F/U to ...Black...now my heater doesn't work

[davester]

While shopping for a new furnace, be aware that far more important than the brand of furnace is sizing the unit properly and having it installed properly. A lot of installers just throw in an oversized unit using old wive's tale rules of thumb. That way they don't get too many callbacks. The problem is that an oversized unit wastes a lot of energy and also cycles too much, which can reduce your comfort. Also, a lot of cheapo installers blow it bigtime by not checking, sealing, insulating and balancing the duct system (many of which are currently leaking and pumping your expensive hot or cold air into the attic or basement as I discussed in your earlier post), or get the venting/gas supply wrong, causing reliability problems. If the installer isn't going to do an energy audit/heat loss/uptake calculation (this must be done using industry standard ACCA Manual J or better) then walk away and find somebody else. I would also recommend that you have an energy audit done at the same time...the audit should tell you what inexpensive energy efficiency work (insulation/weatherstripping, radiant barrier, etc) should precede the install Sizing the system based on your old unit's size is never a good idea, especially when you are changing to a more efficient furnace. I'd strongly recommend having a phone interview with each of your bidders to make sure they are going to do it the right way before having them do a bid.

Here are a couple of good articles on these concepts and a discussion of brands:
http://www.consumersearch.com/furnaces/review
http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/heating.htm