The Oldest Furnace in Des Moines - ABC5 News Des Moines, IA

The Oldest Furnace in Des Moines

By Jason Rantala

jrantala@myabc5.com

@jarantala

As winter approaches, we're once again reunited with our old friend, the furnace.

For some, our old friends are especially old.

Just ask Jane Fulton of Des Moines, whose furnace goes all the way back to the 1920s.

Every year for the past few years, Service Legends Heating and Cooling have had a contest to find the oldest furnace in the metro.

Jane, this year's winner, has a furnace that's so old, it used to be powered by coal.

It's even inspired the nickname "Octopus," due to its size and huge ducts that stretch across the basement ceiling.

"Wow, it's amazing it's still down there and still working," said Nic Wanderscheid, Operations Manager for Service Legends.

Jane's furnace has since been converted to gas, but Nic says that doesn't mean it's efficient, by any means.

"You just walk down in the basement and you can feel the heat coming off of it, so it's definitely wasting a lot of energy," he said.

Jane's new furnace will be half the size and twice as efficient.

Good news for Jane, who should be able to cut her $200 per month furnace bill in half.

The new furnace also means no more extra space heaters and blankets for Jane and her husband.

"Oh this is so exciting. That's one thing on my list that I've always wanted to check off," she said.