor.
I'll damn near guarantee you that almost any variable speed ECM motor failure is due to either improper ductwork, restrictive evaporator coil or restrictive air filters
Don't blame ECM motor failures on ****** low bid installs.
Amen!!!
PassnThru
Well-known member
I think I had you beat last summer. I had cracks and holes. Much like your thread, many brought up the positive pressure thing but the 20 year old furnace got replaced anyway.
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