As some of you know, I used to work as a service man for a heating and ac company, maybe it was just how I was trained, but lately I have been reading on line and looking at videos of oil burner service and repair, and all they talk about is how terrible the old furnaces were and how much oil they burned and on and on....its amazing to me to hear how wonderful the new burners are....Trust me, I remember when the so called Flame Retention burners were the latest thing, the old burners were much quieter, and much more reliable, a 1725 rpm motor and pump will last much longer than any of these new units which are 3450 rpm,also, the old 1940s and 50s oil furnaces had all electro mechanical controls, no circuit boards to burn up and cost a fortune,some of the new units do use less oil, but also you must figure, the stuff from the 50s that is still running with all or most all of the original motors, pumps and controls, has been paid for many years...how many years do you expect the new junk to last,you can buy a lot of oil for the price of a new system that you will have to spend mega bucks on in a few years when some of the electronics fail,or the paper thin heat exchanger burns thru and you have to not only replace the furnace but re paint the smoked up house!!!I didn't realize how cheap furnaces had gotten until I serviced the one in this house,it was put in 5 or so years ago and what a noisy flimsy piece of junk, I wish I could find a good Delco or Waterbury somewhere in a warehouse, you can bet I would put it in here!!!!I have the same low opinion of the new heating equipment that I have of all new appliances...JUNK!!!!!
Home heating rip offs..
- Thread starter kenkart
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Not to mention when that paper thin heat exchanger leaks or fails-that will put the residents of that building or home to sleep esp if they are sleeping-PERMENETLY!!I am with you would rather have a NOS older unit!So what if they use a little gas or fuel-the long life and easy repair of the old unit would be worth it-you could even get parts thru Grainger if nothing else.
human
Well-known member
My house was built in 1970 and still has the original Singer air conditioner and gas furnace. They run like the proverbial sewing machine with which they share their name. I certainly can't complain about the utility bills; in fact, I got a letter from the power company a month or so ago, which gave my house top marks for energy efficiency among houses of comparable size, age, and HVAC configurations in my service area.
When I bought the house a little over a year ago, it came with a home warranty, of which made good use with minor repairs to the HVAC system--replaced the blower and capacitors on the air conditioner and the blower motor and large portions of the electrical wiring on the furnace--for $60 per service call. In all, I got about $1,300 worth of work done for less than $300 in service fees, and that included one call to repair the ice maker on the fridge.
The bottom line is I feel like I'm better off renewing the home warranty and keeping the old system for as long as possible.
When I bought the house a little over a year ago, it came with a home warranty, of which made good use with minor repairs to the HVAC system--replaced the blower and capacitors on the air conditioner and the blower motor and large portions of the electrical wiring on the furnace--for $60 per service call. In all, I got about $1,300 worth of work done for less than $300 in service fees, and that included one call to repair the ice maker on the fridge.
The bottom line is I feel like I'm better off renewing the home warranty and keeping the old system for as long as possible.
What burns me is
The attitude of the younger techs, if its 10 years old they think it is outdated, but if its 50 years old they say its automatically unsafe, and the tales they tell about efficiency are rediculous, I have heard of them claiming a older system was 40 or 50 percent efficient..BULL!!!! Maybe if it has never been cleaned and adjusted, but normally that is hogwash!!!We have all heard it concerning old refrigerators..that too is hogwash!!!Now it IS true that early frost free models can be energy hogs, but not manual defrost models, and there again you have to figure in that, yes my 60something frost free GE may use more power...but if I buy a new one, how much will I pay, and then in 8 to 10 years I will have to buy a new one when the cheap Chinese compressor dies, while that old GE, Norge or Westinghouse is STILL running!..There should be a law against such highway robbery!
The attitude of the younger techs, if its 10 years old they think it is outdated, but if its 50 years old they say its automatically unsafe, and the tales they tell about efficiency are rediculous, I have heard of them claiming a older system was 40 or 50 percent efficient..BULL!!!! Maybe if it has never been cleaned and adjusted, but normally that is hogwash!!!We have all heard it concerning old refrigerators..that too is hogwash!!!Now it IS true that early frost free models can be energy hogs, but not manual defrost models, and there again you have to figure in that, yes my 60something frost free GE may use more power...but if I buy a new one, how much will I pay, and then in 8 to 10 years I will have to buy a new one when the cheap Chinese compressor dies, while that old GE, Norge or Westinghouse is STILL running!..There should be a law against such highway robbery!
electrolux137
Well-known member
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Hans, you'd laugh yourself silly if you saw the heater we have in this place... If I think to do so, I'll take a photo of it for you.
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Hans, you'd laugh yourself silly if you saw the heater we have in this place... If I think to do so, I'll take a photo of it for you.
bvac6
Well-known member
Junk
I agree! The boiler in my house is a National from the mid 70's or so (hot water system) and its tough as nails. The only thing that's had to be replaced are some valves, an expansion tank, and just cleaning the burners occasionally. I wouldn't replace it for a new system if it was free. Also, the AC unit is a General Electric from 1972 and my service guy who swears by the older stuff put his seal of approval on it. The compressor is original (I think he said it was a Coolerator?), as he says its just about bulletproof.
I agree! The boiler in my house is a National from the mid 70's or so (hot water system) and its tough as nails. The only thing that's had to be replaced are some valves, an expansion tank, and just cleaning the burners occasionally. I wouldn't replace it for a new system if it was free. Also, the AC unit is a General Electric from 1972 and my service guy who swears by the older stuff put his seal of approval on it. The compressor is original (I think he said it was a Coolerator?), as he says its just about bulletproof.
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