Our Gas furnace needed a part last night, it was blowing cold air. The repairman replaced the igniter... $400 bill... then he said we need a whole new furnace. We have a diamond 90 York that came with the house built in 1989. He mentioned we should get a Rheem. Anyone have experience with a Rheem and how much should we spend for a 2 BR bi level home 872 sq foot house. And how many BTU's should we get? Thank you! we live in Maryland and have central AC.

I suggest you consult other companies or individuals as to whether you really need a new furnace. If someone tells you you need a new furnace, have them explain (in terms you can understand) why you need a new furnace.

Have them assess your present furnace without mentioning the recent repair. If you decide to replace the furnace wait until spring. Be aware that they will also try to have you replace the air conditioning system.

We think its fair enough to get a new furnace with this company, with a maintenance plan, considering there are other companies and private techs who are deciding to rip you for much higher fees these days, Horizon for instance in my area is VERY expensive. This company already installed our air conditioning for us, so I don't think they are trying to rip us off.

OK. Just so you know, gas furnaces last a long time.
I have two that are older than yours. I think I replaced the igniter on one about 15 years ago. Never had any problem with other.

Only reason to replace a gas furnace is if the fire box corrodes.

Unless you have a very special spark ignitor, you paid a lot for a $20 part that installs in 15 minutes.

I know, but that's what they do today, they charge a lot for labor and its not a private company.

He mentioned that our fire box, there was something wrong with it.

Say "Show me"

He said it makes a puff when it ignites, that is bad. They are coming today at 11 am to give us the estimate...we have another free estimate lined up for today at 3pm. will let you know what happens.

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He said it makes a puff when it ignites,

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That is not an indication of a problem with fire box.
Get inspection from independent technician.
You seem to be determine to get taken advantage of.

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Originally Posted by hkstroud

That is not an indication of a problem with fire box.
Get inspection from independent technician.
You seem to be determine to get taken advantage of.

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The money we spent last Thus was applied to the new furnace, plus we had a $50 gift card. It is being installed tomorrow morning. Our furnace is over 20 yrs old and is starting to rust, no I am not being taken advantage of, we do not want to take the chance of getting carbon monoxide poisoning.

hkstrouds point being You got a $50 discount and most likely had the total price inflated by at least $1,000 more than it should have been.

You really SHOULD have carbon monoxide detectors as well as smoke detectors in your house... more than one of each, and replace the batteries every fall. I have two. One on each level in the middle of the house (one is right outside bedroom door).

Unless your heat exchanger is rusted out... odds are there is nothing else bad with it either.

At least he will meet his sales quota for the month.

Just because its over 20 years old doesn't mean it was needing replaced. Mine is 20 years old and in fantastic shape functionally. I don't expect to be needing to replace it for years.

I'd have gotten a second opinion before I took the word of anyone with a vested interest in selling me a new furnace, car... anything worth more than a few bucks for that matter.

I have 2 carbon monixide detectors, 1 in the furnace room and 1 in the stairway . We have our furnace inspected every year and we needed two parts. Instead of paying $400 here and $700 there which these part do cost today, we decided to get the new furnace. The fire box was not working correctly and the fan needed cleaning and other parts here and there will be breaking. We are getting a Amana. Same as our AC. We also have a Amana dryer that is super reliable. Oh and btw, we told him about the gift card AFTER he gave us the quote.

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Originally Posted by dellicate

. We have our furnace inspected every year and we needed two parts. .

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I think something is fishy here. If you have your furnace inspected every year then why did the furnace suddenly need replacement because of one service call?Get 3 estimates, with referrals and follow up on them. Maybe you need a service call from a better, more qualified tech before you go throwing money at it.

Amana is a Goodman unit.