Swapping out a gas furnace-difficult?
I have a 30yr old furnace in my home – duct work and chimney liner are in good condition as I have had them checked out by a professional from the gas company service dept. recently. I am experienced in several trades, comfortable with pipe fitting (used to work for a gas utility) and wiring. My question – is there much involved in replacing a gas furnace (besides the fitting of ductwork at the plenum and return openings, connecting gas and electric, and bringing the fresh air requirements in the basement up to code)?
I am looking at purchasing a Ruud silhouette II unit direct from a distributor (sized correctly for my home), and would save on the order of $2000 over the cost of having a contractor come out.
This doesn’t look too complicated, or am I way off?
Thanks in advance.
Replies
This a little more difficult than replacing a gas water heater. The difficulties that you may experience are making the transitions from old to new. You mentioned nothing about air conditioning. As long as that is the case, this is a collection of very simple tasks. Good luck.
Yes, it's just a bunch of simple tasks. Often the hardest part is getting the old one out and the new one into a confined space. A friend or two to help with that grunt work might be a good idea.
-- J.S.
If your staying with gas, you should look into the high efficency furnances that exhaust with pvc rather than into a chimney. Like the other post said, it fairly straight forward.