Best Budget Furnace
Replacing your furnace on a budget
The first reaction most homeowners have when trying to replace a furnace is to look for the least expensive unit available. It's easy to see why, with the some of the largest and most efficient units costing in excess of $5,000 after installation. However, this may not be your best choice - if you're on a budget, chances are you're not just short of cash now - you want to keep your utility bills as low as possible, especially with rising energy prices.
A mid-efficiency (approximately 80 percent) furnace often costs as much as $1,000 less than a more efficient (90 to 97 percent) furnace. The difference in operating costs in that case is a total of around 15 percent. So, if your monthly gas bill were $100 with the mid-efficiency furnace, you'd save around $15 a month. At that rate, you're looking at 66 months, or 5 and a half years, to make up the initial difference (at today's energy prices).
And the higher your gas bill, the quicker the payback on a more efficient furnace becomes. Also, the faster energy prices climb, the more quickly you'll save yourself money by going with a more expensive higher-efficiency furnace. The bottom line is that the cheapest furnace may not be the overall cheapest choice.
The Trane XL80 series is rated as one of the best options available for its price (starting as low as $1,600) and efficiency range. It is a two-stage furnace, meaning that it can operate at a low-heat level for most of the winter as well as a high-heat level for the really cold days. This allows it to cycle less, which is one of the reasons for its excellent repair (or lack of repair) record.
Before deciding which furnace to purchase, you have to examine your options and make a selection based on both your monthly utility bills and the initial ticket price of your furnace. In a world of rising energy prices, splurging on a high-efficiency model may pay off even faster than you think. However, if you live in a moderate climate with low demand for heating, the Trane XL80 or another mid-efficiency unit will probably provide more than enough heat at a modest cost. If you don't rely on heating through freezing temperatures for half the year, you can feel freer to choose based on price.
