grateful for the tub this morning!

[anne]

My furnace mysteriously DIED yesterday afternoon. Granted, this is CA, but we're still having a bit of cold weather. It got down to 22 last night, and it is about 34 now.....soaking in the tub this morning was a god send. I'm waiting to see what the damage is.........wont be good, I'm afraid. The house is at 51. Not bad, considering no heat since yesterday at 1-3pm, but it is still just too darned cold for my blood!

[96SC]

I'm waiting to see what the damage is.........wont be good, I'm afraid.  

I don't think your house, water lines etc. will be damaged from the cold.  If you are refering to the damage to your wallet to repair/replace your heater.   Be afraid, be very afraid.
 

[anne]

Yeah, I was referring to my wallet. I mentioned the temp of the house just because I was feeling sorry for myself and the dog. It is basically fixed, at $300- have to wait till monday for the part, but at least it is temporarily running, and the house is heating up. I dont necessarily begrudge someone $300 for two trips, having to drive to pick up the part, and having the tools and knowledge to diagnose and fix it, BUT it still sort of burns me. I do everything myself that I can, and often have a really hard time paying others to do what I wish I knew how to do, or dont have the confidence to fake, on my own.

[Tman122]

Well, what was wrong with it? There truely is very little to the inside of a furnace. Thermal coupler, control box, gas valve, burner assembly? And they are all very easy to change out but the diagnosis is the hard part. Wish you would of asked.

[anne]

well, I did ask my dad, and sent him photos of the inside and everything, but there is only so much he could do from the phone. I considered mentioning it here, but I decided that someone was probably going to have to TOUCH the thing to figure it out. Turns out that the limit switch has to be replaced. Simple enough, and that is what my dad suspected from afar, but it is not something that I know how to do, nor would I have access to the part, aside from through a contractor, according to the tech. I seriously considered just paying him for his visit and saying "no thanks, I'll figure it out" but it was not a battle that I really felt like fighting, and I would not want the liability if i did something wrong in the repair.

I guess we all have to make a buck somewhere.  

[thearm]

Anne,
Good to hear the furnace is fixed. One thing I do when I have to call a service tech is to watch closely and ask a lot of questions when they are doing the repair. If or when you have a problem next time you might be able to fix it yourself. Also I have asked the repair techs if they do work on the side or know somebody that does. Seems there is a lot of this going on and you can usually find a better deal with the same quality of work. Just my thoughts. Stay warm!

[Bonibelle]

I know lots of people think maintence contracts are a waste of money, but I do have one on my furnace...The repairs are expensive and after hours repairs are unbelievable.  My furnace contract also includes cleaning and fine tuning, which I think is critical to keeping the heater working as it should.  

[96SC]

I am glad you will be toasty warm soon.  $300 was a lot less than I had anticipated. 8-)

[anne]

I am glad you will be toasty warm soon.  $300 was a lot less than I had anticipated. 8-)

It certainly could have been worse, but when he told me it was just a little switch that had to be changed out, I was horrified at the $300. Oh well.