furnace quit, very cold in the house

[woodstock]

Is this the "home warranty" guy?

When those folks worked on my stuff, the parts had to come from a central depot --- in Memphis...

the part is in stock at the York store... but the guy showed up at 415 pM versus the 11 or so promised... which means he wasn't able to pick it up. had he showed up on time, he could have gotten it and fixed it by now.

 

[wsuffa]

ok, this is scary. I asked him specifically about CO and he said as long as the heat exchanger isn't broken it isn't something to worry about. and the HE is fine.

Generally, that's correct. However, if the CASE around the draft inducer is cracked, then you can get CO into the house. If it's just a burned out motor on the inducer, there shouldn't be a problem.

Beth, do you have a CO detector in the house? If not, the $50 is cheap insurance. And you really ought to have one, especially with gas furnace and water heater.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

ok, this is scary. I asked him specifically about CO and he said as long as the heat exchanger isn't broken it isn't something to worry about. and the HE is fine.

I bought a small space heater today, wonder if I should get a second one. the house stayed at 62 degrees today (sunny) but it will be 12 degrees tonight outside!!

Most things worth having like heaters, should have a spare. If you're in a two story house, put one centrally located downstairs and most of its heat will end up heating whole house. Consider buying extra coats for cats.

 

[wsuffa]

the part is in stock at the York store... but the guy showed up at 415 pM versus the 11 or so promised... which means he wasn't able to pick it up. had he showed up on time, he could have gotten it and fixed it by now.

Aggravating, isn't it.

At least they have it locally. Most of the home warranty companies are worthless because of this very issue. Took 'em a week to get a part for my gas stove.

 

[etsisk]

it's a York furnace, btw. I'll look again for any more specs on it...

Then I reckon you're feeling a bit like a Peppermint Pattie right now!!

Good luck with it - I'll keep my fingers crossed (hmm, should have read to the end of the thread to find out if you have heat, yet!)

Tom

 

[woodstock]

Most things worth having like heaters, should have a spare. If you're in a two story house, put one centrally located downstairs and most of its heat will end up heating whole house. Consider buying extra coats for cats.

how big should I get it? the one I have isn't throwing much heat beyond the immediate area.

Aggravating, isn't it.

At least they have it locally. Most of the home warranty companies are worthless because of this very issue. Took 'em a week to get a part for my gas stove.

yeah, I am on hold while they determine if this is worth them paying for overtime tomorrow night when this guy comes back. long and short their entire staff can't do this tomorrow morning, but the guy who came by doesn't want me to go another night with no heat so he will be back tomorrow night no matter what - but to get HMS to pay for the overtime they have to approve it. if they don't approve it, it's up to me to pay out of pocket for overtime.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

how big should I get it? the one I have isn't throwing much heat beyond the immediate area.

Ideally and for redundancy and spreading the current draw, I'd prefer 4 or 5 standard ones (~1500 Watts) as opposed to one or two bigger ones. Or maybe 1 bigger one and some satellite smaller ones if you want a really warm area. Watch you don't overload your curcuits by spreading out the load on multiple curcuits. If pipes freezing are an isue, get the heat tape on them now and you should be OK.

To be extra secure, have a big all nighter party with about 50 or more guests.

 

[woodstock]

you know, even if he fixes this tomorrow I'm hesitating about going to Vegas Thurs morning. who knows if it will "stay" fixed, and what if there is a CO problem. my cats would be dead in no time.

I wonder how cold the house will get tonight. last night it was 60, but, it was only out for about 4 hours before daylight.

I'm going to go to Home D and get a few more heaters shortly. the furnace room /water heater is centrally located and the outside water pipes are closed off - I never even turned them back on this summer. the CSR mentioned turning on my water a trickle everywhere - good idea? if the house doesn't get below 50, is this even an issue?

i.e. if it is 50 inside, how many pipes closer to the outside walls might be freezing, at that point...

 

[wsuffa]

11 degrees outside for Leesburg tonight. Brrrr.

You can expect pipes in the outer walls to freeze at those temps. For the inner walls, at 50-degrees in the house, those pipes should be OK. Can't get heat-tape on the pipes inside the walls, I'd probably leave the water running at a trickle on any pipes that are in the outer walls of the house. For the pipes that run in the inner walls, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[gismo]

11 degrees outside for Leesburg tonight. Brrrr.

You can expect pipes in the outer walls to freeze at those temps. For the inner walls, at 50-degrees in the house, those pipes should be OK. Can't get heat-tape on the pipes inside the walls, I'd probably leave the water running at a trickle on any pipes that are in the outer walls of the house. For the pipes that run in the inner walls, it shouldn't be an issue.

Bill's got a good idea with the running water, pipes in outside walls can get frozen with 12 f temps outside and <50 f inside. BTW you're not going to be able to heat the whole house with a few space heaters so close up one or two room as best as you can and camp out there. I'd suggest an electric blanket for the night, that plus a decent comfortor will suffice even if the air goes down to 45-50 F which I suspect is likely tonight.

