Yes, I’m the same one who just had their Dishwasher fail. When it rains it pours! The heat pump was a good ol 1987 Trane, finally shorted out the motor and cannot be replaced. It used R12 anyway so it would have eventually been kaput. The furnace is a 1990 so we are just replacing it all at once.
I am wondering for those of you in cold northern climates what you recommend for full furnace and heat pump replacement brands. Some of the ones around here are:
Lennox
Carrier
Bosch
Amana
Now I’ve heard real bad things about Lennox, so I think I’ll avoid that. I think Bosch is generally really good, and Carrier is decent. This is all just hearsay.
I appreciate your guys’ help so much!!
You want a cold climate heat pump. They’re mostly all rebranded from Midea or Gree. If you’ve got money to spend, Mitsubishi is the top of the line. You can absolutely do heat pump combined with gas; there’s no need to get heat strips unless you’re looking to eliminate fossil fuels. If you want to get nerdy, figure out if there’s a cost break even between the two fuels and set your thermostat accordingly.
There’s a lot of consolidation in the industry; Carrier owns Heil and KeepRite for example, and they in turn white-label. The “integrated” systems (like Infinity by Carrier) may not integrate a cold climate heat pump; if you’re in a cold climate, stick to the cold climate options! Those high end systems also often have reliance on proprietary thermostats.
There’s a tendency to oversize heating equipment. Yes, when it is very cold, it is normal for the furnace to run a lot. Knowing that may save you a bundle of money. Alex has a good video about this. https://youtu.be/DTsQjiPlksA
In general, my recommendation is to find a person/company you are happy working with, and the manufacturer is somewhat secondary. Any repairs will need to be supported by this person. The second consideration is having a backup to that person; if they’re the only people in 200km that support your equipment, it could be a problem.
Also, be prepared that the heat pump output probably won’t feel “hot” like gas does. Some people hate that.
I appreciate it!
Yes, there are a Good number of reputable folks around so I have options.
Yeah, im used to the heat pumps not blowing “hot”, i read its normal.
Right now we are looking at these models, for about 17k:
Multi 37MUHA Heat Pump 3 Ton + Carrier Performance 59TP7A Furnace 80,000 BTU
It seems like a good price and they have a 10 year warranty on the heat pump, 20 year on the furnace heat exchanger. They do sell a full Bosch setup too but the guy said while their heat pump is fantastic the furnaces have had a couple of issues.
There’s also the Carrier infinity stuff (22k). But i dont really want that much tech.