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Consider a homeowner who is replacing his 25-year-old natural gas furnace that has an efficiency of 55 percent. The homeowner is considering a conventional furnace that has an efficiency of 82 percent and costs $1600 and a high-efficiency furnace that has an efficiency of 95 percent and costs $2700. The homeowner would like to buy the high-efficiency furnace if the savings from the natural gas pay for the additional cost in less than 8 years. If the homeowner now pays $1200 a year for heating, determine if he should buy the conventional or the high-efficiency model.
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