Furnace replacement help

Mine just got the death sentence by One Hour repair. Luckily I can still light it manually but need replacement ASAP.
Recommendations welcome. I know this is a huge expense and we need heat quickly.

I installed a Coleman in my mother’s house 25 years ago,no problems whatsoever.
Currently have a Coleman in my house,22 years old and replaced the ignitor twice.

I am still rocking the original 1971 trane in my house I replaced my parents about 5 years ago and went with a trane, they cost a little more but when I bought they had a 3 year extension on the warranty so 13 year. We have had no issues at all would recommend to anyone. Make sure you check around on price as the same model will vary widely depending where you buy.

Lots of good manufactures out there,you can’t hardly go wrong with a 90%,just want to make sure your changing filters.Oversizing your furnace will end up costing you money instead of saving you.Having professionally installed extends warranty on the heat exchangers,with alot of manufactures.

We went with a Trane about 5 years ago. I’ve been pleased.

We had ours replaced in January. I know your in a hurry like we were but I would get a couple quotes if you can. The first quote we got was $1600 more than the company we ended going with for the exact same furnace.

Stanley wrote:

We had ours replaced in January. I know your in a hurry like we were but I would get a couple quotes if you can. The first quote we got was $1600 more than the company we ended going with for the exact same furnace.

Thats why I would welcome some installer recommendations. I’ll be working the phone first thing tomorow .

What did they say is wrong with it?

Depending on why it was condemned, and how much confidence you have in the person that diagnosed it , I would get a second opinion on that first . If its older with ac of the same vintage , get a quote on it all

Do you have a gas fireplace and fans to distribute heat? If so, that can buy you some time to get estimates and not rush a decision. I did that and after diagnostics, ordered parts on line and fixed it myself.

Mike m wrote:

Depending on why it was condemned, and how much confidence you have in the person that diagnosed it , I would get a second opinion on that first . If its older with ac of the same vintage , get a quote on it all

X100. One hour is not the most trustworthy in my book. All of the big franchises do a lot of “extra” sales. 2nd opinion is a must

Anonymous wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>michael m wrote:</div>
Depending on why it was condemned, and how much confidence you have in the person that diagnosed it , I would get a second opinion on that first . If its older with ac of the same vintage , get a quote on it all

X100. One hour is not the most trustworthy in my book. All of the big franchises do a lot of “extra” sales. 2nd opinion is a must

I wouldn’t trust one hour to even come into my house that’s why I’m wondering what they said is wrong with it

What code is it saying? Youtube is great once you have the code (flashing lights) it’s showing.

it sucks and is a big expense but you got to do it unless you got a wood boiler or VERY efficient fireplace. we went with a Carrier 2 years ago when ours crapped out in late January. hard to see the savings with the cost of natural gas but new is peace of mind for the next decade. lot of choices but you are looking at 3-5k average…….good luck and stay warm!

I used Bob with HeatPro for a new furnace in Dec. They did a great job. 👍🏻

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I had a new system installed and a couple years ago,went with a Bryant system, as that is what the local guy installs, I went with a heat pump also and would highly recommend it! It works amazingly efficiently! It’s a evolution system they call it, it’s a 5 stage system and furnace fan adjust fan speed etc, can’t say enough good about it, ac in summer is just as effective as it has a dehumidifier stage, which equals a super comfortable house. There was credits for the heat pump at the time that actually offset the extra cost for heat pump.

We replaced our 25 year old geothermal system with a Lennox system w/a heat pump a few years back. More efficient + the company that installed it has a $40/month program for 2X check ups/year and free service/parts/labor + at the end of it’s life span – we get a new one installed for free.

Mpls/st Paul plumbing and heating did ours. Decent pricing and quick. I’d recommend them.

X3 on get a second opinion.

Aquarius told us it would cost about $1300.00 to fix the blower fan and then tried to upsell us to a new furnace. Got a second opinion from a family run shop, Deans Heating and AC Inc in Cambridge MN. They fixed it for half the cost, were prompt, courteous and left no mess. Also said our furnace should be good for another 10 years or so. I would recommend them.

