[zakthor]

Our gas furnace has a cracked heat exchanger. Awesome furnace dude who installed our system when the house was remodeled (before we owned it) doesn't do installs any more and if he made an exception he still wouldn't have time until the spring. He says its possible we can braze the crack for this winter but not recommended because furnace is old and there's always the risk of carbon monoxide leak.

Anyway he's a quality guy but not available. He recommended we get an 80% efficiency furnace because much more reliable than the new high efficiency models. I doubt that 20% makes much difference to us as we live in a mild climate (seattle area.) He recommended Rheem as a good brand.

Anyone have good/bad to say about any furnace?

Our furnace is in the basement, blows the air upwards. Hopefully we can drop a new furnace in there and be done, no need for us to explore geo-heat pumps, etc.

Anyone recommend an installer in the seattle area? I've read that all modern furnaces are the same and that installation and support matter most.

I like the concept of "multi stage burner" and "variable speed blower" but have no idea what they do to reliability.

Thanks!