Home gas furnace .. I do not want no more

[GOPAPA]

I grew up with folks using a wood stove ,,and I did the same for the begining of my grown up years out on my own ,, I then installed a electric furnace and AC ,,and enjoyed low killwatts per hour for years along with a wood stove too.

This house in Idaho we live in now has a furnace run by gas and electricity for the fan , Soon after moving here I quit using the gas furnace as it only heated the living room The Gas bill was high also ...So,,,,,,,,,I am now thinking of tearing the gas furnace out.. Am I the only one on here that is fed up with a gas furnace .

Please read down a bit where I explain my fireplace that has a metal exhaust that goes out through the wall to the outside .. I did not explain this very well

[davischevy]

I had a high efficiency gas furnace put in our new house last year. I love ours. I think our bills are going to average around $100/ month.

[truckster]

I have a high efficiency gas furnace, two gas dryers, a gas range/oven, and a gas tankless water heater. I love the way natural gas heats, and here in Utah the price is very reasonable.

I also have a gas fireplace, but we haven't used it in years. I do have a wood-burning stove in the basement and a supply of firewood, in case of emergencies.

[CG]

We have a gas furnace and AC with no issues heating the whole place. Maybe there is a problem with the way your ducts run? Seems odd it only heats one zone of your house.

As far as electricity goes our latest bill informed us of upcoming rate hikes, not small either.

[Ironhorse]

GOPAPA, living in Idaho what do you use for heat during the winter if you do away with the gas furnace? Seen no mention of electric baseboarda or similar? How old is your gas furnace? We had a new gas furnace and electric 4 ton central unit installed about 6-7 Years ago. High efficiency furnace also with the flue stack exiting thru the roof and is PVC or similar plastic, warm to the touch but not hot at all. VERY pleased and during our Kansas winters our gas bill is $100 or a bit less each month. Also I run a wood burning fireplace which is very efficient. Glass doors, two speed blower unit and uses outside air to feed the firebox. Plumbed ducting under the floor in to our central air ducts. When running it I usually knock down the furnace t-stat setting a few degrees to keep the furnace from coming on. Pour up a Crown Royal and enjoy being retired while adding a log to the fire.

I don't see a time within the foreseeable future that our nation's electric grid will be able to supply the needed electric power that will be required during the winter for heat alone. Much as a few factions don't like the idea, natural gas is still our best alternative for such.

[72c20customcamper]

The house I live in has electric baseboard heating and propane water heater . It works well if and when I use it . It’s expensive and the grid here is iffy at best . Wish we had natural gas so I heat with wood . My rental has oil fired hot water and heat .

[Keith Seymore]

I hear good things about a "heat pump".

My sister in law is in the heating/cooling biz and she had one installed in her own home.

I just moved and my new place has a heat pump for moderate weather and an oil fired traditional furnace for when it gets cold.

I can't comment on how that works since we've only been there for about 36 hours.

So far so good, though

K

[GOPAPA]

Attention ! I did not explain myself very at all.. Let me start over, I have a gas furnace with duct work that works fine.. I also have a gas water heater that works fine ,, what I am wanting to maybe just get rid of is the fireplace in the living room that when running only puts out heat and that heat only heats the living room as it does not have ducts to spread any heat to other parts of the house . NOR ....does it have a chimney going out through the roof ,,it has a vented pipe through the exterior wall of my living room

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

Attention ! I did not explain myself very at all.. Let me start over, I have a gas furnace with duct work that works fine.. I also have a gas water heater that works fine ,, what I am wanting to maybe just get rid of is the fireplace in the living room that when running only puts out heat and that heat only heats the living room as it does not have ducts to spread any heat to other parts of the house .

A "Fireplace" is the worst efficiency heater there is, almost all of the heat and $ goes right up the chimney.

[57taskforce]

I have a gas furnace and a wood stove. I only use the wood stove. That’s what I grew up with and that’s what I like. You could also look into a wood stove insert for the fire place to blow the heat out instead of just up the chimney. They work pretty good.

