New Furnace?

My furnace at the cabin quit working the weekend before deer hunting. We built the cabin 22 years ago. I probably had issues with the furnace 3 – 4 times in 22 years. I’m guessing my cheapest repair (Emergency after hours rates) has been close to 500.00 up to 800.00. My neighbor and good friend owns an HVAC company in the cities. It quit working on Friday night. He got it working on Saturday (reset switch). It quit again on Saturday night. Based on its age (over 20 yrs) he suggested replacing verses trying to repair. I’m sure it would be tough to find a contractor ready to jump on replacing it right away. At the time, it was below freezing and I didn’t want my pipes to freeze. He was able to get his crew up there by Thursday and had my new furnace working by Thursday afternoon before deer hunting. I have him do all my HVAC stuff at home and cabin (furnace, A/C, water heaters, sprinkler system, etc). I don’t ask him for estimates because I will have him do it. He is always able to fit me in his schedule (way quicker than hiring someone I don’t know), and most times his prices are more than fair. Just curious if anyone has an idea on what it costs to replace a furnace (assuming your hiring a contractor). I assume COVID and Supply Chain and other factors make it more challenging now. Thanks for any inputs.

Are you replacing with a 80% or going with a 92% or higher

Good question Nitro. I don’t know. It was replaced with a Rudd brand but don’t know the efficiency. He said the furnaces were costing about 1200 before supply chain issues and are about 1600 now.

Sounds like he is worth the cost whatever it may be in this environment.

Did he have to do any plenum mods?

Hard to price not knowing the scope of the replacement.

Keep him happy though!!

This doesn’t matter. The guy is good enough to watch your place, he was good enough to get it fixed / replaced. If you find out he was a $1,000 higher, then what? If he was a $1,000 low, you going to go give him more?

Having second thoughts are the worse thoughts you can have. The deal is done, it works, move along and keep the neighbor / neighbor relationship in tact.

dandorn wrote:

Sounds like he is worth the cost whatever it may be in this environment.

Did he have to do any plenum mods?

Hard to price not knowing the scope of the replacement.

Keep him happy though!!

They got the new furnace working on the same day of the install but had a temp connection (duct tape and metal from old furnace) from furnace to existing duct work. They have a sheet metal shop and had to make the permenant connections once they had the measurements. Had one of his guys up a week and a half ago to install the permanent connection. I try to keep him happy (he likes this Green Spot Irish Whiskey :-)).

Dutchboy wrote:

This doesn’t matter. The guy is good enough to watch your place, he was good enough to get it fixed / replaced. If you find out he was a $1,000 higher, then what? If he was a $1,000 low, you going to go give him more?

Having second thoughts are the worse thoughts you can have. The deal is done, it works, move along and keep the neighbor / neighbor relationship in tact.

Agreed Dutch. He is one of my best buds. Just want to get an idea on what it would cost retail. Trying to determine if I should be buying him a case of Greenspot.

Are you warm at night? Whats that worth to you? Get him a Greenspot.

Dutchboy wrote:

This doesn’t matter. The guy is good enough to watch your place, he was good enough to get it fixed / replaced. If you find out he was a $1,000 higher, then what? If he was a $1,000 low, you going to go give him more?

Having second thoughts are the worse thoughts you can have. The deal is done, it works, move along and keep the neighbor / neighbor relationship in tact.

^^^^^This

I just got a new high efficiency furnace/AC installed by a company guy who moonlights. It was $7650 after rebates, but it included ductwork, adding the pvc vents, sleeving my chimney diameter down for my water heater, moving gas lines, replacing AC lines, and he threw in a digital control panel for my humidifier. He’ll just swing by if anything goes wrong and I called him for help with a smart thermostat install.

The companies I had out for typical consumer estimates were north of 13k + rebates.

tindall wrote:

The companies I had out for typical consumer estimates were north of 13k + rebates.

Correct I just paid 11 and change for a full furnace a/c and lines , ductwork etc install. Bryant high efficiency furnace with a/c. That was this spring.

Had mine replaced last week. Furnace was covered by warranty, labor was not. $1400.

I had my furnace replaced in April of 2020. Wasn’t a high efficiency. The Carrier unit and labor was $2150 and that included adding a duct.

Replaced the AC in April of 2021 and the Carrier unit and labor was $2500.

My brother just had his furnace done. Had two or three quotes from major/notable HVAC companies and they were all in the $8500-$9000 range.

We have a contact I met on a message board years ago who I called up and he did it for $4500.

I’m guessing he’s still making some money for installing it at $4500, granted, he did it all by himself and for cash.

So, my guess, actual cost for parts and labor is somewhere in the $3500-$4000 range. I think those HVAC companies are cleaning up….

It’s always worth asking what they’ll charge if you pay cash(if you’re able to), you’d be surprised how much that can save you. I do that with just about any major expense now. Tree service, mechanic, HVAC, etc.

I had a furnace and AC unit replaced 3 years ago. Got 2 estimates for 94% furnace and mid grade AC unit. Estimates were $8400 and $8600. I am in the drywall business and know HVAC contractor I see at jobs that did my unit for $5000 and said he still made some money, so yes I think the HVAC guys do pretty well.

Justin Donson wrote:

My brother just had his furnace done. Had two or three quotes from major/notable HVAC companies and they were all in the $8500-$9000 range.

We have a contact I met on a message board years ago who I called up and he did it for $4500.

I’m guessing he’s still making some money for installing it at $4500, granted, he did it all by himself and for cash.

So, my guess, actual cost for parts and labor is somewhere in the $3500-$4000 range. I think those HVAC companies are cleaning up….

It’s always worth asking what they’ll charge if you pay cash(if you’re able to), you’d be surprised how much that can save you. I do that with just about any major expense now. Tree service, mechanic, HVAC, etc.

Depends on where you are too. My general contractor and the guy that did my furnace/AC have city rates and rural rates…if you’re living in the cities, you’re paying extra, sometimes by alot..

Thanks alot for the input. I was more curious than anything. I think I had to pay over 7K when we built the cabin (20 yrs ago) to install the furnace and duct work. My HVAC buddy put in air afterwards. I would think the labor to put in duct work would be fairly expensive. So wasn’t sure what to expect to replace just the furnace. The guy that did mine had close to 15 hrs between 2 days.

I am also curious what people do that don’t know a contractor that need to replace their furnace in the middle of the winter. I was getting nervous and it wasn’t that cold yet. First finding the furnace and then finding someone to put it in with as busy as everyone seems to be.

Now I get to wait for my home furnace to kick the bucket. It is also almost 20 years old. Never ending.

bzzsaw wrote:

It was replaced with a Rudd brand but don’t know the efficiency. He said the furnaces were costing about 1200 before supply chain issues and are about 1600 now.

Model # R92TA0701317MSA Rheem 92% AFUE 70,000 BTU Single Stage Multi-Position Gas = $ 1700 – $1900 + delivery and tax if/when applicable

Labor =- 15 X $X Most of the HVAC guys doing swap outs around here are 85 to 115/hr.

I called one of my vendors and asked for a ballpark “Sight-unseen, budget 1300 labor and 1500-2000 depending which model is used or available. Maybe another 2-3 hundred for everything else (gas line, duct,….misc materials) “