PennSilverTaco's HVAC BS MegaThread!

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I got an oil furnace to scrap!

 

Getting the blower motor out of the furnace was a pain in the ass...

 

There is some stuff that's been here for several weeks, but most of it is from the furnace...

 

I had to destroy the squirrel cage to get the damn blower motor...

 

That's aluminum!

 

I have heard of Beckett and Riello oil burners, but never Wayne...

 

I have no idea how old this furnace is or even what brand it is, but this would indicate that the burner was replaced more than 20 years ago and the furnace is even more than that; I was informed that the furnace was still working when removed, but the owners switched to electric heat because the oil tank was buried underground and precariously close to the well...

 

This was today's victim, a lowboy oil furnace from about 2003, which was fully functional but taken out of service because the homeowner switched to a heat pump; I will NEVER take on another oil furnace again after today's experience, unless it has been removed the building!

 

I went full Jeffrey Dahmer on this damn thing!

 

I helped a friend move an oil furnace before, never again. It was heavy, and awkward to get out of a basement via stairway. ugh!

 

I don't mind taking them for scrap if they are out of the house and ready to load, but I 100% agree with you otherwise. I look like Dick Van Dyke from the chimney sweep scene in Mary Poppins after dismantling the most recent oil furnace that I scrapped!

 

I think York's quality started to go by the wayside in about 2006; 2005 was the last year for the venerable Stellar Series of central air-conditioners and heat pumps, and I believe this 2002 York straight-cool unit that I saw at a house I picked up scrap appliances from is an Olympian Series. This unit was installed when the house was built, and unlike the two refrigerators that I sent to appliance heaven, is still in 100% perfect mechanical condition. Like most houses in Pennsylvania built in the last forty years, this house has a straight-cool central A/C unit and a natural gas furnace. I don't know the nominal tonnage of this unit because the data sheet was weathered to the point of being unreadable, but I'd guess that it's a 4-ton given the size of the house...

 

It even appears to have the original fan motor!

 

This house is probably about 3,000 square feet (maybe a little more) if the finished basement is included. In layperson's terms, it needs a separate system for the 2nd floor. If I bought this house, at a bare minimum, I would do ductless mini-splits with indoor units in every bedroom to give main central A/C a boost in the summer. If I went with a traditional whole-house system, I would get a heat pump so I could have heat upstairs just in case; I wouldn't feel like running a gas line up to attic for a second furnace. In my experience, gas and oil forced air furnaces seem to work fine in 2,000+ square foot 2-story homes because heat rises. It's in the summer that there's a problem because cold air falls. My best friend's parents spent about ten grand putting a second central A/C system for the upstairs in their house a month after buying it because the central A/C just didn't cut it, they went with a straight A/C and no heat, however. The house still retains the original gas furnace in the basement...

Anyway, 2006-newer York products aren't that great and can't hold a candle to one of these in terms of quality and longevity!

 

I scored a functional but filthy Sharp window A/C from @Gwyns04's niece on Sunday; I could have probably cleaned it up and sold it, but going medieval on it and scrapping it seems to take a lot less effort...

 

She bought an old house with no central A/C, and this was one of two window units that came with the house. She and her husband bought new window units instead of using these. They have deemed it more cost effective to buy a smaller and newer house with central air than to put any more money into updating this house, so I'm helping them prep the ace for sale by scrapping anything I can!