Always a snag.....

So more of the Furnace Fables.........the furnace guy said it would take about four hours to install it; it took nearly EIGHT. My house is insulated well so it only got down to 67 in here but I was getting a bit uncomfortable by the time they left. Furnace was running and kicking out some heat as they pulled out of the driveway. I sighed with relief too as it had been a hard day keeping a 3 year old entertained and out of their way.

I curled up with my book and patiently waited to feel warm again. After about 45 minutes I still felt cold so I checked the thermostat and it said.....67. I felt the heat registers....nothing. So I called the guy and he was home by then and probably in his jammies, slugging down a beer after an all day job like that.....but he said he'd be over to find out what was wrong.

Within a few minutes his partner that had helped him showed up. He had things up and running in just a few minutes. When asked what had been wrong, he just laughed and said, "sorry, human error". My son said it had something to do with too much water in somewhere and it had to be drained....after that it fired right up.

I'm just not that lucky.... so I know what happened....it was a reminder that the reason everything seemed to go ok with the installation, was only because the gremlins were busy effing up someone else's life and didn't have time to totally put the screws to me that day, so they just gave me a little kick to let me know they are still around and waiting. I figure they were messing with Soul, Jamie and Hensteeth about that time. Being a gremlin is hard work; lots to do this time of year. So far, so good......I have heat. Now, I'm wondering about the hot water heater. Ssshhhhh

Gimme that hot air.....

This morning when I woke up my furnace blower was blowing cold air through the heat registers. That woke me up in a panic as I figured my furnace had finally turned up its toes and died. I turned the thermostat up and in a few minutes hot air was coming through so the furnace was working. It was the blower that was acting up again and I had just gotten that fixed, or so I thought. Its just not shutting off like it should….but its hit and miss. Sometimes it does what its supposed to do, sometimes it doesn’t. Tell THAT to a repairman and you will get the rolling of the eyes and that little sigh that just YELLS out…”um hmmm, sure lady”. I made up my mind to get a quote on a new furnace now since I know this is basically their slow time. This is the time to buy a new furnace…this is when you can take advantage of a good sale because warm weather will soon be here.

I got my quote tonight after he checked over my existing furnace that I’ve had for nearly 30 years. Its given me excellent service but its time to replace it. He confirmed that something is cracked…can’t remember what he called it now but he said it could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning if it wasn’t replaced soon. He also knew why my blower is doing what its doing and its not the blower’s fault at all; it’s the fault of some little sensor gadget. He said eventually that will completely fail and then the blower won’t run at all.

Since this furnace has served me so well, I asked about getting another of the same brand. He said that now parts were hard to find for that particular furnace, that there is only one distributor that carries parts and they are an hour away.

So, I hope I picked the right brand name. He said it was a good one with a warranty that can’t be matched by any other one on the market. The parts are easily obtainable, if needed, and that’s a plus for me. It will be installed either tomorrow or the day after. He will call me and confirm later on. I will be without heat for about 4 hours while they are installing if all goes well. And we all know…..that OF COURSE all will go well, won’t it?

I’m glad I had the money stashed but that stash was for something else. It was for a new computer but I guess I will just have to wait on that for a while longer. After all, a furnace is far more important than having an updated computer system. And just maybe the computer will be even cheaper in another year. I’m just so effin lucky I can’t stand myself.