It’s finally fall and time to check my furnaces. I’d had some minor issues towards the end of last winter and I want to avoid that this season.
Last winter during subfreezing weather, I had to call out service technicians because my main furnace wouldn’t stay lit. And I hate working outside in subfreezing temperatures, so their fee, while high, was worth it While the work they did cleaning the burners was minor and took less than 30 minutes, I still had problems after they left and I paid them over $200. When I inspected the burners myself, I was able to diagnose that my burners in small spots had rusted and in some spots there were holes. I was able to source the burners online for about $120 and replace them myself in about an hour.
While I had the burners out, I took a look inside the heat exchanger. I think I’m getting toward the end of the usable life of the heat exchanger, as I saw some exfoliating rust laying inside it. I took a shop vac and got that out while I had the burners out.
I also had a vibration in my draft inducer for which I was quoted over $300, but was able to find online for less than $100. It took me about an hour to replace myself
