A couple of weeks ago I woke up from a nap due to it being cold in my house. It turned out that my furnace hadn't kicked on. I went down to take a look, and I took an ignitor with me, as this furnace ruins one about every three or four years and I always have one on hand because of it. Well, the ignitor in the furnace came on, but it didn't seem bright enough, and the gas didn't ignite, so I thought that was the problem. I replaced it, and it then worked. But, later in the day I noticed it was a little cold. I turned the thermostat up and the furnace didn't kick on. I then turned the thermostat far down, then back up again, and the furnace kicked on. I thought that maybe that was just a fluke.
Fast forward to this morning, and it was cold in the house again. Sure enough, the furnace wouldn't come on. I called to let my folks know, as they own the house, and told them I would call them back when I know something. Just before I went outside to go to the basement, the furnace kicked on.
I still went down to take a look, and while it was running the gas valve shut off the gas. UGH!!! So, I tried a few things, but to no avail. I came back up to call my folks to let them know, and then waited for them to call me back. They did, but they had a hard time talking to the furnace guy, as he was on a cell phone and wasn't getting very good reception, so I asked for the number so I could try. I got hold of him, and he said he would send someone later in the afternoon.
Well, to finish with this story, they're coming tomorrow to install a new furnace. $4,000. 😞 😞 😞 It turns out that the heat exchanger is rusted terribly, and because of it, it's flaking off inside. It's not cracked yet, but that would be soon enough. When the gas ignites, the flame is blowing back a bit instead of staying fully in the burner tubes, so it's not getting the proper air flow. It's enough flow to satisfy the safety devices, like the draft proving switch for the exhaust, but it's still not working properly. It's also causing the burner to cut off prematurely due to a high temperature limit, which is a safety device, tripping. So, it cutting off is what it's supposed to do when it's not running properly. The edges around the heat exchanger are also rusting terribly. Basically, it's on its last leg, and barely limping along. It's a very damp basement, and that surely doesn't help. I have a little electric milk house heater, and I borrowed my folks electric bathroom heater, just in case the furnace finally dies altogether overnight. It runs long enough to keep it somewhat warm in here, but it's definitely seen better days. I'm not sure when it was installed, but the date code label says 1993. So, yeah, it's old. Plus, it was a budget brand (Janitrol). They're putting a Tempstar in tomorrow. I've no experience with Tempstar, but I do with Heil, their sister brand, and they're decent.
A couple good things that will happen tomorrow with the system, though. They're going to fix the return line, which was kind of jerry rigged by whoever installed the furnace. They're also going to install a couple of supplies into the basement. This will not only help to keep the basement a bit warmer in the winter, but also drier. It will also help to alleviate the high pressure on the woefully inadequate supply side of the system. This house only has four 2x12 supply registers, which is very little supply surface area. The return is 20x20. So 400 square inches of return, but only 96 square inches of supply, which means the furnace is being choked on the supply side. The supply should be nearly triple that, so those two extra supplies in the basement will help to alleviate that issue. We could have them install a couple more supply registers on the main floor of the house, but that would cost more to do, and we're trying to keep the cost down. And, I can do that myself at a later time, as well as making those 2x12 supplies 4x12, which wouldn't be terribly difficult. A reciprocating saw, a few duct fittings, a couple of boxes of 7" flex to replace the 6" round supply pipe to each register, and some new registers. To be honest, as choked as the supply side has been, I'm shocked that the blower motor hasn't died, as it's under a lot of stress trying to push the proper amount of air through openings (the registers) that are too small. It's almost like trying to breathe through a straw.
I feel awful for my folks, though. They just had to replace their floor furnace over the summer, then their water heater developed a leak in the fall and it had to be replaced. Now this. $8,000 worth of heating appliance replacements of one type or another in a six month period. 😞 Plus, two years ago they had to replace their wall furnace, which wasn't cheap, either. The only thing left now is my water heater, which is older than theirs was. I'm knocking on wood until my knuckles ache with that one.
And, to top it off, they have to replace my roof next year with a metal one. THAT will cost a pretty penny, I can tell you. Probably the most expensive thing yet. Theirs was seven or eight thousand when they had it replaced six or seven years ago. My house is smaller, so it will be less, but it will still cost three arms and five legs.
I'm so exhausted. 😞
