Furnace Out! What would you do?

February 19, 2009 11:19 AM

Furnace out. Part not available for 2 weeks +. Weather's chilly. What would you do?

My furnace is out. The Lennox guy came out to fix it ($100 trip charge), and tells me that it's the Inducer Blower - basically the little motor that blows the gas into the furnace. Turns out these assemblies are no where to be found. The earliest I can get this little item thru them is March 3 (also necessitating a $100 FedEx cost).

We're in Denver, and having a mild, warm winter (luckily) ... but it's still below freezing at night, with highs in the 50's predicted for the next week.

I've been looking online for this part. It's a very specific part that has to match my furnace exactly. So, if I find one, and have it FedExed... there's a chance it won't even be the right one, and no furnace shop will warranty the part/installation.

Right now, I'm searching online, calling around town... trying to stay sane. Any suggestions?

posted by ecorrocio to home & garden (18 comments total)

A couple of electric space heaters can do wonders for 1 or 2 rooms. They're nice and quiet to boot. By chance do you have the part number? There seem to be DIY HVAC parts places all over the place online.
posted by jquinby at 11:28 AM on February 19 [1 favorite]

Seconding space heaters. My furnace is crap even when it's working. I have a pair of small space heaters I got for some 2-for-1 special at Target, and they're excellent.
posted by katillathehun at 11:32 AM on February 19

Post part numbers, model numbers for both the furnace and the supposedly defective part.
It's actually pretty easy to get an exact match, via the internet.

How much is the part? If it is rather expensive, then it might be worth a couple of weeks of
no heat. Probably not, though.

How long do you have left on your warranty? If it is not long, then there is no reason to
have work done by someone who clearly doesn't care if you or your pipes freeze (that would
be the Lennox guy I'm talking about).

I would be a little surprised if it was the inducer blower, actually. I would more expect
that it was the pressure differential sensor for the inducer blower.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:44 AM on February 19

Space heaters are all around 1500W by electrical code limits so there's no need to spend a lot on buying one or two. Buy the cheapest one that doesn't look like it will instantly burst into flames.
posted by GuyZero at 11:45 AM on February 19

Thanks folks. Yes, looks like space heaters are in my near future.

The Real Dan: Sounds like you know something about these. It is the inducer blower motor. Seems likely the assembly is OK. Just that dang little motor has seized up. But, the man tells me they don't usually sell just the motor.

It's pricey. The whole fix is looking to be around $700. (Here I naively thought... "it's just a little motor, how much can that be?)"

No warranty left.

I'm doing some part number etc. searches online. Tricky part is the manufacturer part # is not the Lennox #... there's a ton of similar motors and assemblies out there.
posted by ecorrocio at 11:53 AM on February 19

Shop around for your furnace repair. Direct Energy wanted $1k to fix my furnace last winter, with a lot of blah blah time to order parts delay blah blah. A local furnace dude fixed it, quickly, for $300. Ask your neighbours for, er, 'furnace dude' recommendations.
posted by kmennie at 12:00 PM on February 19

If it was me I'd be trying to find a suitable replacement motor. Unless the motor itself is one-off or custom I'd think it'd be much cheaper to just replace that. Otherwise the space heater suggestions seem decent. Finding the motor might be tricky however. Have you tried searching for the part number on the motor itself?

With the sun in Colorado you're probably not in danger of freezing pipes unless it drops pretty cold again and stays cold (maybe below 20F for awhile).

Make sure you open the curtains and blinds during the day for any window that gets sun, and close them promptly when the sun goes down. Your house won't be hot but I bet you can keep it in the 50s inside. Wear a few extra layers.
posted by 6550 at 12:07 PM on February 19

Wear a sweater.
posted by kldickson at 12:19 PM on February 19

Thanks for the advice folks. I may have tracked down one (of two) remaining blower assemblies in Denver! Keeping my fingers crossed, and my toes bundled.

6550: I'd love to replace only the motor, but can't seem to get an answer about doing just that. So far, all I'm hearing is that the entire assembly needs to be replaced. Knowing zero about HVAC, I'm in the dark...
posted by ecorrocio at 12:21 PM on February 19

Make sure your pipes don't freeze. This might include a space heater in the basement and draining major sections of the pipes all depending upon your house and plumbing layout and how cold it gets.
posted by caddis at 12:30 PM on February 19

Ning calling around to other local HVAC companies. The impeller motor in our less than year-old furnace died and the company that installed it (Sears) claimed the part wasn't available for a week. Three and a half weeks later, they were still looking. I called a local HVAC company, they found the part and installed it within the afternoon.

Oh, and I can recommend one of those heat-dish space heaters. They really get a room warm without having to listen to the racket of a fan.
posted by jamaro at 1:08 PM on February 19

i'm coming in to nth the recommendation of finding a more homegrown 'furnace dude.', especially if your unit is out of warranty. most of them tend to know work arounds for this kind of stuff.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 1:45 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]

This isn't a practical heating solution but would augment the space heaters nicely. Get a small butane stove (available for about $20 at your local korean grocery) and eat things Nabe style for the duration of your cold spell. Cabbage, chicken broth + meat and other fixings of your choice= warm and cheap meals.
posted by kinakomochi at 2:24 PM on February 19

Well, I have a guy coming out tomorrow with a part that should fit. Should. So, if we're lucky we'll have only a cold night. And, we'll sit by the fire and it'll be fun.

The company I found it at is doing the install for $200 less than the others were quoting... so a definite yes to calling around.

I'll update tomorrow, but I'm thinking we're good... (knock on wood).

Thanks all.
posted by ecorrocio at 2:29 PM on February 19

For such a short period of time, and if you have an electric oven, you can skip buying space heaters and just use your oven:

• For a little heat just set the control at 300.
• For a touch more set it at 500
• For a lot more set it to broil and open the oven door to the broil stop (open about an inch or so).

This is well within the spec of your oven, even running continuously for a couple weeks, and is IMO safer than space heaters. Depending on your model this will be equivalent to 2-4 plug in space heaters. You could even use your oven for cooking or could have it set to come one automatically before you come home.
posted by Mitheral at 6:27 PM on February 19

Re: the oven...we have a self-cleaning electric oven and good grief, it heats up the kitchen (and most of the upstairs) when it's on the cleaning cycle. Heat, plus a clean oven!
posted by jquinby at 7:22 AM on February 20

We're back in business! Thanks for all the advice folks. I like that about the oven. I'll remember that.

I think I narrowly avoided a week or two without the furnace by calling all over town to find the elusive part. Goes to show, you can't leave it to the shop.

I guess the $100 trip charge may be the inevitable price paid for the diagnosis, whether or not the service guy can fix the problem. I've had this happen with plumbing too. Call it the $100 opinion.

Stay warm!
posted by ecorrocio at 10:11 AM on February 20

Just to reiterate that Mitheral recommended using the oven if it's electric. It isn't safe to use a gas oven this way.

Even so, I would be concerned. For my money the safest space heater is an oil-filled electric.
posted by dhartung at 1:31 PM on February 20