My furnace is 15yo. Few days ago when the weather dropped below 15, the furnace was trying really hard to warm the house but it was lingering around 16-19 degrees. Nest reported that the heat was on for 19 hours. I also received another notification from the app saying that the temperature decreased by 2 degrees while the heat was on between 1-4am in the morning (from 19 to 17). There's no issues with the heat today, we have the thermostat set at 21, and it's been around 20-21.5 degrees all day (currently -6 degrees outside as I'm typing this).
QQ, have you experienced something similar? Is this something that can be fixed, or does the whole furnace needs to be replaced? HVAC guy told me to replace the entire furnace, he said from his experience the heat exchanger is broken. I asked to see the broken part, but he pretty much said to trust him because he's experienced. He also didn't disassemble the surrounding pieces to confirm that it is broken.
I'm just confused because the house is usually warm other than the frigid days. So it's not broken, but it's broken when it's freezing outside? I'm not against replacing the furnace (since it doesn't make sense to replace the exchanger), I just want to see if anyone have experience something similar with their furnace and if it was the heat exchanger that cause the issue. Any brands or companies you'd recommend for a new furnace and installation? Is the Ontario Greener Home Grant the only rebate available this time?
TIA and hope everyone is staying sane and safe.
Underfloor heating is rare in America - something that only the really rich might have, and even then it's not common. In contrast, it seems like every new build in the UK uses underfloor heating. American houses are generally heated via radiators (if they're older) or a basement furnace connected to a central air system (if they're newer). What accounts for the difference?
I'm looking for ideas in how to design the heating / cooling for a house I wish to build and I need advice / education how its typically done.
I live in Canada so we do have pretty cold winters. The house currently has radiant heating and I wish to keep it this way for the new build.
I would want to add air conditioning and I was wondering how this is accomplished without a furnace? If a stand alone AC system exists for residential units is it possible to have it send the air from the top floor down as heat generally rises and the bedrooms will most likely be upstairs?
I just bought my first home, and I'm having some trouble with the heating system at day one. We ensured that the heat was working before closing on the house, but now that we're in there I'm having trouble getting it going.
I've taken a few pictures of the furnace in case that helps with the diagnosis. Until today, I had a flame in there, just no hot air in the house. Before taking the photos, I tried the old "turn-it-off / turn-it-on-again" method.
I twisted the ON/PILOT/OFF knob all the way to the right until the flame went out. I waited a bit (maybe 3 minutes) and tried to turn it back on again. While pressing the knob in, I believe I could hear the gas being released, but the pilot wasn't lighting.
I'm assuming the pack of matches inside (visible in the pictures) is there to aid in lighting the pilot, but since I'm inexperienced I don't exactly feel comfortable sticking a lit match into a gas furnace without some guidance.
I did a little looking on YouTube and a big culprit seems to be the flame sensor. So I want to clean that, but I don't actually know where it is in my system. So if anyone can point me to the right spot, I'll give that a try. But if you have any other advice, I'd be happy to hear it.
Thanks everyone!
Disclaimer: I am not an HVAC tech.
The furnace is a Goodman GMV9. The furnace starts successfully in the morning, heats to set temperature, and stops. When the furnace tries to reignite to maintain temp, it fails after 3 times and the error code is 2 blinks, meaning low pressure switch issue, then continuous slow blink. After being locked out for an hour, the furnace starts no problem and will operate fine for the rest of the day. There are three pressure switches, all have been replaced, and the flame detector is replaced as well. The igniter was tested by an HVAC tech and he said it's within ohm specs. No blockages in intake/exhaust pipes, no blockage in inducer, filters are new. Condensate pump is new.
So specifically when it fails to re-ignite, the inducer motor comes on, the igniter glows for around 20 seconds, no clicking to ignite. What's weird is if I power off/on the furnace it will start the same but there is clicking - it's unclear whether this furnace has a spark ignitor or if it's the gas valve clicking. Gas flow to all other appliances in the house are fine. Have a normal thermostat and an Ecobee 3 Lite, swapping makes no difference. This problem happens every morning.
The HVAC tech that came has no explanation and, to be fair, it's hard to diagnose a problem when the furnace is working when he shows up. Any ideas?
