Furnace on the fritz...

[HollowHill]

Sure glad we got the wood stove last month Repairman is banging and tapping as I type. I thought the furnace had been sounding more and more pained on start up, but it's been starting up so rarely that I wasn't as concerned as I should have been. This time it shuddered, groaned, and spewed gaseous vapors up to the 1st floor. Guess it's the furnaces version of a jealous tantrum :lol:

 

[Mainely Saws]

My furnace gave up the ghost about 10 years ago & because it was going to be about $8000 to replace I just didn't replace it . Been burning wood 24/7 ever since . At times I have had a Rinnai propane heater for a back up ......
Hope your furnace repair isn't so severe ...........

 

[leeave96]

Wow! Now the PH is going to have to perform, else you freeze!

We've challanged ourselfs to keep the heat OFF unless we are gone for more than a day. So far so good. I really like NOT having a monthly heating bill.

Maybe I can buy a new chainsaw with the savings... :coolgrin:

Bill

 

[HollowHill]

Your good wishes worked, Mainely Saws! New ignition system and we're good to go. Does get one to wondering, this furnace is 15 years old...

 

[pen]

Your good wishes worked, Mainely Saws! New ignition system and we're good to go. Does get one to wondering, this furnace is 15 years old...

Glad you are back and running. It's good in case of an emergency.

My furnace turns 50 this year :grrr:

Thank god for wood heat.

pen

 

[Dix]

Glad you're up & running :

Mine's been out for 2 years. I'll get it running one of these days :red:

 

[jeff_t]

Glad you're up & running :

Mine's been out for 2 years. I'll get it running one of these days :red:

Yep. Well, actually I did get mine to work last year. Something else now, apparently out of my scope. I guess I'll have to call someone.

 

[ikessky]

Same thing happened to me last year. Really sucks to spend $2000 on something that you try to never use! :-S

 

[joecool85]

My oil boiler turned 25 this year. We use it for domestic hot water as well as heat when the stove goes out (small stove). We plan on replacing it in the next 3-5 years with a Buderis high efficiency cold start boiler with outdoor temp reset and an indirect water heater tank (two coils so we can add solar hot water later). Should cost us about $5,000 installed but will last a good long time and save us money in the future being that its so efficient.

For now I pay the $25/month for Irving's platinum protection on my boiler. Last year they put $2,000 worth of labor and parts into it and I didn't pay anything except the $25/month plan

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We sold our furnace about 33 years ago and have never missed it.

 

[Wood Duck]

I would not want to be without a backup heat source, in this case electric. We are away from the house enough in the winter that we would have frozen pipes without the backup, and even when we are here the backup heats a few of the rooms that the wood stove can't really heat.

 

[Mainely Saws]

Back up heat is a necessity for me to just in case I have to leave the house for a period of time or if I was out of commission for a while . It just seems out of whack to have a multi thousand dollar heating system & then burn wood , pellets or whatever to avoid using that system because of the cost involved . I suppose that has a lot to do with our life styles ........
I just heard on the news today that heating oil has jumped another 11 cents per gallon to an average of $3.45, & a high of $4.05 in my state . That makes Eco bricks at $239.20 per ton a bit more economical .

 

[firefighterjake]

Back up heat is a necessity for me to just in case I have to leave the house for a period of time or if I was out of commission for a while . It just seems out of whack to have a multi thousand dollar heating system & then burn wood , pellets or whatever to avoid using that system because of the cost involved . I suppose that has a lot to do with our life styles ........
I just heard on the news today that heating oil has jumped another 11 cents per gallon to an average of $3.45, & a high of $4.05 in my state . That makes Eco bricks at $239.20 per ton a bit more economical .

Agreed . . . it does sound odd . . . but like you I like knowing that if I am away from the house for a bit longer than anticipated or if I want to go away on vacation in middle of the winter I can do so and the home's plumbing should be OK . . . and for that reason I like having a back up heat source . . . even if it is not used as often as it used to be . . . well that and I like knowing that no matter how cold it gets or how lazy I might be in not loading up that final fire in the evening . . . I will always wake up to temps that are at least 60 degrees.

 

[joecool85]

. . . well that and I like knowing that no matter how cold it gets or how lazy I might be in not loading up that final fire in the evening . . . I will always wake up to temps that are at least 60 degrees.

That's it for me too. We have cut our oil consumption to about 1/3 of what it was last year as far as how many gallons per month so far this winter. I think the 1/3 that is left is mostly for dhw, but the oil does kick in at night since the stove cools off around midnight and doesn't get fired back up till 5:30am.