oil heat

[woodmills1]

looks like I will have to replace my oil furnace due to rusting in the heat exchanger, which is allowing exhaust to pass into the heated air.  the current one is an ancient monster that has been in place for some time.  Any one have advice on brand names to use or to avoid?  I have forced hot air by oil with no gas lines in the street, so conversion is really not an option.  I have prices on Ruud, Bard, and Thermopride.  I don't need a cadillac but just really don't want a lemon.

[dewwood]

I can't speak about the other two but I have a Bard and it has been a good furnace.  We don't use it a lot as it is a backup for our woodfurnace, that is probably harder on it than using it constantly.  The Bard is manufactured about 25 miles from here and they have been around for a long time.  My heating contractor recommended it.

[L. Wakefield]

   While on this subject; I have a Longwood that is at least 20 years old and gives the same symptoms. Furnace guy looked it over last year but hadn't suggested your problem as a possible cause.

   This baby NEVER carbureted the logs right. It's a creosote manufaucturing thing, in my book. (So after 1 abortive attempt to burn wood in it I've just done straight oil- and paid the price) Can anyone recomment a dual fuel- oil and wood- furnace for my inevitable upgrade?    lw

[Paul_H]

I have had a wood/electric and a wood/oil combo in the past 18 years.They were made by Valley comfort.They have dual thermostats,and have been a very good system.The fire box takes a 24" chunk of wood.

http://www.valleycomfort.com/

[L. Wakefield]

   Thank you for that. it looks like maybe they have solved some of the problems shown by the Longwood.   lw

[Saki]

Greetings! Sorry to hear about your furnace problem. We have a thermopride basement model here in our home in west-central Indiana. It is relatively new ( 10 to 12 years ) Called a basement model because it is made short and stout ( not tall ) and was designed to fit in the basement rather than a garage or utility room that may have a taller ceiling. Has been a very reliable unit, and seems to be a very efficient one as well. During the worst winter we had here ( temps 0 or below for a 3 week period ) it heated a 2 story older farmhouse on under 7 gallons a day. Some things you may want to consider:

Are you adding onto your home anytime in the future. If this is a possibility, you may want to consider getting a slightly larger BTU model than you currently have - could save you the problem of cool spots or overworking the furnace later. If you have a larger model installed you can do what some of the guys in the heating business call underfiring. For instance have a 175,000 BTU furnace installed, but have a 150,000 BTU injector nozzle installed. This gives you a little room for expansion of you home ( again IF that is a possibility ) but doesn't hurt your economy. When the addition occurs, have the larger nozzle put in and presto, your set to go.

As far as brands, I have found that everybody has their favorites. Something you might want to consider is opening up your yellow pages and seeing what brand appears most frequently. This will help to insure that you have ready parts and service availability for the problems that eventually arise. Most of the time an add will mention something like " proud installer of thermopride " or simply list what they offer. Quick peek now may save headaches later. Best to you and yours - Saki

[woodmills1]

Interesting that I had narrrowed it down to bard and thermopride, and I ordered the thermopride yesterday.  I went with it since that is the brand my oil delivery company installs.  stay tuned as it will be in next week.

[woodmills1]

what a long strange trip this has been!  removed the old furnace and some dillapedated duct work, and found nuts, all kinds of nuts.  Seems the stone foundation doesn't keep the kritters out very well.  spent many hours replacing insulation that had been ripped out, then covering it with half inch hardware cloth to keep out the wild life.  started on the furnace installation and replaced much of the cold air returns and redid one hot delevery, a 5 inch run to the room with the thermostate had been plumbed right off the plenum.  no onder the rest of the house stayed cooler than the set temp. things were going right on schedule untill I sprained my ankle.  WOW! talk about a ruined 10 days.  still pretty much hobbling around but got into the basement yesterday to run new electric.  popped in the burner, bled the oil line and the thing fired right up.  Let me tell ya the thermopride is really some quality furnace. quiet, can't hardly tell its runnin.  the redo of the duct work has made the house more balanced.  right now it is 70 in the front where the thermostat is and 68.5 all the way back in my office.  now, if oil will only stay below 2 bucks it will be a toasty winter!!

[Saki]

Best to you. Hope that you have as good a luck with yours as we have with ours.

[woodmills1]

I bought the furnace from the company that I buy oil from.  the service manager came over last week to check my installation and test the furnace for draft and CO.  everthing was fine and he even asked me if I wanted to work for him.
  TREES BY DAY AND FURNACES BY NIGHT! hehe