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Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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Posted by lynnt (My Page) on Fri, Feb 29, 08 at 21:48
| I live in the Washington DC area, in a 50-year-old 2300-sq-foot rambler. A service rep from my HVAC company shut down my 20-year-old Kenmore 80 1000-btu gas furnace this afternoon. He had run a camera on a cable up the burner flues into the heat exchanger, and showed me what he said were cracks: lighter lines among the black soot and more than a bit of rust. Although the monoxide alarms around the house and in the furnace room have not complained, he said the furnace was unsafe and must be replaced immediately.
OK, I can buy that the poor thing is at end of life. Question #1, do you agree that it had to be shut down immediately, or is this a pressure sales tactic? He didn't cut any wires, just turned off the breaker and the thermostat; is it safe for me to turn it back on?
Question #2, the sales rep is offering the following replacements, all 1000-btu Frigidaires (which I understand are made by Nordyne). What do you think of these furnaces, and does the price sound reasonable? They include running the required new exhaust PVC for the 93%er, plus all include $350 for running about 20 feet of flexible ducting to a badly-served dining-room addition.
80% 2-stage FG6TA096C12B $3500
80% 2-stage variable FG6RA096CVBA $4410
93% 2-stage FG6TC080CVBB $4550
The same company will replace my aged gas hot-water heater with a new 50-gal model for about $900, and add a system humidifier for about $650 if I do these at the same time as the furnace work. Comments?
Another company prefers Lennox furnaces; they say all I need is a 90K BTU furnace due to the increased efficiency these days -- though the old furnace was sized before the dining-room addition was built. They say the 80% Lennoxes are sturdy and far more reliable than the fancy Energy Star models. They are proposing:
80% G40 $2300
90% G51V $3400
and will do my hot-water heater for $625 along with the furnace replacement.
Is this apples and oranges? I really appreciate your input, and apologize for the long writeup. Both companies have good records in the area, and both have been around for more than a decade.
Lynn
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| The Lennox prices sound a bit low. Make sure you know what you're getting. Get all of it in writing: parts, materials, warranty, permit, etc. etc. Both brands are fine in my opinion. You really aren't comparing apples to apples; you have a "builder" Lennox or a SINGLE stage Lennox (I think the G51V is a good one--variable speed, 92.1% AFUE, etc.). The Frigidaire units are dual stage, which provides more comfort (low stage and high stage). |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| The tech had to shut you down for liability reasons but your not going to endanger your family by turning your heat on it is physically impossible for combustion product to get in your airstream in that furnace as the indoor air passing through your heat exchanger is positive pressure the worry is your indoor air making it into the combustion chamber and causing the flame to rollout but there should be safeties in place to shut down if that happens |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| Thanks for the quick replies, gentlemen! I am more inclined now to spend the extra on a 90% two-stage. I saw what the tech did to turn the furnace off: flipped a switch on the back of the furnace, and turned off a dial that might have been a thermostat in the inside front. Is that all I need to do to restart, or do I need to reignite a pilot light (I seem to recall this furnace has one). If the latter, where is it? Thanks! Lynn |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| I'd rather have a 90 in your area, should be a faster payback. We don't disable furnaces with cracks, we may leave a switch off. We also have customers sign a form with the info & options. Only time we disable a furnace is if it is truly dangerous such as flames rolling out, plugged heat exchanger, not venting. Anyway, back to the new one: the FG6TC-80 is a nice furnace with killer warranty. Be sure to get a new 2 stage stat! And if the water heater is left alone in a chimney, be sure they put in a liner kit. |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox vs Carrier! gas furnace
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| The Frigidaire guy keeps raising the ante; now he wants $500 to put in the new ductwork vice $350, $650 to install an inline humidifier, and $1100 to replace the 40-gal H20 heater. He says that no flue liner is needed to switch to a 90+ furnace, since the current chimney is small enough (it's got a 6" opening for the furnace, and another 3" for the H20 heater). So I got another estimate, and I'm back to see what you folks think. Thanks for taking the trouble! This new guy says that Lennox just raised their prices by 20%, so though he loves them, he is using Carrier more. He is offering me the following: $ 625 40-gal AOSmith H20 heater, no model specified
(to include flue lining if needed)
$ 150 run the 25-foot duct extension plus furnace options
$ 3500 Carrier 58MTB 93% 2-stage furnace,
including humidifier (no make/model specified) or $2900 Carrier Performance 80 (58CVA/CVX)
80% 2 stage, std blower
including humidifier (no make/model specified) He gives a 10-year parts & labor warrantee (including electronics) if you get their $125/year service agreement. I need to see the details to see what that buys me. He suggests that for the $600 diff, I should get the fancier furnace. What do you think? Lynn |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| If you turn the furnace back on-- its against the techs recommendations, i.e., thats why he turned it off. Nordyne equipment is awesome, I have posted on many threads here saying that. I really dont care for Lennox. They are not user friendly to work on... I can tell you that. The Lennox prices do seem very low, especially for the DC market. The Frigidaire figures look right. The Dc market and my market are pretty much priced the same. |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| The holes in the chimney mean nothing about whether a chimney should be lined. If it is totally inside the house and has a 6" inside dimension, you may be OK. If bigger inside or has 1 or more sides exposed to the cold, line it or risk expensive damage. |
RE: Frigidaire vs Lennox gas furnace
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| Thanks, guys! HiltonHead, do the Carrier prices look OK to you? The chimney is inside the house (except for the top two-three feet that extends above the roof) and the furnace is in the basement, away from any exterior wall. The new PVC for a 90%+ furnace would have to run 12 feet at least to hit an outside wall, and the closest point is under a newly-rebuilt solid masonry front porch. The company my primary service contract is with (the Lennox/Carrier bids above, and NOT the folks who switched the furnace off) is sending someone out tomorrow evening to restart the furnace for me. I feel like a wuss not doing it myself, but that's what I pay them for, besides the twice-yearly cleaning, no? Maybe I should get a third replacement bid? Lynn |
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