Furnace Repair:

Having your furnace suddenly break in the middle of winter is one of the worst things that can happen to a homeowner. When the temperatures outside are falling, you need the warmth from your furnace to keep you comfortable inside. One time I came home from a vacation and had turned the furnace completely off to save on energy since I wasn't home. When I went to restart the heater it would not even cycle on for more than a few seconds. The house temperature had dropped to about 52 degrees over the week that I was gone and now the heater was refusing to start back up and warm the house. I didn't know what was wrong and tried to troubleshoot the furnace problems but could not figure out why it had suddenly quit. The thermostat still showed that the heater was on and it was set for 68 degrees, but still no response. I called the local furnace repair company to come out and do a diagnostic on the furnace to find out what was wrong. A broken furnace is no laughing matter - if you have to replace a furnace you are looking at $3500+ or more.

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I have a Carrier furnace and when I looked online in forums for DIY homeowners, I found that my model had a reputation for bad control boards. The technician came out and sure enough the board was bad. Furnace control board replacement is not too bad - you do pay for the diagnostic fee and the board was over $250. At some point the furnace repair cost will not be worth it and investing in a new one will make more sense. Furnace experts recommend that you get the yearly maintenance that most companies offer. They will adjust or clean things like the blower, breaker, drain, drain line, evaporator coil, fins, pilot, vent, and ignition components. Whether you are servicing your furnace in Denver, Chicago, or Portland, it's best to get all the work done before winter sets in. Once the cold weather hits, there can be a big backup in work load for some of these companies and you could end up waiting a week or more to get your furnace fixed. Be proactive with a home heating system and don't wait for something to happen. There are some HVAC repair companies in my area that sell a "service plan" to customers. You pay them a fee and then certain things like diagnostic fees are FREE when they come out. I'm not sure that is the way to go, but those with older furnaces need to consider these plans. Most home furnaces will last between 15 and 20 years - depending on how much use it gets. My brother just had his replaced in a house that was roughly 15 years old. The amount to repair the old furnace didn't make sense when you could put that towards a new furnace and recoup most of the costs on energy savings within 8 years.

Furnace Repair Cost:

How much does it cost to repair a furnace? Some of the more basic furnace repairs are for things like the hot surface igniter which I had to get done for $130 (plus the diagnostic fee of $99). The darn furnace didn't even turn on and I thought the control board was bad again. Turns out the igniter had finally failed (took 14 years) and so the furnace was not turning on at all. To replace a control board these days you are looking at $350 or more and to install or replace an OEM burner is going to set you back $500+. Even repairs like replacing a universal blower fan are $200. It's kind of like having a mechanic look at your car and tell you it's going to cost $800 to repair a "so and so part". With furnaces I feel the same way - like I never know if they are being totally truthful with me. If you want, you can always get 2 or 3 furnace repair estimates and compare prices to make sure you are getting a fair shake. The bad part is that most estimates - based on diagnostic work will cost you $99/each. Once you get the first diagnostic done with, you can call furnace repair shops and see what they estimate based on whatever is wrong per the first technician. At some point you need to decide whether it's better to replace the entire furnace than keep putting money into an older model that acts up.

Fixing a Broken Furnace:

Now that I have had issues with my furnace, I try to fire it up way before the cold temperatures hit so that I know that it's working properly. I also, make sure the maintenance is performed every 2 years so that the basic functioning of the unit is working smoothly. Some of the things that break on furnaces can be avoided - per the technician that was at my house. If you maintain the furnace, that is pay $130 every other year, the odds of the furnace working smoothly are much better. Unless you know about wiring and the internal workings of a furnace, don't attempt to fix it yourself. I can remove the main filter and I've even looked at the control board for loose wires or signs that something has happened, but that is it. If the furnace stops working, call a certified HVAC technician who can troubleshoot the problem and give you an estimate on repair costs. Most furnace fixes can be done the same day - sometimes a part may need to be ordered. The average bill will probably set you back $300 to $400 so be prepared. If you happen to live in a cold weather climate, it's not like you can avoid fixing the furnace, so stay on top of any signs that there are problems and have them fixed.

Replacing a Furnace
Furnace Buying Guide

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