Wednesday, 7 Jun 2023
I changed the furnace filter Monday. It needed it. That got me thinking. The furnace is about 35 years old, installed when the previous owners remodelled the house and replaced the original radiant heat with forced air to handle the house additions. The air ducts have never been cleaned since.
After searching on-line I asked for a quote from a place that gets good reviews for their cleaning. Got quote in email. I replied saying I’d like to schedule a servce. Got a phone call about 40 minutes later and had a service call scheduled for this morning before beer time Monday evening.
Office vent
Furnace closet
Living room vent
Family and dining room
Air intake
Verify all is working
I was told the crew would arrive between 8 and 10. Three guys were here before 8:30 and were gone by 11 AM. The cleaning included pulling apart the blower. It was dirty and the motor was black from dust and dirt. They also found and repaired some heat damaged connections – the insulation was brittle and falling apart – around a safety switch that kills power to the furnace when the bottom front panel is removed. All registers were removed and cleaned, too.
Happy with what was done.
Saturday, 10 Jun 2023
The safety switch mentioned above needed replacing. I ordered one after theu furnace people left. The replacement unit arrived today.
Damaged switch
Ouch. This is what the bottom of the switch looked like. The cracked plastic housing couldn’t be seen until the switch was removed due to placement. The broken contact pulled out of the switch when I disconnected the wiring. I wonder if this was a fire waiting to happen?
The new switch is installed and the furnace is working correctly.