BairleaFarm 340 #1 Posted October 10, 2008 After 50 years of service my furnace has died. It went through many changes in through out its life, including but not limited to internal upgrades and outer shell retrofits. This furnace blew hot until the flood of 08. Back in march the flood covered the blower. The furnace guy said she would never work again. I had faith and turned it on. She never sounded the same but got me through last season. I went ot fire it up last week and nothing. She died while hibernating for the summer. While i didnt enjoy paying for her 46% efficiency i grew fond of her looks. My wife and I discussed and and decided it was time to let her go. We didnt want to and could have fixed it but we didnt want ot risk it since we now have 2 children in the house. Picture taken after an hour of dewatering. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wh500special 2,249 #2 Posted October 10, 2008 Sorry for the loss of an old friend. While you're getting quotes to replace that dinosaur you might want to check both with a tax advisor and your local utility to see if any energy credits are available for upgrading to a high efficiency unit. I had to replace my AC unit a couple years ago and the combination of an income tax credit and my electric provider's rebate for installing a heatpump paid for a decent chunk of the cost of getting a heat pump versus just a regular AC unit. Worth a try. Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
refracman 167 #3 Posted October 10, 2008 My basement was wet like yours and rusted out. It was a oil burner and replaced it wih nat. gas. I also put a new floor in and at the same time I replaced mine. I went down to the supply house and asked if they had any scratch and dents. They had one missing a front panel. A 80% got it for $300 ( reg. 650 ) and installed it myself. Ordered the panel from the manufacturer for $25. As a safety note: A furnace in a damp or wet enviorment you have to watch out for the heat exchanger rusting out and emitting CO. The heat exchangers, although made of stainless steel are very thin and fail when exposed to high humidity for long periods. Even a humidifier will cause damage. Also new furaces have processing boards in them and will not tolerate damp / wet conditions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick 13 #4 Posted October 10, 2008 Steve(s) bring up good points. I didnt use to like the idea of electric heat pumps but with local propane prices near $3 a gallon, that all changed. It cant hurt to look into heat pump rebates. My brother had been looking into building a new home so I was pushing him to look into geothermal. The initial cost is higher but they look to be a good choice for the long run. If you stay with a furnace it might pay to move it up into the house. As Steve said the new furnace wont stand up to a wet basement like the old girl did. One big plus is that your new furnace will be at least half the size of your old one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BairleaFarm 340 #5 Posted October 10, 2008 :banghead: i already had a new one installed. It works well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
