Here we have an Arcoaire gas pack, they are called gas packs because they are both an air conditioner as well as a gas heater packaged together. In our neck of the woods we seldom see a gas pack used in a residential application like this.
Arcoaire gas pack
I think using gas packs is a great concept for residential homes if you have the place for it and you can get your ducting routed to it. This Arcoaire has seen its last days, the control board was no longer available so we recommended going to a RHEEM Packaged Heat Pump. Switching from LP as their main source of heat to a heat pump with LP back up heat will really save them money.
RHEEM Packaged Heat Pump
The RHEEM unit dropped right into place all we really have to do had was remake the connecting transitions, everything else was minor.
Alpine Heating And Cooling
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Understandably in some areas in NW Washington you will find more brands of furnaces than in others. In some areas of Skagit County you will find more older RHEEM furnaces than any other because in their day they where fairly inexpensive to install.
Older RHEEM 80% Furnace
Honestly I can not tell you how many RHEEM furnaces I have replaced, going on 30 years in the HVAC business I personally may have replaced well over a hundred … and may have contributed to perhaps 500 or more RHEEM replacements overall.
Existing Supply Plenum
And like almost every furnace I remove the supply plenum can looks like the picture above, a trained eye can spot the fact that this is a non-sealed plenum. Back when this furnace was installed new it was code to seal these joints.
New American Standard 2-stage variable speed
After sealing up the existing plenum we installed the new American Standard 95% 2 stage variable speed furnace onto the new base. I fabricated and installed a new return plenum and cut in a easy access filter door. A new PVC vent was ran and a new condensate drain was added to the system.
Alpine Heating And Cooling
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
Its unreal how many times I have pulled a furnace off its existing base can to find out how poorly the equipment was installed. In this case you can see how blocked off the furnace was and how close the heat exchangers where to the blanked off base can. Keep in mind there is wood behind this metal.
Existing Base Can
What really bothers me is it appears this was the 2nd furnace installed on this base can in this manner. I decided to make a quick trip back to the shop and fabricate a raised base can. By installing a raised base can we will get better air flow and keep the heat exchangers away from combustible material.
Older RHEEM 80% Furnace
Above you can see the older RHEEM furnace that was installed on that base can, the plastic bowl on top of the furnace was to control the water leak coming down the rusted vent pipe.
New American Standard 80% Gas Furnace
The new American Standard 80% and raised base can installed correctly, notice the new filter access door I installed on the return above the furnace and you can see I replaced the existing venting.
Heating And Cooling Skagit County
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
If you actually have read any of my blog you will notice I have a dislike for RHEEM furnaces. I actually dislike a lot of brands of equipment but because of the sure numbers installed in this area I get to pick on RHEEM the most.
This customer had some major issues going on in their home, the huge $350 Nat gas heating bill got my attention as well as the customer thinking it simply might be the older 90% RHEEM furnace.
Older RHEEM furnace
After talking alittle with the customer about the history of the heating system and the recent repairs done by another company we both concluded there must be some damaged ducting that got overlooked in the last repair.
Supply Plenum
After removing the RHEEM 90% I sealed up the take offs from inside the plenum, at this time I had no idea the extend of damage I was to encounter.
New American Standard 95% Furnace
As you can see the new American Standard 95% furnace slipped right into place. I recommended the standard 95% because of the past ducting issues. If you have a poor duct system out side of the heated space including improperly insulated or sealed you should stay away from a multi stage piece of equipment. A multi-stage could actually make your bills go up not down.
Now that the new American Standard 95% gas furnace was installed I moved on to the ducting. Because of the length of this entry I decided to break it up in to 2. You will have to read the next entry. “Animal Damaged Ducting.”
Heating And Cooling Skagit County
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
I added the American Standard air conditioner to this system over 3 years ago, at that time the customer elected not to replace the furnace. But RHEEM furnaces never let me down and now its time to replacement it, the repair bills where getting to high.
Older RHEEM unit
Lucky for the customer we now have the American Standard 95% Variable Speed 2 Stage gas furnace. But as you can see the newer 2000cfm units are a little wider than the older coils. So I had to make a small transition under the unit. Because we felt the system really needed a better filter system we added the Honeywell 4″ f100 filter system.
New American Standard 95% 2 stage variable speed
Now the customer has a matching system with an American Standard air conditioner, indoor coil and gas furnace.
Heating And Cooling Skagit County
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.
RHEEM furnaces have got to be my #1 furnace replacement, combining the fact there are so many in this area as well as there problematic inducers and pressure switchs. Its not hard to make a case to replace them. In this case the customer already replaced the inducer a month ago ..now looking at a circuit control board, they elected to replace the furnace. Good choice.
Older RHEEM 80% Furnace
A big issue with RHEEM when doing a replacement is the size of the unit, their about 6″ shorter than the American Standard, but fortunately they have the same footprint.
New American Standard 95%
This particular replacement to the American Standard 95% 2-Stage Variable speed furnace was fairly easy. The condensate drain line was already in place, the existing duct work was easily modified, the furnace location was in the garage and the customers(including their dog) where very pleasant to be around.
Alpine Heating And Cooling
Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler or Tankless Water Heater? Or a complete heating system? We install them and all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.