NFAACD

[BatUtilityBelt]

That stands for New Furnace And Air Conditioner Day. It started with my furnace refusing to light its burners a few days ago. I went through all the basic steps and was pretty sure the control unit had a short so it didn't see the flame sensor. The furnace is old enough that they don't sell this control unit anymore, and swapping for an alternative the industry found acceptable left me with too many questions (not enough perfectly obvious wiring swaps). So I called in the experts who did a few of the same tests as me (but faster) and concluded the same. Before going forward, he put a camera to my heat exchanger and it had some well defined cracks (metal fatigue). Of course this furnace is over 40 years old, and that was almost bound to be the case. Since that problem can cause the furnace to let CO2 leak into the house instead of up the flu, that's a hazard and they couldn't just swap the control unit if they wanted to. The cracked heat exchanger wins any argument and that means replacing the 40 year old with a newer better furnace. What I hoped was going to be a repair bill turned into a new major appliance bill, but we're not done.

Planned obsolescence being a real thing, the air conditioner's evaporator coil sits right above the furnace, and the older it is, the more of a threat it is to the furnace's health. My rusty old furnace verifies that. So replacing an old one along with the furnace is a good idea to save on separate labor and other unintended consequences. And as luck would have it, my AC condenser had been acting up (freezing) far too much this last summer, and I wasn't sure that was just a matter of needing a top-off. Add that most of its parts are the same age as the furnace, and I asked one more question: "Can an old AC impact a new furnace?". After a moment, they came back with some reasonable scenarios where that was possible. So we're going with complete replacement, just not the most efficient they sell.

Here's where we get religious about options... I know more complicated systems need more maintenance, and that maintenance will be harder. So I didn't want to go high efficiency with all the bells and whistles. I wanted low maintenance and high reliability. Being 4 decades newer and using a different refrigerant and such, both the furnace and AC will be more efficient than what they are replacing, so there will still be longer term utility bill savings there, but not to the point where I'm trading those savings for maintenance fees.

Bottom line, this is a much bigger check to write than I was expecting on a repair, so it probably kills my GAS for a while. But I will again have good climate control year-round for the gear I already have, and that's important where I live. I'm lucky to be able to afford this chapter. And given a lot of similar stories from friends over the years, it was just a matter of time. If it's gear, the cost is about the same as 2 R9s. But based on the sounds of the swap operation going on downstairs, it's a percussive instrument.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Furnace repair killed the GAS

[Tonray's Ghost]

I remember desperately trying to sell my house in NJ before the winter so I wouldn't have to replace the ailing furnace before I got out

[BatUtilityBelt]

I remember desperately trying to sell my house in NJ before the winter so I wouldn't have to replace the ailing furnace before I got out

Yeah, I did alright with the basic maintenance, but eventually planned obsolescence wins. Congrats on escaping that experience.

[andrewsrea]

I did that in 2019, times 2. My house was built in 1999 as one of two model homes for the development and it has two HVAC systems. I did my own maintenance from 2014 to 2019 when I decided to get a professional in to evaluate, as retirement was closing in. The upper floor AC was running at 19 amps after start up (compared to 3 to 4 amps which is normal), meaning the compressor was shot. Then the tech looked at the furnace and said 'we don't see many of this model, as they were known for early failures of the heat exchangers. $10K later, I had two new furnaces, AC units and A coils. The good news was, I saw an appreciable drop in my energy bills in both the cooling and heating seasons. Hopefully you will as well!

[tonebender]

My HVAC went out the day before the hurricane last month and the day after I was hit head on totaling my Ram pickup. It was not a good week. It's all behind me now and nothing thousands of dollars could not resolve.

[BatUtilityBelt]

My HVAC went out the day before the hurricane last month and the day after I was hit head on totaling my Ram pickup. It was not a good week. It's all behind me now and nothing thousands of dollars could not resolve.

Now that's a bad week. I only had to put on a sweatshirt and come to grips with the fact I couldn't fix it this time. They haven't even charged me for it yet, but all the new equipment is in, running, and returning the house to its prior comfort level.