My furnace runs the exhaust fan, heats the glow plug style igniter, and all three jets light. The blower fan kicks on and runs continuously, and the flames don't go out. However the house temperature is dropping, and the air coming out of the register vents is no warmer than the ambient temperature.
It's about 30F here outside, and the house dropped from 69 to 57 over the course of the day and I can't figure out why. We're not running a smart thermostat, it's just set to 69F and has been running continuously for the last 15+ hours.
Filter is changed every 1-2 months (we'll push it two months in the spring/fall when the A/C or heat isn't ran every day) and this filter is only a week old. I've tried running it with no filter for an hour or so just to make sure it wasn't a restriction.
Any ideas? I'm out of ideas, and getting cold. (I've resorted to running all the electronics, and replaced a few lights with 100watt incandescents to try and heat a little bit.
Edit:
Well I made the mistake of emailing my gas company. Found a gas leak on a 3am emergency service call. So at least now I can say it was acting up because I was filling the garage with gas, instead of the heater.
Rhode Island, United States.
We are all going to consolidate down to 2 rooms. all the buys share a room and their body heat + TV + PC keeps that room very warm with no heater. Then 1 for my Wife, the baby, and I.
So we will be fine as far as not freezing goes.
I will keep an eye on the temp in the house, but I doubt it will get below 50 in the house, so I am not worried about freezing pipes... but I will keep an eye on it.
Now my largest issue is getting the furnace replaced.
I have 3 plumbers coming out tomorrow to give me quotes. but I am afraid this is going to ball park around $3,000 on the low end.
Ouch 1st Estimate is in.
-Cannot be repaired, $4,700 to replace. They only glanced at it and said this. I was not impressed.
ITT - A lot of helpful tips on how to stay warm, ideas for loans, ideas for government assistance, and some discussion about the amount of kids I have.
The babies room gets colder than our room which is in the attic. I assume a ceramic space heater in her room would be the cheapest option. My other option is to fire up the whole house heating system which would not be necessary because our room is in the attic and doesn't get cold. House is 1500sq ft. Not including the basement
Hello smart people, I just bought a 1600sqft 2004 home in the southern part of the PNW (so we get over 100 in the summer and down to the low 20's or so in winter) that has its original AC and natural gas furnace. Eventually these will need to be replaced (definitely need to be serviced) and when they do I'm wondering if it makes sense to replace these with a single heat pump unit. I've researched it a fair amount and the answer seems to be really highly contextual to the region, house, etc.. Because we installed solar I'm inclined to get as much onto the electrical grid as I can, since our solar is pretty easy to scale. Any help I could get to think this through more expertly and clearly would be really appreciated.
I live in Ontario and not sure where to ask, but the house I rent has a furnace that doesn't heat the whole house enough. It was -2 degrees in my kids bedroom overnight a few months ago so my landlord bought me some of those oil filled portable heaters for the bedrooms (x2) and bathroom.
The problem is now my hydro bill is out of this world and I can't afford it. From what I gather reading the Landlord Tenant Act the landlord is only obligated to provide heat, not necessarily specifying what form of heat.
Do I have to continue using the electrical heat source, or is my landlord obligated to install a bigger furnace or provide larger or more heat ducts the the bedrooms?
I have told him about my hydro bills and he doesn't seem concerned.
I recently purchased a detached home in Ontario, Canada of around 2200 square feet. I got a heating bill of $300 in December using 620 units. November was 366 and Oct 147.
I feel that this may be too high and want to make improvements. My furnace is pretty new, so that might not be an issue. Which of these factors may be the biggest contributing factor:
- I keep thermostat to 24 Degrees.
- The main return duct for lounge/kitchen is blocked by a sofa.
- No filters installed on return air ducts.
- More dirt than normal in the house.
- I changed the furnace filter 2 months ago the last one had dirt stuck on it mainly at the bottom.
- I have around 4 floor registers closed around the house as I don't need much heating in those area and whatever leaks through is enough.
I wanted to add that today was -20C and I got a warning from Ecobee that it was not able to warm the house to the desired 24C and was only at 20C. I felt the air coming from the registers was not warm enough as per usual.