One other thought, if the repairman left the inducer intact, you might be able to get it running by turning on the furnace (with the thermostat up) and spinning the inducer by hand. The most common problem with them is that the bearings get gummed up and the starting torque is so low it can't over come the drag. Kinda like trying to push the plane around when it's real cold out vs warm. You could spin it mechanically or by directing a fast moving stream of air (like from the vacuum cleaner hooked up to blow) or even a hair dryer on cool.

 

[woodstock]

great. fn great. for sure I won't be in Vegas then. I am going to put one space heater in the downstairs bathroom, it's against the outside wall BUT the next door neighbor (it's a townhouse) will of course have their heat on. my master bath is also against an outside wall but I will have a space heater in my suite as well so it should stay above 60. oddly enough my GARAGE is still at 60 degrees - between my neighbor and my own house (even with heat off) it's enough to keep it tolerable in there.

ps. the outside pipes re: hoses etc for outside have long since been turned off - no water goes to them. I shut the bibs off a year ago and never turned them back on.

 

[jesse]

this reminds me of when I lived with my dad and he decided he wasn't going to pay the gas company anymore.

This was in June. So they came and turned the gas off. No big deal really. Just no stove and no hot water. You can get used to cold showers, but beleive me they are COLD.

So winter comes now. Since the gas was off before winter, you aren't protected by whatever law says they cannot turn your gas off.

It was one.. very..cold winter. You get used to it though.

You could see your breath inside the house. I would run an electric blanket and a space heater.

The really cold nights. Like when it was below zero outside.. We would restort to running a heater that burned propane.. Along with a CO detector and a fan to circulate air. Here is a picture of what we used.

I think I was around 15 years old at the time.


....and that is why I pay my bills

But yeah. Like lance said.

Retreat to one room. We would basically just live in one room in the winter.

 

[woodstock]

I now have 3 space heaters. one in the downstairs bathroom (it's keeping it at 57 degrees so far - I bought an indoor outdoor thermometer (outdoor has digital sensor which reads on the indoor unit) which I put down there. I'll put the other one in my bedroom to keep an eye on the bottom level temps.

one thing I will say - I have always had the vents off, to the bottom level. the top two levels are heated, the downstairs just gets whatever residual there is coming downstairs as well as the actual furnace itself. so it can get a little nippy down there in the winter anyway. not 57 degrees though! likely more like 64-65.

I will say though, the 62 during the day wasn't great but it wasn't unbearable really. I could probably turn my heat down at night to 64 and not really notice. esp since the heat would be on once in a while just not a lot.

good God, didn't have heat in MINNESOTA? forget that. no way.

 

[SCCutler]

he did say Yorks are pieces of crap. builder grade, he works on them all the time. figures.

Nah, Yorks are not the most prestigious, but they are not "crap." Like every other manufacturer, they have their higher line and lower lines, but are of generally sound design and manufacture.

I have two of them in my house, they work quite well.

Consider the source - home warranty contractors make their money from up-selling, not from repairing. He may be trying to plant the seed for a subsequent sale.

 

[wsuffa]

Nah, Yorks are not the most prestigious, but they are not "crap." Like every other manufacturer, they have their higher line and lower lines, but are of generally sound design and manufacture.

I have two of them in my house, they work quite well.

Consider the source - home warranty contractors make their money from up-selling, not from repairing. He may be trying to plant the seed for a subsequent sale.

As the HVAC guy was putting another charge of freon in my Carrier package unit, I griped mercilessly about the crappy quality. The unit is 7 years old, there are leaks in the AC coil, I had to have the induction/exhaust plate replaced last spring (8 weeks to get the part), and there is rusting on the heat exchanger (but not rusted through nor rusted enough to get Carrier to replace it).

The HVAC guy pointed out that NONE of the manufacturers make the key parts. All the parts except the case metalwork comes from outsourced providers, and in most cases the outsourcers supply most of the manufacturers in the industry. York, like Carrier, are just assemblers. There are a few specialized parts, but most of them are identical company to company. He said "make your choice based on the warranty".

My package unit will require another $2K in repairs before it hits 10 years. I've already stuck $1500 in it since I've lived in the house.

I can tell you that I'm no fan of Carrier, either.

Sigh.

great. fn great. for sure I won't be in Vegas then. I am going to put one space heater in the downstairs bathroom, it's against the outside wall BUT the next door neighbor (it's a townhouse) will of course have their heat on. my master bath is also against an outside wall but I will have a space heater in my suite as well so it should stay above 60. oddly enough my GARAGE is still at 60 degrees - between my neighbor and my own house (even with heat off) it's enough to keep it tolerable in there.

ps. the outside pipes re: hoses etc for outside have long since been turned off - no water goes to them. I shut the bibs off a year ago and never turned them back on.

Beth,

By outside wall, I mean ones that face the elements. The walls that adjoin neighbors houses should stay warm enough to avoid freezing.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

How'd you & the cats fare through the night ? Alright ?

