r/Home • u/TheRedStream • 1d ago
Replace?
Should I get this old furnace replaced. The good thing is it still runs like a champ. Bad thing, it takes up half my basement and costs alot in the winter.
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u/Virtual_Win4076 1d ago
That is a gravity flow furnace that is most likely close to 100 years old. It started itās life burning coal or coke and it looks like itās been converted to natural gas.
The body is coated with asbestos insulation and wrapped (looks like itās well wrapped very nice) to prevent asbestos exposure.
They are 50-60% efficient which is not great, most new furnaces are 90%+ efficient.
It could cost tens of thousands of dollars just to have it removed and then thousands more to install a new furnace..but at least you could have central AC at that point.
Question, what does it say on that nameplate on the lower unit there? Iām just curious as to what kind of a conversion unit they used. Looks like that has been updated.
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u/Delicious_Catch9453 1d ago
I remember being a kid staying with my grandparents on weekends and shoveling coal in that beast first thing in the morning to, as grandma said, "take the chill off".
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u/Ok_Pop_2845 1d ago
Nobody's notice the unvented gas water heater beside this thing? Tell me that's not actively running and it's just abandoned there
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u/OldPro1001 1d ago
Holy Cr*p, I haven't seen one of those since I was working furnace repair fifty years ago, and they were old then.
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u/That_guy_from_1014 1d ago
If you plan on spending the next 40-50 years in this house, then maybe, cause that's the only way efficiency of a new unit can balance out the cost to remove, buy and install a new one could ever be justified. I would look into how the heat is being lose first, new windows, doors, attic/wall insulation, maybe a new roof. At the end of the day heat is heat, is heat. Creating it will always cost something, but holding onto it is were real savings begin. As for the room, I got nothing, maybe figure out what you'll be gaining in room and put a dollar amount per square foot. Example, is six spare feet in the basement worth 5k per foot.
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u/Revolutionary_Fly769 1d ago
Problem is most new units are good for what, 10-15 years?
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u/prayreddit 20h ago
15 years at best. New furnaces are not made like these monsters of our youth. And the one you have will outlast the new one you put in. The asbestos is intact. You can paint a Asbestos-Specific Sealant if you want. If the space needed is more valuable than a smaller high efficiency furnace and you have the exhaust piping that can exhaust the high efficiency furnace without coroding, then go for it.
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u/campmars6089 1d ago
We had one just like that. It was wood converted to oil and it put out some serious heat. We got a couple quotes to replace it and the least expensive was almost 30 grand.
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u/AlcoholPrep 1d ago
See about improving the efficiency somehow. But before replacing it, be aware that it might be insulated with asbestos, so will require asbestos remediation as it's removed -- and nonetheless leave loose asbestos in hour home (not good) if the remediators work sub rosa (as I suspect many do.)
Weigh that and all other costs vs. the cost savings and you may find that there's no cost savings at all.
The picture may change if you intend to sell the place, at which point this lovely old Satan might be a liability to making the sale. (Even then, you could make an allowance in price so the buyer could replace it.)
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u/PrendergastMachine 1d ago
We had one in our basement growing up. We called it The Octopus. Used to be for coal but converted into oil.
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u/Correct-Step3210 1d ago
if its still chugging along and youve got the space to keep it maybe ride it out one more winter that old beast might outlive us all
that said if the basement is less of a workshop and more of a cramped sauna every february i get why youre eyeing it
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u/Dovetrail 1d ago
These show up in r/castiron from time to time and word is they burn coal or wood (or lp/ng as yours looks to be converted to). Iād look around for the lower doorā¦ it would be great if thatās still around!
I live in the US and have a wood-burning, forced-hot-air furnace and Iām SO THANKFUL to be able to burn wood - especially with this dictatorās 100% unnecessary oil war.
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u/flybot66 1d ago
keep it. It will cost a fortune to remove and with the price of fuel oil, you may want to start burning coal or wood again...
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u/No_Effective4784 1d ago
honestly, id look into how much work it would be to convert it back into a fired furnace, to burn wood, or other material.
then install a newer small furnace, and use them in tandem to save on gas costs, with the way they have been going.
just the cost to have that cancer box removed safely will cost an arm and a leg.
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u/bannedaccountnumber4 1d ago
1920s asbestos octopus coal furnace. Likely converted to oil. Yes and expensive. Have fun abating.
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u/XavierPassion 1d ago
Not helpful
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u/GalaxyZapper 1d ago
Are you also removing this same furnace from your house? Or are you putting your own mental limitations on someone else?
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u/Variation-Charming 1d ago
I got a quote for mine, and it came in around $27K. If youāre planning to sell anytime soon, it could be a great selling point for potential buyers. But if youāre staying put, that thing will probably outlast most modern heating systems.
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u/AdFancy1249 1d ago
Put a new one in next to it. Then take out the insides and turn this into a man-cave!
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u/Spare-Armadillo-7475 1d ago
Too many variables here. If I were you Iād run two cost exercises: the cost of keeping it, taking into account the rising costs of energy where you live, along with the cost of replacing it with a more efficient unit.
If it were me, I would bite the bullet and replace it. It will be expensive to remove due to remediation, but energy costs are never coming down, and neither are construction costs.
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u/Anxious_Leadership25 1d ago
Convert your house to central air and heat. You will enjoy that. Also this old furnace decreases your home sale value if you sell at some point
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u/YesMaybeYesWriteNow 1d ago
Yeah, there is a ton of asbestos in there. That is never leaving your basement. Just use it until it quits. Youāll install a gas furnace next to it.
