Heating Before & After Photos

It was the middle of the summer but this long term client had no air conditioning because the blower motor and circuit board in their 20-year old furnace had met an untimely end. The repair would have cost over $1000 so they wisely chose to replace the furnace and take advantage of utility incentives and tax credits.

We replaced the furnace with a 97% efficient 2-stage American Standard furnace with a variable speed blower. The 2-stage operation means the furnace runs at full output when it's really cold but at only 50% output when it's mild. This delivers long heating cycles that provide superior comfort. The variable speed blower uses 67% less electricity than the blower in the old furnace, so the client will save electricity in the summer as well as the winter. A great choice!

This is remarkable. Our client just bought this house built in 1960 and it still had a functioning American Standard furnace that had never been replaced. It was loud and only 58% efficient but it still provided heat before we took it to the scrap yard. American Standard (Trane) is legendary for its reliability.

Why tempt fate? we installed a new American Standard 97% efficient gas furnace that features two-stage operation and a variable speed blower. Two-stage operation provides 100% heat output when it's really cold out but shifts don to 50% output when it's mild. For the majority of the winter it will run at low output and provide really long, really comfortable "ON" cycles. The variable speed blower uses 70% less electricity than the old beast so they'll save on electricity all year since the blower is also used for air conditioning.

This furnace qualified for utility rebates, 0% financing, and a Federal tax credit. Oh, and it looks beautiful!

this homeowner grew very tired of her 30-year old oil furnace. It was loud, dirty, and cost a small fortune to operate every winter. She decided to hire Alber Service Company to replace it with a 97% efficient American Standard two-stage gas furnace. It operates at either 100% output or 50% output depending on how cold it is outside. This results in long, even heating cycles instead of blasts of hot air followed by long "OFF" cycles like the old oil furnace delivered. The variable speed blower in this super efficient furnace uses 67% less electricity than the old blower so it saves money on the electric bill as well as the gas bill.

You can also see we sealed all the ductwork with brush-on duct sealant. This keeps the system from drawing in basement air, conditioning it, then blowing it back into the basement. It was much easier to balance the air flow to all the rooms once the ducts were sealed. Comfort and efficiency beautifully installed!

I bet you've never seen one of these before! It's an original coal-fired boiler from the 1880's that was converted to oil sometime in the 1930's. And it was still working when the client called about an upgrade. Of course, she was paying a fortune for heating oil while keeping the thermostat set on 58-degrees so she didn't go bankrupt.

She opted to replace it with a 95% efficient Bosch Greenstar Combi boiler. This boiler provides both hot water for her radiators and hot water to the taps in the sinks, shower, etc. Her heating costs have dropped by 50% even though she sets the thermostat for 68-degrees now. 

This is great looking installation that she is proud to have in the basement of Her Old House.

Our client had a 35-year old Weil-McLain gas boiler that was still working but was starting to make weird noises. NOTE - Weird noises with heating and air conditioning equipment are never because something is good is going on.

The old boiler used the draft from the chimney to draw the flue gases up and out of the house. But the chimney had begun deteriorating on the inside and chimney debris had fallen into the furnace heat exchanger and created the noise as the flue gas moved around the debris. This would eventually have caused carbon monoxide to enter the basement, so maybe the noise was a good thing after all.

She decided to replace the boiler with an 84% efficient Weil-McLain CGi boiler that would cut her heating bills by over 20%. It has a draft fan that pulls the flue gas out of the boiler and blows it into the chimney. If debris ever blocks the flue, the CGi will sense the blockage and turn the boiler off so there is no danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. We also installed a Z-Flex chimney liner to prevent any chimney debris from entering the flue. Debris will fall around the liner but not into it.

This old house is now safe and much more efficient.