The Glade 4.0

Damn thermocouple went for the second time in 2 months and left my house unheated last night.

Heater ppl replaced it in October when I realized the heater was not working. Thankfully, the weather then wasn't too cold yet.

Dude came to the house diagnosed and fixed the problem to the tune of $250 and gave me a primer on how the thermocouple does it's job and how to relight the pilot if needed.

Last night, Oonagh was bundled up on the couch and I realized my house was colder than normal. Checked the thermostat and it said the heater should be on. Checked the heater and it was unlit and silent. Checked the pilot light and it was also out.

No worries since I now know that there is no gas freely roaming about because it is the thermocouple's job to shut the gas valve when it senses that the pilot light is out.

Attempted to relight the pilot and it would not stay lit. In my untrained opinion, the same part that was replaced in October has crapped out. Called emergency number for the heater repair people and they had 3 calls before me and wouldn't be able to dispatch a tech until well after midnight.

I decided to take the first call they have available in the morning. Oonagh and I were bundled up under the covers and the baby was well bundled in 2 blankets and a sleep sack, so none of us froze....and that's good.

Heater dude showed up this morning and determined that it was exactly that...the thermocouple.

Part replaced, no charge for visit or part(under warranty), house is again toasty warm.

I couldn't wait to get to work today. I so desperately wanted to be warm again.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Got home yesterday after a short day of work due to the heater "repair" in the morning.

House was not as hot as it should be. Heater was not on and the pilot was out again. I called the heater repair ppl around 4:30pm and told them that the "repair" did not fix the heater. He told me that he would have someone there within the hour.

2 hours later....

Nothing. No call. No ETA. Nada. I call back and now I get the answering service. Told the operator the situation and asked to be notified when someone would be out.

1 1/2 hours later...

Nothing. No call. No ETA. Nada. I call the answering service once again and restate the importance of getting someone out that night ASAP because it is getting cold in my house and I have a 7 month old.

Finally, the tech shows up. Plays with the heater and tells me that the only other thing that it could be that would cause the pilot to not light (since the thermocouple was replaced) was the gas valve.

$300 more dollars and a pile of aggravation later, I now have a warm home...

So much for X-mas.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

I'm in a similar situation, only my AC/heating guy is a friend and doing the work for me off the clock, so he does not have to charge me the repair service prices. The furnace (which you might recall from previous issues over the past couple years) is the only part of the heating and air system that has not been replaced.

I had issues with it not coming on last year, but when we replaced the AC coil and installed a digital thermostat last year, the problem went away. The weekend before Thanksgiving it decided to die and later the problem is identified as the gas regulating valve, and like you said a $200-$300 repair.

Fortunately we have other heating options (a gas fireplace insert and a gas radiant heater in the basement) the two have no problems keeping the entire house (4000 sqaure foot with finished basement) warm in this weather (mid 30s at night).

So, talking with Isaac we decided, instead of sinking the $200-$300 into a patch repair on a system nearly two decades old we would invest in a new furnace. This will mean that everything heating and air, inside and out has been completely replaced in the last three years, all new Lenux items and all with manufacturer warrantees. He is doing the entire installation for $1300 which can't be much more than the cost of the new system, which would be a fantastic price if it weren't for the $1200 we spent on repairing the roof and the $3500 we spent on repairing the foundation and drainage issues (and a new porch too boot) and another $2000 or so worth of painting and repair to finish up inside the hourse.

I know it's part of home owner ship and getting it fixed the right way is the smart way to do it, but between the repairs and hospital bills, this year has just been sapping every bit of savings and emergency funds we've got (asside from retirement stuff, which we won't touch early). Fortunately we have managed to get through this without having to create new dept to do this (we just won't be paying off old debt nearly as fast as we planned).

I can feel for you Foamy, hang in there.

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Gorse