The pilot light went out at 2am and the repair guy said the heat exchanger was cracked beyond patching, so I dropped $4,800 on a high-efficiency unit, but now I'm wondering if anyone else misses the sound of that old beast kicking on.
Loved that old rumble too, but lets be honest here, that cracked heat exchanger was pumping carbon monoxide into your house while you slept. That sound you miss was the sound of a machine slowly trying to kill your family. A new high efficiency unit runs quieter, sure, but quiet means its actually burning clean and not leaking gas where your kids breathe. Plus you were throwing money out the window every month heating the neighborhood with a 1978 unit. Four grand stings now, but do the math on your gas bill over ten years and that old beast was the expensive option. Trust me, once you see the first winter bill you wont miss a single thing about it.