Sunday, November 21, 2010

The New Furnace Arrives


Ken and Domenic from Dave Davies Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration installed a beautiful Lennox Elite Series G-61-V Two Stage variable DC fan 90,000 BTU high effieciency Energy Star rated furnace on Wednesday. Here Ken is illustrating the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Board approved method of conducting the initial tests of the new unit, which is said to reduce lower back injuries by a significant margin. Note these newer furnaces are much more compact and closer to the ground than the older models they are replacing!



I inquired about the very fancy Honeywell Prestige thermostat, just to see if it was worth considering. It was an additional $350 on top of the furnace which had a standard thermostat included. Since I was the only one who had ever even asked about one, and Dave's son had just pulled one out of his own house in favour of a newer model that chatted with his iPhone, they provided me his at no additional charge. Sweet! I will thoroughly test this state of the art thermostat over the next few weeks, then offer my opinions.


The thermostat comes with a remote control, which allows you to access basic functions from anywhere in the house.



A close up view of the new unit, with new inlet and exhaust piping, and minor plenum modifications to fit the smaller size unit. The Space-Guard air filter was kept, as it is in essentially pristine condition, apart from some cosmetic rusting on the back of the unit.



And for the final verdict:
Total estimate price (furnace, installation, condensate pump, new inlet and exhaust, plenum mods, and basic Honeywell thermostat): $3900 + HST = $4407.
Total actual price (furnace, installation, condensate pump, new inlet and exhaust, plenum mods, relocation of furnace switch, and Honeywell Prestige thermostat): $3900 + HST = $4407.

Three other local companies provided similar estimates at $3700 (plus thermostat), $4000, and $4450, all prices plus HST. And no, even though you see high efficiency gas furnaces advertised as low as the high teens and low two thousands, those prices are inclusive of all potential rebates, and are generally for made in china single stage ac fan furnaces, which barely meet 90% AFUE standards. If you want a manufactured in North America two stage furnace, with variable speed DC motor, EnergyStar rated, the going rate is around $4000 plus HST.

Additionally, the installation qualifies for an OPG rebate of $125, a manufacturers rebate of $150, and the province's eco-energy rebates of $650 will also apply (less the net cost of $325 for the testing) so the final price will be $3807

7 comments:

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Unknown said...

This is truly a state-of-the-art furnace! I hope it’s still functioning well after all these years. The cost of a new heating system will definitely put a big hole in your pocket, so make sure that you maintain it well so it will last for quite some time.

Richard Quicke @ Sauer HVAC

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