We noticed
our furnace wouldn't run correctly if the eyepiece (the black circle
below) was installed correctly with the cover. The furnace would try
to light (3 times) then shut off. I scanned the phone book and
picked someone to come out and check it out. Within twenty minutes
the guy was telling me we needed a new furnace. He said my heat
exchanger was cracked and installing an entire new furnace was the
best way to go. WTF?!?!
We called our home warrently company
and they promptly sent someone to check it out. The first time
they came out, everything worked fine. The second time the guy decided
it needed a new gas valve (the electronic looking gizmo in the
top right). We even called another service company to come out
and confirm. They agreed a new gas valve was installed by the
warrenty service people. That's three different service company's
for those of you at home keeping
track.
The furnace still didn't work
correctly. The warrenty service people came out a third
time and decided it was the lower heat exchanger that was cracked.
He took some readings at the outside exhaust and the carbon monoxide
levels were twice what they should be. Luckily nothing was detected
in the house. The next day the owner of the service company called
me to say they were submitting it for a new furnace warrenty and I'd
have to replace my coil at my own cost. I called back later to say I
didn't want the coil (it's not really related to the furnace, though
it sits over top of it. He basically yelled at me). That
night I did a bunch or research (most confirming my
decision) and emailed an aquaintance I know that just so happens to
own an HVAC company. I spoke with him the next morning and he said
yes a coil is a good idea. Technically it's not related to the
furnace as much as it is to your AC unit outside, but when
replacing a forced air furnace it's a really good idea to
do the coil as well. Their physical relationship is so close,
it's one of those things you suck up and do. So I'm getting a
new furnace for free and a new coil that isn't so
free.
Here's the old furnace. The new one (coil
and ductwork) goes in Friday March
3rd.
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Here's a picture of the existing coil. In my
efforts to try and prove I didn't need one or understand why I
did,
I was able to get a picture of part of it. Looks good to
me.
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Here's the old furnace stripped naked outside.
The old coil sat on top of the furnace, but was already gone
by
the time I got outside to see it. I did eventually find
it tucked away in the back of one of the guys closed
vans.
I knew from the beginning this whole thing was a scam, but it
was getting worse now. The furnace
may have truly
needed replacing, but nothing they said to me ever made any sense.
His explanation for the
bad lower heat exchanger was
that the return was too small. The return was 20"x20". I read the
minimum
return for most forced air furnaces should be the same
as the outgoing plenum. Guess what? My outgoing
plenum was
20"x20". Then he tells me the new furnace will have a
bigger/better return. The new one will
be 16"x25." Hmmm. I'm
generally not that good with math, but doesn't 20"x20" and 16"x25"
equal the
same thing?
Whatever. I'm still getting a new
furnace for free and a new coil for not so free right? Then I
ask about the
air intake and exhaust outside under the
deck. Are they going to redo it? Every servicemen I've had to the
house has said "That's really bad." This guy had even asked
me if it passed the house inspection that way.
So are they going
to redo it? No. He says it's fine. If they were to fix it, it
would only cost me more, since
the warrenty company won't pay
for it. You mean like the coil you pushed on me?
It
drives me nuts. They were so eager to sell me the goddamn coil and
make some kind of profit, they
never asked what else I might
need or want done? They probably could have made a lot
more off me on
legit things, if
they had just done their jobs.
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So here's the new furnace with the new
coil. One of the owners arguments for not using my old coil was
that they'd have to fabricate ductwork to make it fit on the new
furnace. Guess what boys and girls? The
shiny thing with the
shiny tape on it is ductwork they had to fabricate to get the new
coil to work with the
old plenum. WTF?
When it was all
done the guy gave me the invoice. It simply said "Install new
furnace and coil". I asked for
an itemized breakdown, but he
said he didn't have it. They just tell him what to charge. He
was a nice
enough kid, so I let him go with the check. Now I'm
debating calling them on Monday and get them to fax
me an
itemized invoice. I know it will be a pain. Everytime I call them I
get a headache. I've got a heater
that works like it should (for
now) and a warm home. I might just let it finally go.
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If you're interested in
knowing who this company is so you don't have to deal with their
crap, you can
email me below and I'll fill you in. |
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