I live Eastern Washington where it will occasionally drop below 20 F. Most of the time, it hovers between 30-45 in the winter. When closing on the house, the home inspector told me i should turn off the heat pump by setting the thermostat to emergency heat when it gets 10 degrees or less. My parents, who have had the dual heat pump/ furnace system for years, told me to do it if it's 20 or below. Every other person I've discussed this with (3 others) said to do the same. Every article on line told me to never do this. It's going to be in the single digets or less here for a few days and i don't know what the right thing is. My system was a new install in 2017.
We had our home inspection today, and for the most part the house is in great shape, but the issue that is bothering me the most is that the inspector found some dead mice in the furnace and heat ducts. He did not see any other evidence of rodent infestation in the home (attic looked fine), but he acknowledged that there is a good chance there are more mice in there somewhere and I am really alarmed that this could mean we're buying a house with a major rodent problem.
What would you do if you found mice in a home you otherwise liked? Would it be reasonable to request the seller pay for a pest control company do an inspection before closing to see if there are mice in any other parts of the house? Would you walk away from the house over this? (We like the house, but we aren't in a situation where we HAVE to move anytime soon)
I live in a house built in 1955 in an area with no natural gas lines. I have a 250 gallon oil tank in the basement connected to an oil fired furnace/water heater. It is connected to a hot water radiator system to heat the house.
My last delivery of oil was $4.65 per gallon of heating oil. At my electricity rate or 14.5cents/kwh and taking into account a 79% heater efficiency and 139000 BTU/gallon of heating oil, $4.65 is my electric/oil break even point. I figure taking into account the blower and the pump for the furnace, it is cheaper to heat with electricity.
Also, I'm planning on moving and selling the house in 3 years, so I don't want to do any major renovations unless they would pay for themselves in 3 years or add to the value of the house.
We’re checking out a house in the Northeast (suburb in MA) with oil heating and central air. I know oil is more expensive than gas, but what other considerations should I keep in mind? Has anyone had challenges with oil supply/delivery? If I wanted to make an upgrade down the road, would a propane tank make sense if there is no gas line on the street? How challenging/expensive would it be to get a gas line to the house if the nearest one is on a neighboring street?
EDIT: Wow thank you all so much for the feedback and experiences. It sounds like oil would be just fine for now in the NE, especially if the system isn’t too old, and now I know what to look for and keep in mind if we end up with the house. And when the system is ready to be replaced, you’ve given me some great ideas to consider.
Hi all,
I have a 100 year old house that I would love to install a programmable thermostat, such as the new Amazon one (because it is cheap and I don't actually care about the "smart" part of it). I have a furnace and no air conditioning, and I don't ever expect to install air conditioning. I really just want to be able to control my furnace while I am out of town (which is often). I know I will need a C wire, and I know I currently don't have that. What I am trying to figure out is how to go about getting a C wire - if I need an adapter, if I need to rewire the whole shooting match, if I need a new transformer, etc. Right now I have a Honeywell T8775C1005/U installed. Here are some photos of the current setup: https://imgur.com/a/wXaai8J
Can yall give me some advice as to what I need to do in order to get a programmable (C - wire using) thermostat? My walls are rather difficult to access, although it could be done if a rewire job is needed...
Thanks in advance!
And if your heat is electric, do you really save any money by using energy efficient (ie: create less heat) bulbs?
[EDIT: Easier than cubic feet:
Was: 1600 sq ft (1450 adjusted as if everywhere has 8' ceilings).
Now: 3100 sq ft. (2000 ground floor (adjusted) + 200 loft + 400 basement + 1000 crawl space* (4′ tall, so counted as 500 sq ft).) ]
*My floors are freezing. Instead of paying for in-floor radiant heating - either hydronic or electric - requiring tearing up floors or at least installing in the joist bays under the subfloor (not as effective) and then adding insulation so the heat doesn't escape down to the earth, let heat-pump-heated air provide an economical alternative. Crawl space to be sealed and insulated.
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He says if I go with a 4-ton heat pump, in the summer the coil may freeze because my 8x10 duct trunks aren't big enough. I can get 5' of 8x14 for $13.25. I can up-size the trunks. Plumbing and electrical don't prevent that expansion.
