I’m asking here mostly because we have a lot of good folks here that know these sorts of things, and to find out what size natural gas heaters you guys are using on houses similar to mine. I’m probably going to be replacing one in the next month. Our house has a combo-unit, it’s a 1987 model Quaker-Heil. I think the furnace is a 90,000btu, which seems absurd overkill for my house.
My main question is this: Given the house description below, what sort of HVAC unit would you get? Can you get the AC and gas pack as two separate items? Are the AC/gas combo units more or less efficient (utility bill) than split-model versions? Are the 95% efficiency gas furnaces worth the extra cost over the 80%?
My house is a 1968 brick ranch, 1500sf, single story, 3 bedrooms, crawlspace, with rigid ductwork under the house that needs a little sealing up and patching the worn insulation. The HVAC is on the west side of the house, and the gas hot water heater (in good shape) is in a large utility closet on the east side of the house. I only have the 220v electric line going to the standard AC unit, which I don’t think will be sufficient for a heat pump style. Would require more wiring.
I’ve been told by one of the HVAC reps that the combo-pack units (natural gas/AC) are not nearly as efficient as the split-model heat pumps (no gas).
What do y’all suggest? I do have room in the attic if I really need to put a split model in, if this is really more efficient.
The problem we’re having with the gas heater is also a bit odd, so I’ll toss it out there for discussion. Please note that I have several CO detectors in the house that are nearly brand new and I’ve checked them regularly, with NO alarms going off at all. One is digital, and read 000ppm.
We are getting a faint chlorine smell (NOT natural gas smell) in one of our bedrooms when the furnace was running. You can also get a faint smell of natural gas (rotten egg) in the exhaust on the outside of the heater.
I have not smelled any natural gas in