Furnace Woes

So we need to get a new furnace. Well, we don't NEED to, but ours is not the best. It was put in around 1970/80 and it has about a 65% efficiency rating, meaning for every dollar we pay for natural gas, 35 cents go up the chimney. Not to mention the electric motor that circulates the air and costs about $500/year to operate.

A new furnace would save us about 30-40% on our monthly heating bills, and the new electric motors in them run for about $50 a year instead of $500. And considering our winter heating bills hover around $300, a 30-40% savings would be significant.

I had no idea what a furnace would cost us. Some people said they paid less than $3000, while others have paid over $8000. That's quite the spread, so I was a little worried when Winnipeg Supply came today to give us our first estimate. The sales lady gave me two options, both 96% efficiency ones, one was $6138, the other was $5799. Ummm...WHAT!? When I talked to Mama Bean before she left for work this morning, we figured we could go up to $3000. *jaw drop* Then she showed me all the rebates, which softened the blow quite a bit. $200 Lennox rebate, $245 Manitoba Hydro Rebate, $790 ecoRebate, and the Canadian Home Renovation Tax credit which knocks off another $800 or so. In the end it brought the prices down to $4075 and $3831. Still quite a bit more than we expected to pay, but a whole lot nicer than the pre-rebate prices. Though in order to qualify for the $790 hydro rebate we have to pay $250 for an eco inspection, so it's only like $500 off. But since we also want to get our attic re-insulated, it will be worth it, because if we get our attic re-insulated we could potentially get 100% of the cost back in rebates.

I have 2 more guys coming out to give us quotes so we'll see what the differences are. The lady that came out today said they wouldn't be the cheapest, but they also won't be the most expensive. I've heard lots of good stories about their service and install, so that's part of why I called them. I don't want to just pick the cheapest because I don't want to deal with the headaches of a shoddy install.

So we'll see how the next couple of quotes go. There's another first thing in the morning, so that'll give me a better idea of how reasonable today's was.

Oh, the best part? The eco inspection is Oct 16th. Yup, 4 days before Jo's due date. Which means the furnace install and insulation work can't be done until after that. And the furnace has to be installed prior to Nov 1st to qualify for the Hydro rebate, and we aren't going to want guys putting in insulation much into November as there will be snow by the end of October. :p So yeah. This should be interesting. Maybe bean comes early? *fingers crossed*

Have I mentioned that I want to go to school in January? Too bad I don't go to a church that can afford to help students that are going into ministry. lol