[farmall]

Get a wood stove or pellet stove insert for the fireplace.
I have baseboard, a old non EPA wood stove and a pellet stove insert.
I can heat cheaper with the baseboard per day than with the pellet stove.
The pellet stove uses a fan to force feed the fire and turn the auger.
The wood stove just cranks out the heat and wood is free or permit fee.
I get mill ends for free in town and Junipers are weeds here.
The wood stove runs 24 7 when I use it and is black out proof.

[truckster]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

Attention ! I did not explain myself very at all.. Let me start over, I have a gas furnace with duct work that works fine.. I also have a gas water heater that works fine ,, what I am wanting to maybe just get rid of is the fireplace in the living room that when running only puts out heat and that heat only heats the living room as it does not have ducts to spread any heat to other parts of the house . NOR ....does it have a chimney going out through the roof ,,it has a vented pipe through the exterior wall of my living room

That's an entirely different story. As I mentioned in my post, we have a gas fireplace we haven't used in years. In fact, my other house also has one and I couldn't tell you the last time it was used. I consider gas fireplaces to be for decorative purposes only. If you like looking at flames and you don't want to chop wood or clean up ash, that's the only reason I can think of to have one. My wife's piano is currently in front of our gas fireplace.

[Ironhorse]

GOPOPA, okay, now I understand the situation more clearly with "the rest of the story" as the saying goes. Yup, the open gas fireplaces do more for just "the look" than actual heat. If and that's a big IF you like the fireplace I believe I would look into a wood burning insert or stove if you have the room. Pellet stoves have their features but along with everything else it seems the cost of pellets has gone up also. If you have the wood available to you I would think a true wood burner would have the advantage altho there is a bit of clean out and chimney maintenance along with cutting and splitting. With the wood stove you get the added feature of maybe a pot of beans, chili or stew sitting there simmering thru the day. Plus it's a constant coffee cup warmer for those cold days also.

[kwmech]

If I didn't use my wood stove my electric bill in the winter would be around 6-700 dollars. I'm on 5 acres so there is plenty of wood to be had. We've gone through 4 cords so far.

[CG]

Ok now I get what you are saying. We also have a gas fireplace and no it doesn’t heat the whole house, but we had no expectations for that.
It does nicely heat the area we want it to though.

[GOPAPA]

Sorry about wording my post so terrible.. must be age kicking in.. I find myself doing dumb things more than ever .. I live in the city now and my days of wood burning are over. Been over since moving here 12 years ago.. The gas fired furnace I have works good so I have no compaints about it . The fire place looks good and to do away with after thinking would be a lot of money to do so with all the remodel work that it would create.

Always good to run things by you all ..

[CDA 455]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

Sorry about wording my post so terrible.. must be age kicking in.. I find myself doing dumb things more than ever .. I live in the city now and my days of wood burning are over. Been over since moving here 12 years ago.. The gas fired furnace I have works good so I have no compaints about it . The fire place looks good and to do away with after thinking would be a lot of money to do so with all the remodel work that it would create.

Always good to run things by you all ..

Howdy neighbor!
I'm next door in Meridian.

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

Attention ! I did not explain myself very at all.. Let me start over, I have a gas furnace with duct work that works fine.. I also have a gas water heater that works fine ,, what I am wanting to maybe just get rid of is the fireplace in the living room that when running only puts out heat and that heat only heats the living room as it does not have ducts to spread any heat to other parts of the house . NOR ....does it have a chimney going out through the roof ,,it has a vented pipe through the exterior wall of my living room

Is it a real fireplace or a zero clearance gas fireplace ? You cannot put a wood stove into a zero clearance fireplace the flue will not handle the heat . We have a gas fireplace it has a flue that is built like a gas water heater but larger . It’s not an insulated pipe . Now if it’s a real fireplace that they put gas logs into it then you should be ok . But you still should have it checked for cracks and or missing mortar.