 

[Ghery]

When building storage shelves for the basement in line with one of the flat beds filled with plywood and 2x4's, I got lots of looks... they were a mix of where's the man and I wish my wife was more like her.

Missa

You and my daughter would get along well. She was known as the Al Borland of her sorority when she was in college. Had her own tool box and fixed all sorts of things around the house. Now the girls living there ask the parents club or the housing corporation (my wife is on it) to change lightbulbs. or replace switch plates! Good grief...

 

[Henning]

How'd you & the cats fare through the night ? Alright ?

I wouldn't expect her response until the sun's been up a while.

 

[Greebo]

Well Baltimore hit 19 last night (thats what it read when we went to the gym this morning), and she's an hour west of us flight time and up higher. Thats the low so far this winter, AFAIK - I'm sure she and the cats had a comfortable time all curled up under the 7 blankets...

 

[RotaryWingBob]

Well Baltimore hit 19 last night (thats what it read when we went to the gym this morning), and she's an hour west of us flight time and up higher. Thats the low so far this winter, AFAIK - I'm sure she and the cats had a comfortable time all curled up under the 7 blankets...

19? That's tropical. It's 8 here even as I type this!

Not gonna stop me from flyin' though...

 

[woodstock]

I am alive! as are the cats.

my new dual thermometer is tracking the bottom level bathroom (pipes closest to the outside wall) and it got down to 48 last night inside. I went down and turned the space heater on again around 5 AM and it's currently 53 down there. my own suite is a roasty toasty 65 - almost 66!

if nothing else I can rethink keeping the heat on 68 at night. a few extra degrees isn't making much of a difference. the rest of the house is nippy though.

btw, the cats mostly kept to their own routine last night until around 5 AM. the one is always a fur collar anyway at night, the other one sleeps in the spare bedroom. I threw a pile of laundry on the spare bed and she was all snuggled up just fine. however it must have really gotten colder b/c by 5 AM they were jostling for position on my head.

correction - it's now nearly 68 in here. the sun is coming up.

 

[MSmith]

you know, even if he fixes this tomorrow I'm hesitating about going to Vegas Thurs morning. who knows if it will "stay" fixed, and what if there is a CO problem. my cats would be dead in no time.

There won't be a CO problem.

My "potential" CO problem was based on a cracked case of an operating draft fan. It sounds like your draft fan has just given up but is not cracked. Two different problems.

But buy a CO detector anyway. Good thing to have (in the plane, too).

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

I am alive! as are the cats.

my new dual thermometer is tracking the bottom level bathroom (pipes closest to the outside wall) and it got down to 48 last night inside. I went down and turned the space heater on again around 5 AM and it's currently 53 down there. my own suite is a roasty toasty 65 - almost 66!

if nothing else I can rethink keeping the heat on 68 at night. a few extra degrees isn't making much of a difference. the rest of the house is nippy though.

btw, the cats mostly kept to their own routine last night until around 5 AM. the one is always a fur collar anyway at night, the other one sleeps in the spare bedroom. I threw a pile of laundry on the spare bed and she was all snuggled up just fine. however it must have really gotten colder b/c by 5 AM they were jostling for position on my head.

correction - it's now nearly 68 in here. the sun is coming up.

Cool...
Now that you're hardened to the rigors of winter, try building and sleeping in an igloo or ice cave sometime for some real laughs and a new love-my-house-at-any-temperature appreciation !

 

[MSmith]

Just wanted you to know.

You managed to make me furnace-paranoid. I was up at 2:30am last night checking the registers and listening to the furnace sounds to make sure it was still working.

 

[Len Lanetti]

Jeez, I don't think I got 63 posts asking me how I was when my heater broke. ;<)

Len

 

[woodstock]

just got home, it's 53 degrees upstairs and 47 downstairs. I really hope he fixes it tonight, it's supposed to be a snowy mess tomorrow.

 

[gkainz]

Jeez, I don't think I got 63 posts asking me how I was when my heater broke. ;<)

Len

Lenny!!! How ARE you after your heater broke? I know if I post this thing 62 more times, even if the auto-merge would leave it alone, Chuck would kick my butt off this forum... so, sorry! It is what it is! Betcha nobody stops and helps you fix a flat, either. Right?

 

[woodstock]

Jeez, I don't think I got 63 posts asking me how I was when my heater broke. ;<)

Len

I hope they fixed it promptly, PA weather isn't anything to mess with.

HOORAY!! the furnace is fixed. it was 50 on the main level (53 in my room) when it kicked on and it's already 53 on the main level and 64 in my room (I turned the electric heaters on when I got in)

 

[terzap]

Gee...it's 55 in my house now, and when it gets up to 58, I open the windows because I'm too hot....

But I'm glad your heater was fixed, Judy.

And Lenny! I apologize, I don't recall your harrowing ordeal, but boy, am I glad you made it before you had to kill and eat the living room sofa.



terry