I would rather pay less, if a 3-ton will work. I would rather see a 3-ton than the twice-as-big 4-ton (it is two of the smaller units stacked together.) I want the 3-ton, but I'm skeptical. I will have upgraded the ceiling insulation from R-19 to R-38, but that will be the only reason to need less BTUs, surely dwarfed by the expanded area / volume. On a previous heat loss calculation performed for free by a geothermal salesperson when there was no addition, he had calculated less than 4000 BTU /hr was lost thru the ceilings - that might have been wrong, but it's not clear that the insulation upgrade will make 36000 BTU enough.
Was the original 68000 BTU electric furnace over-sized? Perhaps - but I noticed it running for 3/4 of an hour straight - thus putting out 51000 BTU - and perhaps starting up again 5 minutes later - just to maintain 60 degrees F. If it were a multi-storey house, heat lost from some rooms would heat rooms above, but this is a bungalow. Windows are in poor condition but won't be replaced for 5 years.
Heat pumps come with electric heat elements - 8 kW in this case - so the house may be able to stay warm - but if I'm going to be getting much of my heat as electrical heat, that seems like I'm missing out on the benefits of a heat pump.
Near Toronto - climate zone 5b - hot summers but freezing winters. (I have so much shade that cooling is rarely needed. Ignore cooling.)
Should I flair/title this with [Heat Pump]? It's about system sizing, beyond just heat pumps, so...?
I was thinking about how to distribute heat from my rigs and already have a lot of them in a tent. I could potentially run some duct to a nearby supply vent which could in theory use the house's existing ductwork to my advantage.
It seems like a pretty decent idea to me, I'm sure it wouldn't be perfect but I can't really see the downside. Any thoughts or dire warnings I need to hear?
I just bought a house with a heat pump, which was replaced at the beginning of the year along with the air handler and I believe the controller board. The house was unoccupied for a few months, but I don't think that is part of the issue. On the Honeywell ProSeries thermostats, I set 70F auto fans, the fans will blow but just cold air. I got the system to heat by shutting off the breakers for ten minutes, but it just heated up to 90+ degrees while I was sleeping. Turned off the thermostat until it got to 70F but continued to blow cold and wouldn't heat again. Tech came out, looked at the system, checked refrigerant (when I got it to blow hot air) He said it was fine and working, charged a service fee and left. But I don't have heat 95% of the time.
System is: Heat Pump; Goodman Model GSZ140361LA Serial; 2003520709 Part # SR3R00421
Air Handler: U.S. ALUMACOIL? Model ARUF37C14AD Serial; 2008237402 Part# SR3A00166: 1 Phase
Board: EcoJay Smartzone 2XZS2X
Thermostat: Honeywell Home Honest Air ProSeries Model; TH421OU2002 Serial; 2027JC091780
I've checked wire connections and they all seem tight, the house has two zones (two dampers) so I have also tried switching the thermostats around as well as entering the code to program the schedule. Filters are all clean and new. I've tried running the heat while it was 70F outside and 30F, it just blows cold for the 4-5 hours I had heat on. Emergency Heat does heat the house, it just takes hours to move the temp up and I read its bad for the system to run for too long. The two times I flipped the breaker off and on to get heat just ran heat nonstop and woke up to a 90-degree house with high 30s outside (it didn't work probably 10 times that I did the same thing). The controller appears to be set to the right switch settings; The thermostat wires are wired to the correct places according to the manual. The Ecojay board when the breaker is flipped on will have SUPPLY lit, the display number increases up to the thermostat setting then drop quickly down to around outside temp and not increase. Today it had LOW TEMP light blinking with the number 48 and outside temp of 55. I have also never lived with a heat pump before, mostly had to gas furnaces.
Any ideas for me to check? I can upload pictures in the comments. I just don't want to pay a 90-dollar service fee for someone to come out and tell me it's fine again. Thank you in advance!
I need a new air-conditioning and furnace what I have right now is furnace that is oversize for the house with a coil condenser on top of the furnace I’m thinking about going with a hydronic system and installing boiler on demand and outside ac unit use both AC and heat only problem my vents are at the bottom of the wall I’m not to sure if the AC will cool down the house. Or should I stick with furnace and put ac in attic? Any advice thank you
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