The Home Know-It-All

The Furnace Saga Continues: Making a Decision

As you know, our 15-year-old furnace recently developed a hole in the combustion chamber, which left us scrambling to answer this question: Do we repair it or replace it? 

Luckily, the decision was easier than we thought. Most gas furnaces have a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. For us, it didn’t make sense to spend $600 when the furnace would most likely last another 3 to 5 years before we would need to replace it. 

Get a second opinion. Not sure what move is best for you? Talk to your heating and cooling contractor, who can assess the condition of your furnace and give you advice on how to proceed. Don’t be afraid to ask their opinion, as they are motivated to keep you as a satisfied client.

Consider overall costs. Furnace repair and replacement is rarely a planned expense, but you may qualify for incentives. Knowing what you qualify for in rebates and tax credits is important when making your decision. It may make up the difference in being able to justify the more expensive yet more energy-efficient product. The result is the potential of reduced monthly energy costs. Just be aware that you will have to pay the purchase and installation costs upfront and wait for the rebate and tax credit. 

Research incentives. Many utilities are encouraged to offer incentives to customers who purchase energy-efficient appliances. Start your search by visiting the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. Also contact your local utility or visit their website for additional information, or talk to your heating and cooling contractor.

Some local utilities partner with lending institutions to provide competitive loan interest rates to purchase eligible equipment. These plans vary and may include a six-month same-as-cash option. Be aware that by committing to special finance assistance, you may be sacrificing rebate incentives. Call your local utility to find out what options are available and what restrictions apply.

The Federal Government offers tax incentives for purchasing energy-efficient appliances. In 2008, Energy Star delivered cost and energy savings estimated at $19 billion. If you're considering the purchase of a major appliance or home upgrade, visit their website  to determine what meets qualification for federal tax credit. Tax credit amounts vary, but can be as much as 30 percent of the cost up to $1,500.00. The current program expires December 31, 2010. You must be in an existing home to qualify and it must be your primary place of residence.

After exploring all our options, we decided to install a new system. Thanks to the rebate and tax incentives, we were able to select a 95 percent energy-efficient, variable-speed furnace and air conditioning system (it made financial sense to invest in and install a new air conditioner at the same time, because our old one was installed at the same time as the spent furnace). Our gas usage has noticeably dropped on our monthly utility bill, so we are satisfied with the choices we made.

Until later…

The Home Know-It-All

The Furnace Saga Continues

The furnace we've had for 15 years has a hole in the combustion chamber. So, what happens next?

Our furnace needed to be shut down because of carbon monoxide exposure (though we were well below toxic levels when the air around the furnace was sampled) and because it was a potential fire hazard. Of course, this occurred in the middle of November in the Midwest, and until the furnace was repaired or replaced, we had no heat. Talk about pressure to make a decision!

If you're in the same boat with no heat, make safety a priority with these do's and dont's:

1. Do stay somewhere else. If it is going to be a while before you can get the furnace repaired or replaced, consider staying somewhere else. Contact a family member or friend in the area. Stay at a hotel or motel. If you stay at home, prepare the house for an extended period with no heat. This may require you to turn off the main water valve to the house and drain the pipes so they do not freeze.
2. Do use the fireplace. If you have a fireplace, you can use it to heat the house. Gas or wood will work. This is not a very efficient way to heat the house. Fireplaces draw the heat up the chimney and out of the house. This will cause some rooms to be colder than others. You can purchase in-fireplace blowers designed to force some of the heat back into the house. These do help, but you are still venting air out of the chimney.
3. Do use the wood or gas stove. You may have purchased a wood-burner or gas stand-alone stove for heating an addition. You can use it to help heat the home. It will be more efficient than a fireplace, as it is designed to hold and radiate heat out into the room. However, you won’t be able to heat the whole house evenly because is no duct system to carry the warmed air throughout the house.
4. Don't use a gas oven! Using an open oven over long periods of time burns oxygen in the house. This creates a condition of improper gas combustion and the potential for carbon monoxide in the home.

Our home has a fireplace with a gas insert and blower, plus we have a gas stove in the sunroom. Because we were not experiencing sub-zero weather at the time (luckily!), we were able to keep the home moderately comfortable.

Now: Do we replace or repair?

Until later,
The Home Know-It-All

Chamber of Horrors – What happens next?

Our furnace of 15 years has been just diagnosed has having a hole in the combustion chamber. So, what happens next?

Our furnace contractor turned on the furnace and showed me what a hole or crack in the combustion chamber does to the furnace. He explained that the hole allows a back-draft of air into the furnace. The back-draft is exhaust, which is supposed to vent outside through the chimney. With nowhere to go, the exhaust is forced down into the furnace. Depending on the size of the hole or crack, the flames from the burner can be forced out of the burner chamber. This can be bad for a number of reasons. The flames are forced into the area where the wiring may be located creating a fire hazard. A hazard equally as great is that the exhaust air from the back-draft may have high levels of carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas has no odor, taste and is colorless. It is a natural by-product of incomplete combustion. Small amounts of it can cause severe illness or death. Symptoms of exposure to carbon monoxide are very similar to flu symptoms: headaches, dizziness, faintness, drowsiness, pain in the ears and seeing spots (for more information on symptoms, visit WebMd. Furnace contractors have devices that can detect the amount of carbon monoxide in the air. Our contractor sampled the air near the furnace and found that the levels were not hazardous to our health.

Even though the levels of carbon monoxide were not a health hazard, the furnace needed to be turned off until either the chamber or the furnace was replaced. The furnace still presented a fire hazard, as the flames were being forced out of the burner chamber into the area where the wiring was located. A health hazard from carbon monoxide was still present as the hole or crack will expand over time.

How do we survive in a home without heat from a furnace in the winter?

Do we repair the combustion chamber or replace the furnace?

I’ll let you know how we handled the situation and what we decided to do in the next articles.

Until later…
The Home Know-It-All

Chamber of Horrors

There is little in this world that causes as much stress as suddenly realizing your furnace fan is running constantly and yet the house is cooling down. Our furnace of 15 years decided it had just had enough, I guess, this past November. With visions of currency flying out of our bank account, I called our heating and cooling contractor. After looking at the furnace, he pronounced that we had either a hole or crack in the combustion chamber of our gas furnace. We can either have it replaced or replace the whole furnace.

So, what to do?

Does the furnace need to be shutdown completely?

Of course, this never occurs anytime of the year but on the coldest days of winter. How do we keep the house warm?

Over the next few articles I will address what we decided and how we handled the “Chamber of Horrors” experience.

Until later...
The Home Know-It-All

Happy New Year!