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softball_80

ANSWER - to very strange furnace problem

softball_80
15 years ago

I posted two questions recently about wether or not closing a couple of registers could shorten the life of my furnace and the fact that occasionally the furnace would not cycle on when it should have unless I turned the circuit breaker or emergency shutoff switch on & off. The problem is finally resolved. Here's what it was.

The first guy replaced the flame sensor and then the high limit switch (?). Still had the problem. He then said my heat exchanger was bad and I needed a new furnace to the tune of $2250. Also that it was too big for my house. I checked my paperwork - the heat exchanger is still under warranty. I contacted York directly and they referred me to an authorized dealer. I should say that it was originally installed by an authorized dealer but they are apparently out of business now.

Last saturday the new guy came out and looked things over. He came up with the problem immediately:

The furnace is indeed too big for my house. It is 115,000 BTU's. He said he lives in a similar house and uses a 60,000 BTU furnace. Because of this he told me not to use the type of filter I had in there. "Use the cheap ones." My furnace uses a 16" x 25" x 1" filter, and until recently I HAD been using the cheap ones but the last time I bought them they were not available so I got the more expensive ones that trap finer particles (and put a bigger strain on the blower, it turns out). The heat exchanger is not cracked. He put in the type of filter I used to use and gave me a nw source for them. he said Home Depot and Lowes no longer carries them, at least in my area.

He gave me a demonstration on how this could cause my problem, showed me how to read the 'blinking lights' and relate them to a chart on the inside of the access door.

So now I don't have to spend $2250 on a furnace that I don't need. The moral - get a second opinion. BTW I found that coincidentally my sister & BIL have been using this guy for years and have nothing but good things to say about him.

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