When It Rains, It Pours.....

Oh man, that sucks. Do you have a fireplace?

A friend who lives in Edmonton just had his furnace blower motor go out a few days ago while it was pretty damn cold out. He called everywhere looking for a replacement, and finally found a contractor who said they had one... of course the contractor wouldn't just sell him the motor, they insisted on installing it too. I think he said he was only without heat for like 4 hours.

The furnace going out is one thing I don't really want to think about. I also don't like to be reminded that it's over 40 years old, although the blower motor and fan-limit switch has been replaced within the past 10 years. Yes, I have CO alarms everywhere.

We have a gas fireplace (converted from wood decades ago) that I could light and heat the family room with if need be.

It’s kinda late to get out, but in future, space heaters are cheap and will keep a room warm. Leave all the faucets dripping! No heat is one thing, but busted pipes are way worse.

If you don’t have a fireplace then you could always install a wood burning stove. Hope it all works out for you.

Ron

Thanks guys. Unfortunately no wood burning anything in the house. I do have access to heaters at my parents house across the street. Bonus is that I have warranty as it is only 3 years old and will be looked at today. But as luck would have it, I played with the thermostat controls last night and it did kick back in so here is to hoping just a faulty thermostat.

Well thats good to hear pretty easy fix and warranty too Whoo Hoo , I can't even think of those temps here this house was made for the 60-70F degrees weather LOL Airy it is if it lower than 30f and the wind is pumping 20mph we got a problem want freeze but will bee cold with fire burning and inferred going in the bedroom!

My thermostat quit on me when I got back from a Xmas trip when I set it lower. I got back and put it to the normal setting and it did not work. There is a 'set' or 'hold' and it changed for some reason. Too much technology. Even the 30 year old furnaces have circuit boards that fail, and the high efficiency furnaces have drains that plug up and fail regularly. Then there are the batteries for the thermostat too. Good that you figured it out anyway.

Well, it is all fixed up, and working fine. New to me is the lesson. Apparently the thremocoupler was just dirty and is also something that was recommened for me to do annually. Bonus is heat is on and I am now enjoying tonight.

Yeah, I sold PM Contracts thru A couple of Local HVAC contractors a few decades ago. Before that I sold complete systems. Here are a couple of “bumper stickers “ we gave to our customers.



Edit: PM contracts are ( preventative maintenance) for mechanical systems, filter changes, monthly or quarterly cleaning and inspections. Simple to very complex.

Thats funny. I kinda like seeing bumper stickers as you sure do not see them like you used to. That is here at least.

2 Xmas- s ago my heating system also quit on me. I had the kids with in-laws and all for the dinner with us, but even an inverted airco system could not heat the house, let alone the missing hot water in the bathroom.

Closed circuit gas heating systems have dirt traps that, if not regularly drained, will allow corrosion products to circulate and settle in the hot spots - especially in the thin tubed heat exchanger coils of the furnace - that leads to impaired water circulation and water starvation in the furnace. System protection will respond by interlocking the burner in order to prevent boiling of water in the furnace coil, that would lead to furnace overheating and eventually, to  punctured coil  tubing. .

Even if I did not hug the Heating Contractor (I love your bumper sticker, Rene ), at least I tipped him well the next day when he dismantled the system and cleaned the slabs of sludge settled in some piping bends in the furnace , and learnt my lesson that preventive maintenance is not what you want to save money on..

No batteries needed here:


Need to find a NOS one though, they ruined them ever since they took the mercury switch out, the new ones use a button cell battery.

Looking at the reviews for the new ones, it sounds like they took the anticipator adjustment out of it too.

Darn, I remember seeing one of those in my parents old house. I always thought that design was neat. Never knew they still even made them, even if they do not have the old mercury switch. Why do the keep taking the fun out of everything?