That being said my gas fireplace has a glass front and puts out nice heat without sucking the air out of the house . We use it when it gets real cold like zero or below

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I hear good things about a "heat pump".

My sister in law is in the heating/cooling biz and she had one installed in her own home.

I just moved and my new place has a heat pump for moderate weather and an oil fired traditional furnace for when it gets cold.

I can't comment on how that works since we've only been there for about 36 hours.

So far so good, though

K

A heat pump has efficiency on par with old resistance heaters. Only would recommend use in areas with low electricity rates and somewhat mild climates. They have a low heat rise that uses the same amount of power (more with resistance heat added to increase heat rise) as your A/C unit. The SEER on the A/C side has nothing to do with the heat HSPF rating, do not confuse the two. Heat pumps are no more efficient on the heat side than they were 30 years ago. The Technolgy has not changed. My reference, heat and A/C was my career for over 40 years. Even with the elevated gas prices here in California a gas fired heater will cost less to heat a home here.

[Palf70Step]

Everyone I know down here can't wait to get rid of their heat pumps. Very inefficient and typically requires more maintenance and parts replacements than traditional heat/AC systems. My furnace is gas (pretty much always had it except in my real young days we had coal t heat the house and the house at farm. Real fireplaces aren't that efficient in today's standards for heat distrobuton. The fake gas and electric ones seem to be there just for visual rather than real heating.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by Richard

A heat pump has efficiency on par with old resistance heaters. Only would recommend use in areas with low electricity rates and somewhat mild climates. They have a low heat rise that uses the same amount of power (more with resistance heat added to increase heat rise) as your A/C unit. The SEER on the A/C side has nothing to do with the heat HSPF rating, do not confuse the two. Heat pumps are no more efficient on the heat side than they were 30 years ago. The Technolgy has not changed. My reference, heat and A/C was my career for over 40 years. Even with the elevated gas prices here in California a gas fired heater will cost less to heat a home here.

I can relate to all you say here Richard.. Back in Oregon where I moved from I had a Heat Pump system and it did not pick up heat at all like the gas furnace I have here in Idaho.. I also had wood heat in Oregon and that was the one I believed in the most to get the house heated up fast.. I also had the wood stove connected to my air flow duct system and I would turn on my heat pump fan and it pushed the hot air through out the house .

[Dead Parrot]

One oddball idea for the fireplace is to seal up the chimney at the outside to keep bugs and birds out and then put a TV in the firebox. When you want a 'fire' just show 'fire on a loop' video. I think there is a site that streams a fire for just such a use. Avoids most of the remodel expense and you still have some of the fireplace ambiance.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

One oddball idea for the fireplace is to seal up the chimney at the outside to keep bugs and birds out and then put a TV in the firebox. When you want a 'fire' just show 'fire on a loop' video. I think there is a site that streams a fire for just such a use. Avoids most of the remodel expense and you still have some of the fireplace ambiance.

Thanks Mr Parrot ...Well, now ,I got a couple iders..drag the piano over in front of it or set a tv inside the space with a fire place moving a playing.. I am pretty sure now after sharing these ideas with the wife ,,that she is saying why not leave it as is.. Ok wifey it's your house in side to do with what you want.

For now its on a back burner,, I appreciate all the advice all the same

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Everyone I know down here can't wait to get rid of their heat pumps. Very inefficient and typically requires more maintenance and parts replacements than traditional heat/AC systems. My furnace is gas (pretty much always had it except in my real young days we had coal t heat the house and the house at farm. Real fireplaces aren't that efficient in today's standards for heat distrobuton. The fake gas and electric ones seem to be there just for visual rather than real heating.

Some of the newer direct vent sealed gas fireplaces with fans are basically just furnaces with a window. They can do a great job heating your space. We have one in the living room. My wife loves ours. Turn it on and run the forced air system fan to distribute heat to the rest of the house. Many years ago I installed an air intake for the forced air system in the living room to aid the heat distribution.