Horizontal vs Upright gas Furnace

[colleyvillesooner]

Continuing the series:

Dealing with the seller on a house here in Dallas that currently has a bad horizontal gas furnace discovered during inspection. He is replacing with a new horizontal heater that is only 80% rated. I find out the BTU's tomorrow when I find out the model number. I am looking to take some of the cash they are offering at closing and upgrading the heater. He said his guy told him upgrading from horizontal to upright would require some changes in the attic and some changes to the duct work? Anybody?

I will call the AC company he is using tomorrow to investigate our options, but wanted to see what I can get from the furnace ****** people here. House is 2000 sq ft.

I just want to get a heater than will get us through the mild Texas winters without costing me a fortune. What should an average furnace cost? He is paying around $2000 I believe, so adding to that to upgrade is an option.

Everything else on the house is as expected for a house built in 1979, but I want to get this issue cleared up before the option period ends.

TIA

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Yes you would have to change some of the duct work because a horizontal unit will have duct running out of both sides of the furnace...and if you upgrade the furnace, there is a 101% chance you'll have to change the coil out too...you would probably have to do some modifications to a closet to have somewhere to put the furnace and set up your return air, so you would lose closet space....

Consider if you change the furnace into something with a variable speed motor....you could get one that maybe isn't all world efficiency rating, but they save a lot of money

[OU4LIFE]

We just had to replace the whole shooting match in our house. Furnace was original to the house ('59), and the AC was 17 years old. Went from a 7 seer to a 15.5 seer unit, also a much more efficient furnace. Got the variable speed, dual compressor unit and a programmable thermostat. I expect to see some pretty radical changes in the electric bill this summer since I also replaced all the windows last year as well.

Good luck Colley.

[Turd_Ferguson]

We just had to replace the whole shooting match in our house. Furnace was original to the house ('59), and the AC was 17 years old. Went from a 7 seer to a 15.5 seer unit, also a much more efficient furnace. Got the variable speed, dual compressor unit and a programmable thermostat. I expect to see some pretty radical changes in the electric bill this summer since I also replaced all the windows last year as well.

Good luck Colley.

what'd that set ya back?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Colley a side question for ya...is this a house you plan on staying in for a number of years(8-10)? One thing to consider is that on a lot of this stuff, it takes a number of years to recooperate the extra cost of the equipment...

[colleyvillesooner]

That's what I'm thinking. Probably 5-10 years i'd guess. Supposed to hear from their AC guy tonight. We a signed amenemt that they will fix the HVAC, not just the furnace. We'll see what happens.
Thanks.

[colleyvillesooner]

Looks like the unit will be about 75000 BTU's. Having or own AC guy out to look at the situation tomorrow. Hopefully he thinks the replacement is adequate. Heater was the main issue in the attic.

[olevetonahill]

When ever the Heat is applied I prefer to be horizontal
jes sayin

[colleyvillesooner]

took long enough for someone to go there!

[olevetonahill]

took long enough for someone to go there!

I resisted as long as i could

[colleyvillesooner]

I'll take "What Ole Vet says to the ladies after 3 minutes" for $500, Alex.

[royalfan5]

Why not just buy three slanket's and save yourself some money?

[olevetonahill]

If yer only gonna keep the place 5 to 10 years go the cheapest way ya can

[colleyvillesooner]

Yeah, I just don't want to be paying for repairs every year on a piece of junk.

Man, this buying a house is some stressful stuff. Pair that with a 3 mo old and crap at work and it's Miller Time.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I understand...I went through it a couple of years ago at the same time I was starting back to college and just had a boating accident a week before closing...my wife hated my guts for a while....

one thing I wouldnt stress is brand name either...most of them have the same parts from the same companies.....

how much square footage you got?

[colleyvillesooner]

About 2000

[stoops the eternal pimp]

seems like you would want more than 75000 btu......usually little price difference between 75 and 100,000 btu...

[stoops the eternal pimp]

8 ft ceilings and well insulated I presume

[colleyvillesooner]

yes, 8 ft and pretty well insulated. I'll probably look into getting it insulated a little more. The AC guy was wondering if the 100,000 unit would fit up the attic ladder. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

good deal...I m sure it will...shouldn't be a big difference