Time for a new furnace? Ductwork? (roof, hot water heater, install, bathrooms)
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I recently bought a 35-yr-old house.
The furnace is 17 yrs. old and is now leaking water.
I have a service person coming out on Wednesday and I'm fairly sure that they will suggest replacing the whole unit.
Also, my duct work needs help. Some rooms are too cold and others hardly get any air. The attic is not properly vented - bathroom fans and furnace/water heater vent straight into the attic.
The air in the house feels dusty/dirty. The air filter getsa dirty in only 2-3 weeks. I'm in Texas so the A/C runs a lot and the house is closed-up a lot.
My house is 1450 sft - what should I expect to pay for a new furnace and duct replacement/repair?
Will this fix the problem of "dirty" air in the house?
It sounds like you are ready for a new furnace but that doesn't mean you need new duct work. Rarely is the duct work in such bad shape that it requires replacing, especially in a 35 year old house. The heat problem actually may just be due to the furnace. There is no problem with the bathrooms being vented into the attic but I do think that the furnace and hot water heater need to be vented out side. A good heating professional should be able to help. ask around for recommendations. The best contractors we get are through referals from friends. Good luck, Jay
The dust could be either from air infitration from your building's exterior or from your ducts having leaks. Whether you change the ducts or not, you should definately seal them for as little leaks as possible. They can be sucking up dust from the attic and bringing it into your living space.
The pros will tell you that a proper install will require you to have a manual J calculation done on your house to determine what size system you need for best efficiency and comfort. I wouldn't hire someone who would not perform such a calculation. It is in your best interest to get a properly sized unit. Good luck.
I'd get a good media filter thrown on there as well. They seem to be the best bang for the buck for air cleaning while allowing the system to perform as intended. The one inch "high performance" filters are known to cause too much restriction. Generally speaking, of course.
HELP!!!! Our furnace needs to be replaced and I have NOOO idea how in the world we're gonna pay for a 5,000 dollar furnace!!! Plus our duckwork (watever you call it) needs to be replaced too!! All I ask for are suggestions and prayer. ~Gloria
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Quote:
Originally Posted by b. frank
I recently bought a 35-yr-old house.
The furnace is 17 yrs. old and is now leaking water.
I have a service person coming out on Wednesday and I'm fairly sure that they will suggest replacing the whole unit.
Also, my duct work needs help. Some rooms are too cold and others hardly get any air. The attic is not properly vented - bathroom fans and furnace/water heater vent straight into the attic.
The air in the house feels dusty/dirty. The air filter getsa dirty in only 2-3 weeks. I'm in Texas so the A/C runs a lot and the house is closed-up a lot.
My house is 1450 sft - what should I expect to pay for a new furnace and duct replacement/repair?
Will this fix the problem of "dirty" air in the house?
Thanks for any help.
Is your furnace leaking or is your water heater leaking? I guess you don't have gas or electric forced air?
If you have the old rigid ducts they are probably about ready for re-insulation and re-sealing. If you're feeling adventurous you can DIY. It's pretty doubtful that you actually need to replace them.
The attic is not properly vented - bathroom fans and furnace/water heater vent straight into the attic.
Make sure the bathroom fan vents to the outside via the attic. Get a duct kit ($20) and drill a hole through the roof or sides closest to the where the duct attaches to the fan. Otherwise, you will get mold and rot up there.
HELP!!!! Our furnace needs to be replaced and I have NOOO idea how in the world we're gonna pay for a 5,000 dollar furnace!!! Plus our duckwork (watever you call it) needs to be replaced too!! All I ask for are suggestions and prayer. ~Gloria
Are you sure your ductwork needs replacing? how old is it? Does it appear to be falling apart? I would defintiely get multiple people out to look at it before commiting to one contractor. Sometimes a contractor will want to do everything new whether it needs it or not. Why pay for something that does not really need to be done. Jay
If you already decided to buy a new furnace then you can go for it. But the main cause behind the water leakage from furnace can be a pipe or pan, because these pipes can have a condensation issue.
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