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by James Dulley
This four-page guide contains columnist and engineer James Dulley's picks for super-efficient furnaces (AFUE of 92% or greater). Many brands are recommended and described. All are vaguely alleged to be… reliable. Dulley says, "The primary change for 2008 is most companies now offer two-stage gas furnaces and a few offer modulating models." He likes the consistent temperature these furnaces enable. Dulley cites benefits of specific brands (e.g. Lennox is quiet), but no drawbacks. Dulley's evaluation process is described below. It falls short of formal testing, but is sincere and somewhat scientific, and the general information is some of the best we found.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
This short and outdated article reveals the results of a survey of repair rates of gas furnaces. The survey covers 36,181 furnaces installed in homes between 1997 and 2004. Twelve brands are rated, but no… particular models are recommended, and no furnaces are tested by the editors. The instances of repair range from about 15 percent to 26 percent. One brand stands out; it has significantly more repairs than the others.
by James Dulley
James Dulley lists "the most efficient and most unique models of residential boilers." He explains that gas boilers provide the highest efficiency, but oil boilers are typically slightly more efficient than… non-condensing gas models. He recommends sealed-vent models. Specific brands and furnace models are listed and briefly described. All are equally recommended. As in the other reports, Dulley provides a chart that shows projected dollar savings from buying a new unit. Like all such charts, it has little meaning because energy prices change often.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports also has an informative report on how to select a furnace culled from interviews with 500 contractors. No specific models are compared or recommended, however. The magazine emphasizes the… importance of a reliable contractor and correct sizing. Information is also provided about choosing the right efficiency level for your climate, selecting a contractor, and soliciting bids. An adjunct article from October 2007 evaluates features as buying considerations.
by Contributors to ConsumerReports.org
Consumer Reports hosts a moderated forum that is free to the public. Many consumers inquire about the best and worst brands. Answers are anecdotal, but we found some very helpful posts by professional… installers. An advanced search option is a major asset of this forum. You can, for example, search for all messages containing Trane and Rheem in the past year. Ultimately the forum is a bit unsatisfying since almost half of the posts are questions about what model to buy.
by 15 active experts
All Experts.com, a little known service from About.com, is an excellent place for consumers to seek answers. It is a free question and answer service. Volunteers are experts in specific relevant fields.… Each describes his or her background, and answers are rated in many subcategories by site users. Most existing questions are about problems, but some people ask for recommendations about quotes they've received, as well as what to buy. If you want to ask a question, we found that these experts need as much information as possible to give a useful answer.
by Editors of FurnaceCompare
FurnaceCompare.com provides some free content for evaluating furnaces and requires a subscription for most information. A comprehensive directory of U.S. HVAC contractors (sorted by state, then city) is… free. A subscription costs $25 for 30 days. The furnace report is more informative than evaluative; only features are subjectively evaluated. The similar Dulley reports at least narrow the field. The newest furnace report here is from 2006. The Dulley report is more recent. Brands are rated on this site for average efficiency and popularity, but the information is out of date. Several articles are useful, especially "Buying HVAC Equipment Without a Middleman."
by James Dulley
In this report, James Dulley lists 18 manufacturers (and many models) of 80% to 82.2% efficiency furnaces. The mechanical engineer explains that he and his research staff are unable to test… unreasonably-sized items, but he evaluates designs and discusses them with the manufacturers' engineers as part of the evaluation process. Dulley does not rate or rank brands or products, but explains, "I generally list only the highest-quality, most efficient or unique ones that I feel are particularly 'good buys.'" He mentions his personal preference for the crimped clamshell heat exchanger design offered by Bryant and Carrier. If you suffer from asthma, Dulley suggests going with a two-stage furnace.
by Contributors to HVAC-Talk.com
by Contributors to GardenWeb.com
This is an excellent resource to obtain user opinions and experiences on a broad array of furnaces and air conditioning units. Rather than specific manufacturer recommendations, most of the advice centers… on picking a reliable contractor to install the unit and a strong factory warranty. Professionals answer many of the recent questions in this forum, including some about brands. The weakness here is both homeowners and professionals generalizing from one or two experiences, or experiences with older furnace models.
by Editors of ACEEE
"The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection."… This site has lots of information relating to energy-efficient appliances and government tax incentive programs. There's some good information on deciding when to replace a furnace, and editors offer a checklist of maintenance tips as well. The organization provides advice for finding a good contractor. ACEEE also recommends efficiency levels for new equipment. Except for the intentional absence of brand recommendations, ACEEE is a comprehensive resource.
by U.S. Department of Energy staff
This government guide is broken into several sections: Selecting and Replacing Heating and Cooling Systems and Furnaces, and Boilers are the most useful. Advice here is typical, but more straightforward and… comprehensive than most similar guides are. It's a very reasonable starting point for learning about the technology and buying considerations, but it has no information about furnace brands, and no comparative guidance.
