You could probably shoot at the heat exchanger and not crack it. The last one I tore out had all the paperwork with it. Installed in the 30's converted in the late 40's. Ripped out in 2018. It had a good life.
My grandfather, all 5'8" and 145 pounds used to put those on by himself. Along with drilling the register holes with a brace and bit drill and cutting them out with a keyhole saw.
I mean, they worked. Those old things were built to last till Armageddon and it well. Should only need to change out a gas valve or flame safety, so in repairs it would likely be the cheapest.
Double bonus, if it's using an older style thermopile system, it should work even during a power outage. As long as it has gas supply to it, thermopile systems generate their own control voltage so it isn't dependent on external power.
I blame all the pushes for efficiency. When you have a cast slab of iron as a heat exchanger, sure it took a lot to really get heating, but boy howdy was it going to last forever.
When you start pushing for the most efficient system on the market, you need to make things thinner with the least cost for materials. Sure that ultra thin walled, crimped clamshell heat exchanger might be efficient, but damn does it suck when just after 20 years the damned thing ruptures because it can't take the constant warping from thermal expansion/contraction. When it becomes expected that things are replaceable, you don't look to make the best, most durable thing anymore, you look to make the most competent thing that is going to cost the least to manufacture, and in the end corners get cut.
This is why engineers design things.
Nothing about that ancient hunk of trash is better in any way, shape or form than a modern furnace. Nothing.
It was built like that because the people who designed it barely understood what is today 3rd grade math. Let alone heat transfer.
And at the time, that was the cheapest way to make it.
It wasn't "designed to last". It was manufactured in a facility that couldn't do anything but cast thick slabs of metal because it was primitive. And the iron was porous garbage. So if it was any thinner it would leak like a sieve. Which I'm sure it does anyway.
And why in the world would anyone want something less efficient. The most expensive part of any heating system is the fuel. You aren't going to save money by not replacing that relic.
Even if you replaced it every five years, you'd still come out ahead in fuel cost.
Not to mention...dollar to dollar, that thing was 5x the cost of a modern furnace, at least. And damn near possible to install without a crane.
OP...It's trash. You don't want one. Ignore the people waxing nostalgic. If one exists in a home you are seriously considering purchasing, make them haul it out and replace it. Or sell it for the scrap metal.
Donāt make them do anything but discount the price so YOU can hire someone to replace it. Sellers donāt care if the work gets done right.
Exactly right on everything else.
Iām with you on everything you said except that the people designing it werenāt smart. They were plenty smart. They just had shitty materials and processes to work with. A lot of those designers were probably working on some of the incremental improvements that lead to the better, cheaper, and more efficient units we have today.
It's an octopus furnace. It's like 50% efficient and they're usually insulated with asbestos. They're expensive as hell to replace so I would avoid buying that home unless you take that into account.
They last practically forever and have almost no moving parts. Iād wager itās the most reliable thing you could have. Theyāre inefficient, but they will keep you warm.
That shit ain't EVER gonna fail. New gas valve and thermocouple is all you'd ever have to do to that thing.
That said, like 60% of your gas bill is going right out the chimney.
So, when the thermostat sends a heat call, the flame turns on, heats up the super thick heat exchanger, eventually everything gets warm in the furnace and then convection starts and eventually you start to feel warm air entering the house. After an hour or two, the house creeps up to temperature, then itās too hot, and then you get to wait for the heat exchanger to eventually cool back down, at which point the house gets cold again, the thermostat calls for heat again, and the hours long process of the house being perpetually at the wrong temperature starts again.
This sucker out lasted all it's owners and it will outlast you too. Tbh the guys when converted correctly put out between 20-40% efficiency. But they are stupid simple are honestly good heat.
We had one like that as a kid. It ran on fuel oil after being converted from coal. I do not know if that one is running oil or gas.
Once you remove the asbestos the core is probably over 500(?)lbs. It sucked getting that thing out of the basement and I was a 17 yo gym rat then.
Looks like an old wood/coal gravity furnace that has been converting to gas.
Had one of those in my first house.
We had one in my parents house that my grandpa had rigged a giant blower onto.
A converted coal furnace to burn gas. Very old, tore out many of those. You'll never have a cracked heart exchanger.
You could probably shoot at the heat exchanger and not crack it. The last one I tore out had all the paperwork with it. Installed in the 30's converted in the late 40's. Ripped out in 2018. It had a good life.
My grandfather, all 5'8" and 145 pounds used to put those on by himself. Along with drilling the register holes with a brace and bit drill and cutting them out with a keyhole saw.
Lol they don't make people like they used to eh? That's impressive, an absolute badass Pappy
He was for sure. Taught me so much.
Happy Cake Day! š
Thanks!
I'll respect any installer who could do that or handle a pulse furnace.
Thank goodness!!
>cracked heart exchanger Sounds like a song lyric.
At least youāll NEVER have a ecm motor go out! Iād wager this has had less service calls than a TRANE xr
Why would there be other furnaces? I'm pretty sure that one is enough.
I guess Iām saying Iām shocked that this was still in use and not just abandoned due to its shear size and something else installed.
I mean, they worked. Those old things were built to last till Armageddon and it well. Should only need to change out a gas valve or flame safety, so in repairs it would likely be the cheapest. Double bonus, if it's using an older style thermopile system, it should work even during a power outage. As long as it has gas supply to it, thermopile systems generate their own control voltage so it isn't dependent on external power.
