They don't make 'em like they used to

We had a spiffy new Carrier gas furnace installed yesterday. It’s quiet, clean, and it’s going to save us a lot of money on heating costs (we hope). But I was very sad to see our old furnace go. She was a Beach oil furnace, built at the old Beach foundry, which was located in the same neighbourhood we live in now.

The furnace was installed when the house was built in 1971/72, and she’s been running ever since. We didn’t replace her because she was broken; but after 39 years of faithful service, we figured she could go at any time.

Switching from oil to gas is a bureaucratic nightmare. There is a lot of coordination with the gas company, the furnace installer, the inspectors, and, in our case, the energy auditor. It took weeks to plan, then we had to wait for the gas line to be installed, and then have the furnace installed. So we had to decide in advance that our old girl’s time was up.

I took a few photos of our old Beach babe. For 39, she still looked pretty good. She was a tad rusty in places, and she started up with a bit of rumble, but she kept us toasty for the past 15 winters.

Apparently, we can expect to get 10, maybe 15, years out of our new furnace.

They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to.