by Danny Lipford
Danny Lipford is a remodeling contractor who hosts a nationally syndicated home improvement television show. Half this article offers tips on maintaining HVAC equipment and dealing with the professionals… that service it. The rest is about buying a new HVAC system. He offers tips on how to select a contractor, such as hiring a company that designs, installs and services the desired system. The advice is straightforward and less drenched in jargon than most guides. Lipford explains the key terminology.
by User ratings
FurnaceCompare.com is the most comprehensive source for user ratings of furnaces. They are conveniently sorted by brand. Users rate their satisfaction and some add comments. This resource has two major… limitations. First, only Goodman has more than ten ratings. The scores for other brands don't add up to more than anecdotal information. Second, some contributors evaluate old furnaces. While long-term reliability may be the most important consideration, the relative success of an eight-year-old unit, for example, does not address current product quality.
by GAMA Certification Services staff
This trade association contracts with an independent lab to test all gas and oil furnaces and boilers. "Randomly selected units of gas and oil furnaces and boilers are tested in accordance with the U. S.… Department of Energy Test Procedures." Products are certified and rated. GAMA produces comparative EnergyGuide labels like the ones you see on other types of major appliances. Instead of comparing stickers in a store, you can use GAMA's online database or directory to compare models of interest. Both are complicated to use. With patience, you can sort this information to find the most energy efficient models.
by NATE staff
"NATE, North American Technician Excellence Inc., is an independent, third-party certification body for HVAC/R technicians." To achieve NATE certification, technicians only have to pass a written test,… while HVAC Excellence (below) also requires a hands-on test. However, NATE certification seems to carry more weight within the industry and from experts outside the industry. At the least, it is the more established standard. Technicians can achieve installation and/or service certification in five specialty HVAC areas.
by HVAC Excellence directors
HVAC Excellence is a non-profit professional development association. The organization has a formal certification program for service contractors. "The Master Specialist Certification requires technicians… to pass a written and hands-on certification exam." Gas Heat, Oil Heat, Heat Pumps and Residential Air Conditioning are all separate certification categories. The association encourages you to hire a certified technician.
by Contributors to Bob Vila's Home Site
Bob Vila is another respected home improvement television host. His website includes a forum with poor sorting options, a handful of one-paragraph tips, a video that shows part of a gas furnace installation… and a helpfully comparative article, "Heating a Home: Gas, Oil or Propane?" Purchasing tips are generally shallow. For example, the advice that consumers can often get better deals in the off-season is the best we found, but it doesn't help people who are stuck with a dead furnace in winter. The forum has some useful discussion threads of specific brands.
by Office of Air and Radiation
The government is here to help a little. This Energy Star how-to guide covers whether to repair or replace, maintenance, energy-saving strategies and how to choose a contractor and replacement equipment.… The advice is consistent with what others say. Depth is satisfactory, except in the latter two areas. You'll need a better resource to tell you where to find a contractor, and the only advice regarding furnaces is to get one that is Energy Star qualified.
by U.S. EPA and DOE
by Jenni Smith
This dated trade journal article, oriented toward remodeling contractors, offers some helpful insider advice. The bulk of the article is general advice. A paragraph is devoted to each of three brands. The… information is entirely descriptive, or arguably advertorial. Furnaces are not compared or evaluated. Jenni Smith doesn't explicitly state that these brands are recommended. While the advice is worth reading, we would pay little attention to the mentioned brands. At best, they are old recommendations. The article disingenuously cites a manufacturer study that proves variable-speed and two-stage heaters save money on heating bills.
by Nick Bajzek
This trade journal article is primarily a chart devoted to the premise that "what builders used for their own homes is ultimately a testament to the many products available on the market today." The chart… lists the brand of product used by five builders in every category of construction. In many cases, the builder did not report which brand he used. The premise has validity, but the information is skimpy. For example, Nick Bajzek doesn't let readers know when the houses were built. The three reporting builders used Lennox, Lochinvar and Carrier furnaces.
by Anonymous
This very unusual website is something like a forum. People post hundreds of questions, and all seem to be answered by the same anonymous site proprietor. This person obviously has industry experience and… knowledge, but his answers often altogether fail to address the questions. His general opinions are similar to most people in the industry: avoid Goodman, otherwise "quality of the installation means more than the unit name." However, we have read comments elsewhere from contractors that while older Goodman furnaces were problematic, the newest units have been revamped and are now the equal of those from other brands.
by Online Comfort Network
OnlineComfort.com claims to be "an independent home comfort professional information center." However, the domain is licensed to Forced Air Sheet Metal, a heating contractor in Connecticut. The cloak of… anonymity diminishes the website's credibility, but Warmair.com includes some troubleshooting tips and a good HVAC glossary. Proprietors claim, "Consumer guides cannot compare furnaces because each installation must also be compared, and this is impossible." That statement and "Choosing a furnace is not the homeowner's concern, it is the contractor's concern" may be somewhat valid, but the bias is clear.
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