Honeywell, Lennox, and Davies - Opinion Time!

Winter has arrived, the furnace is in, the house is warm, and Katherine is very happy! Now it's time to give my blatantly honest and unbiased opinion on the furnace, the thermostat, and the company that installed it all.

Honeywell Prestige THX900 Touch Screen Thermostat
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Simply Phenomenal! This unit has power supplied from the furnace, so no batteries to replace, ever! It offers the homeowner a level of control that simply cannot be matched by any setback thermostat you can buy at a retailer such as Canadian Tire (including other Honeywell thermostats). It offers complete and ridiculously simple end user control over setback programming, overrides, vacation programs, furnace cycle rates, and many other facets of the furnace operation. As an example, the old setback thermostat permitted me to override the current program until the new program kicked in. This new thermostat allows me to override the current program until either the next program kicks in, or anytime before the next program, or anytime through the next program. around $500 (plus HST) as a complete system (thermostat, remote, outdoor air sensor) from an HVAC supplier, installed.

Lennox G61MPV Two Stage High Efficiency Furnace
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Quietly Impressive: There are two reasons to drop four grand on a great furnace: Two stage burners, and an electronically commutated fan blower motor. When the furnace is called on for heat, the first stage fires up delivering 60,000 BTU, and is then monitored. If heat demand is being met, the first stage only continues to burn. When demand is not being met, the second stage fires, and the full 90,000 BTU's comes on line. When the call for morning and evening heat comes, the furnace typically moves to full two stage heating, as it is pulling the house up 5 degrees celsius. Once the house is at the set temperature, only the first stage typically fires to maintain it. The blower motor is very quiet compared to the old Carrier with AC blower. With the old furnace you could always tell it was running anywhere in the home, but with the new Lennox you have to be in the dining room or front foyer to hear it, otherwise you would not know it is running. Operating noise appears to have been cut in half. $3900 (plus HST, less varous rebates) for a straightforward installation by Dave Davies, available through any Lennox dealer.

Dave Davies Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration
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Absolutely Outstanding: If you are looking to replace or install a new furnace, and you are located anywhere near Stratford Ontario, you only have to make one phone call: to Dave Davies. You could spend time phoning around and getting a few estimates like I did, but you really don't need to. I was quite satisfied with three of the companies I contacted about a new furnace, but Dave Davies was a full step ahead. They offered clear and effective answers to all my questions, a thorough knowledge of all rebate programs in place, a competetive price, and fast turnaround on an expert installation. Domenic and Ken know their stuff, and did an absolutely top notch job, including little things that I was being fussy over. Dave Davies was very straightforward, offering great advice. Wilma (office admin) and Shaun (who provided the thermostat) were also very good to deal with. I would be very hard pressed to find anyone as good, let alone better.

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

Cheap and Cheerful Heat Loss Calculation, And The Winner Is:

After reviewing the rather complex calculations for determining heat loss, which involve converting heat content of a cubic metre of natural gas to mJ/hour, then to kW, and back to BTU's, I decided if I can find the heat content in BTU of one cubic metre of natural gas, I can simplify the calculation considerably. From a variety of sources, natural gas has a heat content of 36,000 BTU / m3:

Take your total gas consumed for a four month period from November to February, multiply by your furnaces efficiency rating (GFUE%) and divide the volume by 2880 (120 days by 24 hours)

Multiply this by a factor of 2.4, which compensates for actual average HDD for the period to maximum HDD assuming a coldest day of -35 (I used 6360 design HDD for the period - 120 days at 53 HDD per day, versus 2680 actual average HDD from Environment Canada)

Finally, multiply this by 36,000, the approximate BTU energy contained in 1 m3 of natural gas, and the result is the appropriate sized furnace for your house (one that will work non-stop when the outside temp is -35 Celsius):

2490m3 * 0.92% / 2880 HDD * 2.4 HDD * 36000 BTU/m3 = 68,724 BTU

So it looks like the furnace of choice will be 90,000 BTU, oversized just enough to fill demand on the few days that may drop below the -35 design temperature, and if down the road we wish to heat the sunroom in the winter, among other things.

It seems the winner is Dave Davies from Stratford, who (seem to at least) have a fair and reasonable price strategy, a no nonsense approach to installations (they always install a condensate pump to a drain, rather than a hose on the floor). The furnace will be an Elite Series Lennox G61V High efficiency, two-stage with variable speed DC blower motor. Not particularly pretty, but hey, it's a furnace. And with a stroke of good luck, they will be installing a Honeywell Prestige HD 7-day fully programmable setback thermostat, with remote control.