Q. How old is your furnace and when do you plan to replace it?
A. The recent consumer expo is more than just a place to get more unneeded pens; it is also a treasure trove of information. I visited with a couple of heating and air conditioning contractors and asked them a few questions, the answers to which could save you hundreds of dollars. The average life of a furnace is fifteen years. Your furnace has several components that are expensive. The circuit board (the brain of your furnace), the main blower, and the combustion air blower motor each cost $300 to $500 to replace. If your furnace is over fifteen years old and these components fail, you should consult with your furnace contractor to assess whether you should replace the failed component or replace the whole furnace. Putting money into a fifteen-year-old furnace that has very little life left may not be wise.
When you are deciding to replace your furnace, you should also consider replacing your air conditioner especially if it is the same age as your furnace. One of the major air conditioner components, the evaporator, is mounted inside the furnace. It is a heat exchanger much like the radiator in your car. If you should replace your furnace and not the air conditioner, you could be in for a much larger total repair bill if your air conditioner fails a few years later.
Older generation air conditioners and many of those in Sun City are powered by a refrigerant known as Freon R-22 which is soon to be outlawed and unavailable. R-22 is currently very expensive at $100 to $200 per pound, but in two years it will no longer be available. Putting $300 to $500 into fixing an R-22 leak and recharging your system with a very expensive refrigerant that may leak again may not be your wisest choice.
Your next annual furnace checkup should be supplemented with a check of your air conditioner. They can tune it up and check the type of refrigerant it has. If it has R-22, it will not be cost effective to repair a failure that involves the sealed refrigerant system.
Heating contractors are seeing more clogged furnace filters. The culprit is ultra-sonic humidifiers that produce a fine white powder that clogs the furnace filter. This reduces the air flow that can cause the blower motor to burn out or it can overheat the furnace and cause it to shut down. The white powder comes from impurities in our well water. The solution is to put a filter on your tap water.
Important reader feedback
We recently ran an article on a device called Pest Barricade, designed to keep birds out of the house exhaust vents. One of our readers wrote us with the following caution about using this device on dryer vents.
I would like to bring to your attention the requirements in the International Residential Code and the National Fuel Gas Code for clothes dryers exhaust_duct termination, going back 20 years. These codes were adopted by most jurisdictions in Illinois and I quote, ”Screens shall not be installed at the duct termination.” The purpose is to allow a complete free flow of the lint. Any restriction such as a screen, regardless of its name (birds, pests etc.) may cause a trap and back up of lint. Pending on the size of the blockage, drying time will lengthen and there is an increased risk of a potential structural fire.
The industry is misleading and wall mount caps with bird screens are sold for dryer’s exhaust. Most residents are ignorant to the fact that a periodic check and maintenance of the exterior assembly is required. The ones that do know may need to hire help to maintain it due to the height of the cap.
Please note that the article recommended for annual maintenance. Installation, length of dryer exhaust duct, size and manufacturing of equipment, frequency of equipment use are some of the factors that will determine the rate of maintenance.
There are caps that are equipped with a hood that block the front approach, the bottom is open and free of any screening, this type will meet the intent of the code and will help prevent birds and pests obstructing or entering the dryer exhaust outlet opening.
If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com