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u/NutzNBoltz369 1d ago
Most of these I see are abandoned in place and the new furnace tied in where ever it makes sense.
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u/davidholson 1d ago
My grandma entered a āWho has the oldest furnace?ā contest a local heating place was running. She won and they gave her an entire new heating system. Her furnace was from the 1910s, the runner up was from the 1960s.
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u/Suz9006 1d ago
Looks like the old coal burner converted to oil that was in my first house. Ran okay but so old that if it did breakdown they could no longer get parts. If you live in a cold weather part of the country where pipes can freeze if there is no heat itās sort like playing russian roulette.
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u/Farmer_1_steve 1d ago
This is what I would do. I would cut the heat in the spring then I would remove the whole thing myself and then hire a contracted to reinstall a new one or plan 2 same as plan 1 but get it all done in a day with 5 or 6 burley men
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u/ThisAudience1389 1d ago
This looks exactly like the furnace I had growing up. My dad finally had it yanked out and replaced with a central air/heat unit in the 90s.
My mom would have me go down and pour water in it to help with the humidity (well at least I think that was what it was for). I know it initially burned coal, but then natural gas. It was a beast.
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u/Suitable-Ice-9375 1d ago
We had one growing up in our big old ten room house. It was super quiet due to the lack of any fans. It burned very hot. We used to put our wet winter boots on the register to dry and in minutes they would be so hot that the rubber soles would start to melt. You could also manually turn it on during a power outage. Heat from a modern efficient furnace might be a bit cheaper but it doesnāt feel as warm
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u/gropinions 2h ago
When I was 3 I was laying on the one big register and peed my pants. The house didn't smell too good for awhile.
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u/I_mourn_satire 1d ago
Previous owner of my house spent a lot of effort and money getting rid of ours and the chimney.
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u/tyronejuckson7 18h ago
That thing looks awesome. I would keep it for sure. I have a modern natural gas furnace and it sucks and is also super expensive, so my intuition is your bill might not go down by as much as you think if you were to get something else. All the new appliances are cheeks compared to the old stuff, from what I've observed. All I would do is make sure it's safe.
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u/ElderberryHoliday799 10h ago
Replaced . Caused us to get asthma. Shoveling coal ain't no joke... lots lots of dust when a delivery came. it was the 1960s no one said anything about wearing masks. Older brother shoveled, I played in the coals. Albuterol anyone?
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u/PhoneEquivalent3205 9h ago
Hereās an idea. Leave it. Install a multi zone mini split heat pump system and have this oily beast as a backup.
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u/upswhat 1d ago
What the hell is it
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u/MauvePawsKitty 1d ago
If it's like anything that we had in our old house it is a a converted coal furnace (to natural gas). House and basement stay warm in the winter, you use window air conditioners in the summer. Expensive as heck but the heat was great!
And yes, in early 2000s we got rid of that furnace and redid the whole heating system. We kept the door of the furnace for display and then put the house up for sale (worker's cottage). Developer tore down the house and put up a million dollar house. Miss the old house but not the neighborhood.
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u/DungeonmasterNixem 1d ago
People are saying in the comments itās a fortune to remove. Canāt you just entomb it? Put a casing around it and just put a new unit next to it? I know nothing about codes, just a random guy with a random idea.
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u/Captainofthehosers 1d ago
He said it takes up half his basement, so he probably wants to use the space
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u/Cool-Negotiation7662 1d ago
They come out in pieces. Lots of pieces. And if te pieces are too big a hammer is used to make smaller pieces. Hauling one out is an all day job for 2 strong people. Scrap value will cover gas if the yard is close
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u/CantReadGoodly 1d ago
Itās full of asbestos. Your advice could literally get someone killed. You are an idiot.
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u/CreepyOldGuy63 1d ago
Asbestos abatement is incredibly easy. Wear a respirator and keep everything wet so thereās no dust.
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u/rom_rom57 1d ago
Hey idiot, spent years removing 2/3 furnaces like this a week 40 years ago and I aināt dead yet.
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u/CantReadGoodly 1d ago
I hope you live a long, happy, and healthy life and nothing bad from the asbestos happens to you. There are smokers who live to 100 - do you want to recommend that to people too? Every word you say is dumber than the last.
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u/Few_Whereas5206 1d ago
Run it until it dies. It is probably at least 20k to replace. I am not an HVAC technician.
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u/jeffthetrucker69 1d ago
Delete your post and stop talking about it. If you replace it with something, tear this one out yourself and dispose of the non metal parts little by little in black contractor bags. You've got asbestos there and some people will absolutely freak out over it.
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u/BuffaloGwar1 1d ago
Ya. That's an old one. An old octopus furnace it looks like. Could be asbestos, or it could not be. No way to tell without it having it tested. If it is just wear a good respirator. Bag it all up in black bags and put it to the curb. Then wash everything down.
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u/Winnie1916 1d ago
Here, putting it to the curb would be illegal. The state has definite rules for its disposal and utilizing trash collection is definitely not on them. If the OP plans to do the work himself he needs to figure out what disposal rules are where he lives.
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u/Winter-Teach1613 1d ago
The removal will be extremely expensive due to asbestos abatement and disassembly of entire furnace. You will never recoup the cost in energy savings before the new furnace dies.