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 Goodbye Gravity Furnace
We were told “don’t replace this furnace unless you need the extra space” and “Your main floor will be warm but your upper levels will be cold” and “You will never make up for the cost of a new furnace with savings on your gas bill” and “Nothing can go wrong with these furnaces because there are so few moving parts” and “New furnaces are so finicky that you will spend a fortune always getting them fixed”. So why did we replace it? Well, maybe it was the cold spell that lasted a whole month. The temperatures hit -20 to -30 degrees and a lot colder with the wind chill. Our kitchen and dining room were cold and anything liquid froze in our cupboards. It could also have been having to argue who gets to have the first shower of the day when we both have to go to work just one time too many (we only have one bathroom in our 1912 house). Maybe it was because we decided we would enjoy watching television in a comfortable family room instead of a spare bedroom with a small television hidden in a closet. One thing for sure is we were tired of giving our visitors extra socks or slippers and bundling our mothers in blankets when they came over! We finally made the decision to have it replaced.
We did a lot of research on the different types of furnace. We even became on line members of Consumer Reports but they had very little information on furnaces which was very disappointing. We attended the local home shows and talked to lots of people. We became familiar with the differences between the single stage, the two stage and seven stage furnaces – and their costs. We also went on line to visit the many sites where people wrote in to complain about their furnaces. We had three sales persons come to talk to us. One thing we learned about was that our furnace contained asbestos (see the photograph). Asbestos tape was used to seal the joints and it had to be professionally removed by an asbestos removal company. The entire furnace was dismantled and wrapped in pieces of bright orange plastic and disposed of. Did you know that sand was used as insulation on the tops of gravity furnaces? That had to go too.
Given that the furnaces in many cases are fairly similar, it was the rep’s personality, attitude and response to our questions that sealed the deal. We chose the Lennox G71 which was a top of the line 7 stage furnace and had Accent Heating of Edmonton install the furnace. I can’t say enough about our positive experience with this company. They spent a painstaking amount of time planning the furnace’s position and redesigning the entire ducting system. They brought in a temporary furnace to heat the house while our own was being installed which was important considering all this work was taking place in the middle of winter over the period of an entire week. Although the G71 was perhaps a bit too much furnace for the size of our house, the fact that it was a seven stage furnace meant that it never worked too hard but it kept the air flowing all the time which compensated for the fact that we have no cold air return on the second floor – and no room to create one. A sales person from a different company suggested we cut a hole in the maple hardwood floor in the middle of our upper floor landing! The constant flow of air in the G71 keeps air flowing so cold spots don’t occur in the house.
We might never recover the costs associated with a new furnace, the removal of the old one and the renewal of all the gas lines in the basement but we will have lots of years worth of enjoyment and comfort that we would never have had otherwise. I’m glad we made the decision. - Johanne |
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It’s probably really silly to feel bad about replacing a piece of mechanical equipment, but that’s exactly how I felt when our old, but trusty furnace was disconnected just before Christmas. My husband and I were wary because we had heard so many horror stories about what happened when you replaced a gravity system furnace for a forced hot air furnace. 
So how do we like it? We don’t. We love it. Every room in the house is comfortable now. The basement is toasty too – we even have to close the vents a bit to keep it from getting too warm. In the past I was the person who got out of bed first in the morning to turn the furnace on to heat the house which was ok for my husband – but not for me. Now, with the new thermostat the furnace turns on 15 minutes before we get up so the house is warm for me too! 
