This Arcoaire 80% furnace has seen its last days, the repair costs are getting to be to much for my customer. Time for a upgrade to a reliable furnace.
Older Arcoaire Furnace
In this installation we are looking at an upflow furnace, not your typical NW Washington installation. The supply air is discharged from the top while the return air comes in from the bottom.
New American Standard 95% 2 Stage Variable Upflow
Like any other brand American Standard makes more models of upflow furnaces than downflow furnaces, this is because most of the market does not have crawl spaces. This American Standard 95% 2 stage variable furnace fit right into place. I made a new base can for the furnace to sit on and new transition to reconnect to the supply ducting. I then added a Honeywell 4″ pleated filter system off the basecan. Old vent was removed and we vented the furnace sidewall of the garage.
I know I keep repeating myself … but American Standard IMO is the best furnace you can own. I have sold, serviced and installed them and can tell you I’m very proud to be a dealer!
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.
Like I have stated in past posts its not always easy in this part of the country to add a humidifier, here I have a customer that is required by his doctor to bring up their humidity in their home and I was called to make that happen.
Existing Trane Furnace Without Humidifier.
As you can see in the picture above that there is no room below the furnace to add much of anything never mind a Honeywell TrueSTEAM humidifier. I thought about the remote mount kit from Honeywell but I would still have no room to do even that.
New Honeywell 9.0 GPD Humidifier Installed
So the only solution is to raise the furnace and install a taller base can, then installing the Honeywell TrueSTEAM humidifier on to that base can. As you can see I raised the unit about 26″ and extended the gas line and shortened the return and venting. I also had to replace the existing thermostat with a Honeywell VisionIAQ, This thermostat can handle both the heating and humidity.
The reason I chose a 9.0 GPD versus a 6.0 is because of the hardwood floors that are under the rugs. I have been encountered problems using the recommended size chart that Honeywell recommends when it comes to hardwood floors.
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.
Installing an Honeywell Truesteam humidifier is not always easy to do, especially in NW Washington. Here in WA State we have mostly down flow furnaces and that can make for a very difficult install.
Existing Lennox Furnace
Here we have an existing Lennox gas furnace, because of the limited space below and the fact they also wanted to add a Heat Pump to the system I have to use a Honeywell remote mount kit.
Honeywell TrueSteam
The Honeywell TrueSTEAM humidifier mounted on to the side of the heat pump coil. We then routed the steam down and penetrated the supply duct work below the coil.
Honeywell TrueSteam remote mounted
Overall the installation went fairly smooth, I did have an issue with following the sizing chart that Honeywell provides, turned out that a 1600 square foot home with 50% wood floors requires a 9.0 gal unit not 6.0 that Honeywell recommends.
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.
This customer had remodeled his commercial property and turned 2 zones into 3. Obviously there is going to be issues with the heating system. We ended up deviding the largest zone and replacing the fuel eating inline duct heater with 2 American Standard 80% Gas Furnaces.
Heating Location 1
The picture above shows where I believe 1 of the American Standard furnaces would be located.
American Standard 80%
We build sleepers under the unit to raise it up for easier servicing and added a Honeywell 4″ pleated filter into the return system.
Heating Location 2
The 2nd location for a furnace was within the same mechanical room, besides adding sleepers we had to add a new return air duct into the space with a Honeywell 4″ pleated filter system.
American Standard 80% Furnace
The Existing supply ducting was turned and tied into the new American Standard 80% 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.
OK I have replaced older, but I still enjoy pushing these monsters into the scrap pile. This was a Gaffers & Sattler furnace and according to the home owner installed in 1957 or 58. The serial number does show a 57. That being said it lasted 52 years … wow.
Older Furnace Gaffers & Sattler
Our customer decided on the American Standard 95% 2 Stage Variable my best selling furnace and most favorite to install. We also installed a Honeywell 4″ pleated filter bank in the return system.
New American Standard 95% 2 stage variable furnace
As you can see this was a basement application requiring an upflow furnace. I decided to add some sleepers under the furnace just in case it ever floods and because there was no drain we added a condensate pump to remove condensate from the furnace.
Bad HWT Venting
If you look close in the picture above you can see the HWT vent went down hill into the existing furnace vent, we also fixed this at the same time. Its never a good idea to have a vent go down hill, but in this case I think they had so much rise that it still pulled the burnt gases out.
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.
Sometimes everything just goes real smooth, this was one of those jobs.
This customer belongs to a local church where several American Standard furnaces, heat pump and a Navien tankless heater where installed. He liked what was done for the church and wanted an air conditioner installed for him as well. Of coarse anyone asking for AC will more than likely switch to a HP once they see the benefits.
Existing Furnace
He kept the existing Trane furnace because its not that old and has plenty of blower power for a American Standard heat pump add on. In most add on cases you simply remove the old furnace, install the coil and re-install the existing furnace.
New American Standard Coil
Here you see the new American Standard cased coil installed under the existing furnace and a new Honeywell F100 filter bank installed in the return air above it. Once the coil is installed a refer line set is ran from the indoor coil to the outdoor heat pump followed by a drain line.
New American Standard heat pump
The American Standard 13 Seer Heat Pump installed next to the garage, I have never seen a home or business that its colors does not match the American Standards heat pump.
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.
Yet another Rheem 80% being replaced with an American Standard 95%. This unit was getting to costly to repair so the owner decided it was time for a new furnace, good choice. I hate seeing good money being spent on bad equipment.
Older Rheem 80% Furnace Location
It was early and cold when we arrived and I had forgotten to snap a “before” picture before we started, but got a picture just after the unit was removed. What reminded me was seeing the poor seal job the previous installer did on the take offs in the base can.
Existing Base Can.
As the picture shows above, there are gaps around the takeoffs and no sealant used, meaning a lot of hot air escaping into the crawl space. Id say about 50% of the base cans look like this when you pull the furnace. VERY wasteful.
New American Standard 95% Variable 2-stage
And above we have the new American Standard 95% Variable Speed 2 Stage gas furnace installed with a new Honeywell F100 4″ Filter bank On top of it. And yes we sealed the takeoffs before setting the new furnace.
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.
Changing a 80% gas furnace out and replacing it with an American Standard 80% can not get any easier … unless you really enjoy adding the Honeywell F100 4″ Pleated filter bank on to the system, then it takes a little longer.
Older Payne unit
Here you see the older Payne 80% gas furnace. This particular age and model are prone to heat exchanger cracks and should be shut down immediately if found.
New American Standard 80%
If you look under the new furnace in the picture above you will see a new piece ducting. This duct is called a base can transition, this transition allows a wider furnace to be installed on a smaller can, some of the older brands where not as wide. And you will also notice the new Honeywell F100 4″ filter bank added above the new furnace.
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.