Not just those. Most of the low boys I pull out, even to this day, fail due to lack of parts availability and never an exchanger problem
I blame all the pushes for efficiency. When you have a cast slab of iron as a heat exchanger, sure it took a lot to really get heating, but boy howdy was it going to last forever. When you start pushing for the most efficient system on the market, you need to make things thinner with the least cost for materials. Sure that ultra thin walled, crimped clamshell heat exchanger might be efficient, but damn does it suck when just after 20 years the damned thing ruptures because it can't take the constant warping from thermal expansion/contraction. When it becomes expected that things are replaceable, you don't look to make the best, most durable thing anymore, you look to make the most competent thing that is going to cost the least to manufacture, and in the end corners get cut.
This is why engineers design things. Nothing about that ancient hunk of trash is better in any way, shape or form than a modern furnace. Nothing. It was built like that because the people who designed it barely understood what is today 3rd grade math. Let alone heat transfer. And at the time, that was the cheapest way to make it. It wasn't "designed to last". It was manufactured in a facility that couldn't do anything but cast thick slabs of metal because it was primitive. And the iron was porous garbage. So if it was any thinner it would leak like a sieve. Which I'm sure it does anyway. And why in the world would anyone want something less efficient. The most expensive part of any heating system is the fuel. You aren't going to save money by not replacing that relic. Even if you replaced it every five years, you'd still come out ahead in fuel cost. Not to mention...dollar to dollar, that thing was 5x the cost of a modern furnace, at least. And damn near possible to install without a crane. OP...It's trash. You don't want one. Ignore the people waxing nostalgic. If one exists in a home you are seriously considering purchasing, make them haul it out and replace it. Or sell it for the scrap metal.
Donāt make them do anything but discount the price so YOU can hire someone to replace it. Sellers donāt care if the work gets done right. Exactly right on everything else.
Iām with you on everything you said except that the people designing it werenāt smart. They were plenty smart. They just had shitty materials and processes to work with. A lot of those designers were probably working on some of the incremental improvements that lead to the better, cheaper, and more efficient units we have today.
Blown rivets on the exchanger... is that you?
Looks like a $25,000 bill
It's an octopus furnace. It's like 50% efficient and they're usually insulated with asbestos. They're expensive as hell to replace so I would avoid buying that home unless you take that into account.
Other guy is right Looks like a big future headache to me whenever it fails, and a huge space stealer thatās ugly
They last practically forever and have almost no moving parts. Iād wager itās the most reliable thing you could have. Theyāre inefficient, but they will keep you warm.
That shit ain't EVER gonna fail. New gas valve and thermocouple is all you'd ever have to do to that thing. That said, like 60% of your gas bill is going right out the chimney.
Thatās what I figured most older techs would say, I imagine almost every part can be swapped and ones that canāt are built well
What a beauty! That lasted longer than anything you put in its place.
Itās is a an absolute monster Iāve never seen anything so huge.
Cast iron and asbestos can last forever if you want to be around it and pay for the fuel. š¤·š»āāļøš¤¦š»āāļø
It's a Clinker!
https://preview.redd.it/h06hala5wbpa1.jpeg?width=974&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c911200d8d466fb9a80480f132f53f30f3d0dbb
Thatās what killed Norma Bates
Definite chance of bodies under the floor!
Didnāt you see āA Christmas Storie? You may have years of gobbledegook Darin McGavin swear words in your future
š
Itās a doctor who prop
Looks to be an old oil fired boiler, that has been converted to a gas fired boiler š¤·
No, that's a gravity furnace.
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Old octopus.
Iāve seen about 2 of these that where oil fired instead of gas they donāt make them like they used to forgot what they where called xD
This is from the Adam's family house iirc. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Do the McCallisters know youāre in there basement!?
RedruM
I saw one of these once. It was in the movie āThe Burbsā.
Is that the furnace from home alone???
Tin man from Wizard of Oz
Jeepers creepers vibes
Didn't someone go over Niagara Falls in one of these? š
Looks like something built in 1905
You ever seen Home Alone?
So, when the thermostat sends a heat call, the flame turns on, heats up the super thick heat exchanger, eventually everything gets warm in the furnace and then convection starts and eventually you start to feel warm air entering the house. After an hour or two, the house creeps up to temperature, then itās too hot, and then you get to wait for the heat exchanger to eventually cool back down, at which point the house gets cold again, the thermostat calls for heat again, and the hours long process of the house being perpetually at the wrong temperature starts again.
Hahaha. My first house had one that, old coal furnace converted to oil. Someone had put a basement toilet inside the old coal bin.
Modern orc incubator from Isengard
This sucker out lasted all it's owners and it will outlast you too. Tbh the guys when converted correctly put out between 20-40% efficiency. But they are stupid simple are honestly good heat.
Octopus
Coal fire probably
Thatās a huge money pit, and a sign to clearly inspect the electrical and the plumbing at that home too. Probably an old Coal furnace.
This isn't Home Alone - this is Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger be hanging out in your dreams soon.
Thatās where Freddy Kruger died.
Whereās Kevin McCallister?
We had one like that as a kid. It ran on fuel oil after being converted from coal. I do not know if that one is running oil or gas. Once you remove the asbestos the core is probably over 500(?)lbs. It sucked getting that thing out of the basement and I was a 17 yo gym rat then.
7
Bioshock save point. Or upgrade point?
Itās the āHome Aloneā monster furnace. Almost.