Furnaces are pretty simple units, about the only thing that makes repairing them not cost effective is a cracked heat exchanger, anything else can be replaced for not a lot of monwy. If that is cracked then yes replace it asap as CO can get into the house. I don’t have an installer to recommend, good luck.

Had a neighbor worked for a very trustworthy local rapid-service HVAC group. He told me One-Hour is a borderline criminal operation. They also deal in new furnaces and then get more money on an install than a repair – which is true of most places like that, but they’re apparently well-known for condemning furnaces that could be repaired for a fraction of the cost.

He said they would get asked for second opinions on One-Hour all the time and that’s where a lot of their repair business came from. Not saying this to make you feel bad, just be cautious when dealing with them. Do a little internet research on some local companies for a second opinion. I’ve used Airik’s out of Savage and they’ve been awesome to me. Would highly recommend them if they service your area.

Had our furnace replaced in 2020 with a Carrier unit. It was a local guy that installed them as a side job. Total cost for the unit and the labor was $2200 and that included him adding a return vent.

So it’s not as big of cost as I would have thought, but again we’re rural and it was a local guy that worked on his own. Being in the city and working through a large HVAC company would have doubled the cost probably.

Kane Mechanical Hastings MN

(651) 319-6185

I’d recommend not asking a fishing forum to help you choose a furnace. Even if you get lucky enough to find somebody bright enough to give you some good furnace advice, you’ll never be able to separate the good advice from the bad. Rather, I’d suggest you find a good furnace repair/installation company that you feel comfortable with and have them provide you with advice. There are plenty good companies around and you can always get multiple estimates to make sure the ones you get are being fair.

Kevin Yopp wrote:

I’d recommend not asking a fishing forum to help you choose a furnace. Even if you get lucky enough to find somebody bright enough to give you some good furnace advice, you’ll never be able to separate the good advice from the bad. Rather, I’d suggest you find a good furnace repair/installation company that you feel comfortable with and have them provide you with advice. There are plenty good companies around and you can always get multiple estimates to make sure the ones you get are being fair.

I see nothing wrong with asking for advice or a recommendation on a forum.

I’d much rather get a recommendation from someone on a fishing forum (someone that has been a longtime and active member that you trust) than from a furnace repair company which more than likely has some ulterior motives…

I will say don’t call Air Mechanical. My in-laws just had an issue with their dual purpose water heater in floor heat system. It needed to be replaced and their quote was $15K. I called a guy I know through work that referred me to a guy that did my furnace a couple years ago, and he is replacing it with the same one air mechanical quoted today for $6K. How do some people sleep at night trying to take advantage of old people?

suzuki wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Stanley wrote:</div>
We had ours replaced in January. I know your in a hurry like we were but I would get a couple quotes if you can. The first quote we got was $1600 more than the company we ended going with for the exact same furnace.

Thats why I would welcome some installer recommendations. I’ll be working the phone first thing tomorow .

I had one hour come out because it was after hours and I couldn’t get a hold of the company we usually use (Fred’s) ours was a cracked heat exchanger. I have a buddy on the commercial side of hvac and he recommended currly’s heating and air. They came out for a second opinion and said the same thing and didn’t change me since we went with them for the new furnace. I would go with currly’s again and they will get my future business even after their warranty is up.

Had Bonfe do our heating/AC 2 years ago. In and out in a day. Gave us 4-5 options on pricing/units. Happy with the service.

We were in the same situation. Furnace took a dump about this time of year. They offered to drop off a few electric space heaters. Nice gesture. However, we do have a gas and a wood fireplaces in the house, so we just ran those.

-J.

I do see some places are offering a new Air conditioner with a New furnace purchase. Might be worth looking in to.

bigcrappie wrote:

I do see some places are offering a new Air conditioner with a New furnace purchase. Might be worth looking in to.

No that’s funny. I try to call the one’s offering free gift cards!