I live in a rental apartment in NJ and pay for my heat. The 30+ yr old furnace is on the verge of dying and my landlord wants to put another bandaid on it. Since my heating bills are getting larger and the furnace is constantly rattling, I offered to pay for half to cost of a new furnace.

My apartment is approx 900 sq ft, 8 ft ceilings, double pane windows (9 of them and useless!) and little if no insulation between the outside brick and indoor plaster walls.

My question:

So far I've gotten 2 quotes and they vary quite a bit for the same equipment...Goodman 69K btu 95 AFUE = $2800 and another quote for an Amana 45K btu 95 AFUE = $5100. Both are variable speed, two stage gas furnaces. Prices seem very odd to me.

From what I could find out a 45 - 50K BTU unit would be more than sufficient for this size apartment. One contractor was insisting I needed at least 69K BTUs. Any thoughts on this?

Also, it is my understanding that any 90+ AFUE unit would have to be side wall vented.
My concern is that the only wall space to vent out is close (less than 2 ft) from our windows. Does this present a problem with fumes entering the home?

Now to the question of efficiency: 80% or 90%+?

My budeget is limited and this is a rental...Any ideas on what would be the best bang for around $4,000 total cost?

Sorry for the length, I wanted to give a little background so hopefully you could give me some advice on what to choose.

Thanks for all your help.

Federal tax credits come into play, up to $1500, with units over 90% AFUE. Something to consider.

Also consider that you may never recoup your money in fuel savings.

Any ideas for what would be a reasonable choice given the space?

Thanks