The title is the question. I’m thinking of putting a bid on a house that has a Dowagiac brand furnace. I’ve never heard of it. (I know Dowagiac, Michigan.) My estimate is that the furnace is at least 30 years old (judging by its looks) and I’m wondering about its reliability.
Dowagiac Steel Furnace, I presume? Lexis-Nexis doesn’t have them in their “Inactive Business Database”–I would believe that they’ve been out of business for 20 years or so. From the only reference I’ve seen of them, they were fairly well respected in the day, but I’m no expert on furnaces.
Have not heard of Dowagiac, but if the furnace is really 30 years old you should consider replacing it with a newer, more efficient furnace. Notwithstanding reliability isssues of an older furnace, today’s more efficient furnaces will pay for themselves in short order (even more so if natural gas prices continue to rise as predicted). We replaced our 30 year old boiler with a new high efficiency model and cut our gas consumption by 40%.
Good luck!