This wasn’t the post I intended to write. But the day kind of went off the rails when our heating tech said something to the effect of “I can’t believe this!” and proceeded to tell me that the heat exchanger on our three and a half year old furnace was cracked. In case you don’t know–this is bad. As in carbon monoxide leaks. His next step was to shut off the gas supply to the furnace, his due diligence to protect his company from liability.

The news got worse. A repair bill in excess of $1000, and that was if they could get the part. I later learned that they probably wouldn’t get it until mid-December–almost two months. So I called the company we bought the furnace from. They are coming to check it tomorrow. They say they can get the part in 2-3 weeks, around the second week in November. The supply chain chickens have come home to roost for us.

I learned from our technician that this particular part is known to crack where ours cracked and that newer models have redesigned the heat exchanger. And he reminded me that replacement parts for furnaces may be like those on cars, not usually as good as OEM parts. So we could well have the problem again, maybe several times during the life of the furnace.

Hmm. It used to be that heat exchangers lasted the life of the furnace. But in this case, the metal is thinner. I’m thinking that maybe this furnace’s life has ended–for us. I don’t want a potential carbon monoxide threat sitting in my utility room. Yes, we have CO detectors, including one by our bedroom. We’d probably feel better being rid of this furnace and to negotiate for a replacement that (hopefully) doesn’t have this problem. Now we’ll have to see what the company we bought the furnace from thinks about that.

Needless to say, I’m not happy. This happens more than I’d like. Crappy compressors in refrigerators are another one of my beefs. Remember those refrigerators that would last 30 years? You might still have one. Now, you are lucky if they last ten. All the while, they boast about energy efficiency. What’s efficient about making and disposing of these major appliances in such a short cycle?

What’s more troubling is that technicians know about these things, which are potentially life threatening. If my furnace were a car, there would probably be a recall. Why is that not the case?

At least it’s not January. That said, the temperatures the next few nights will be in the 30’s. We have no other heat source than an old space heater–will be going out to get another.

We may have to convert to electric one of these days. It would mean some serious rewiring in our mid-80’s house in natural gas land. It may even be a green move when we finally figure out how to generate our electricity from something else besides coal. Maybe we’ll put solar panels on our southern exposure. Cha-ching…

Meanwhile, the house is starting to get a bit chilly…

An Update:

A technician from the company from whom we bought the furnace was out this morning. One thing that impressed me was that he was far more thorough than the previous guy, pulling the blower, looking from below, above, as well as through the front via camera at the location the other tech said there was a crack. He found nothing. He ran CO and combustion tests. Nothing.

So where does that leave us?

For now, we will run the furnace. And, I changed the batteries in one CO detector, and we will add two more per his suggestions. And we may talk to a home inspection guy who is a friend to see if there is a way to get an “impartial” assessment because:

• We wonder if the first company is really trying to get us to buy another furnace. We’ve dealt with them for a long time, but in recent years, we’ve noticed techs who try to get us to buy more add-ons.
• We wonder if the second company doesn’t want to lose money on warranty repairs.

I should say, the second company’s tech seemed very thorough, spent a long time on the diagnostics, and didn’t charge us anything.

But all this strikes me as a parable of our “epistemic crisis.” Whose “truth” do we trust? When truth and trustworthiness has become such an expendable commodity in our communal life and everyone claims a right to their own truth, their own facts. When there is no accountability for lies or they are even considered expedient–this seeps into all of life.

Right down to those upon whom our homes and lives depend.

A (hopefully final) update

We did have a third company inspect the heat exchanger. They gave free second opinions if you had an invoice with a diagnosis of a cracked heat exchanger. I showed the tech a picture the first company sent. He said, “That’s not your heat exchanger.” But he checked everything out thoroughly.

We also installed two CO detectors, one on each floor. And a company that has had our business for thirty years has lost it. It appears they were trying to sell us a bill of goods, some of which may be reflected in the first part of this post. It’s disheartening, and left us a bit less confident in the safety of our furnace, even with those second opinions. This is what happens when trust is broken…