We just paid $4000 to have a new furnace installed. You may be wondering why we got a new furnace. I'm wondering, too.
Our old furnace seemed to work just fine. In fact, I had no idea anything was wrong with it, because it was providing the one and only thing I expect from a furnace: heat. Everything was just dandy until I made the mistake of getting it serviced.
I'd signed up for an "Annual Maintenance Agreement." This means the furnace company comes out every year instead of waiting until something breaks. Financially, it's a much better deal -- for the furnace company, anyway.
On the morning of the appointment, Chad, the "technician," worked on the furnace, banging around for awhile in the laundry room, possibly to prove he was actually doing something. Then he came to see me in my office down the hall.
"You have a problem," he said.
Duh, I thought, I have a lot of problems.
He continued, "You have a crack in your heat exchanger."
Oh. A new problem.
I followed Chad to the laundry room, where he told me that even though my furnace looked fine, sounded fine and even worked fine, it wasn't fine.
Yeah, right, I thought. Obviously the furnace isn't the only thing that's full of hot air.
He went on, "This happens with old furnaces because of the high temperatures. The heat exchanger develops a crack, and it's dangerous. Carbon Monoxide could be leaking right now and if gets worse, you could die."
That sounded like some sort of scare tactic, which made me...well...scared. My mind started racing. I felt nervous. I imagined the heartbreaking newspaper headline: Family of Three Killed by Crack.
I looked at the furnace. "Where is the problem, exactly?" I asked.
"You can't see it from the outside. But trust me...you have a fairly large crack."
No kidding.
He reached into the furnace. "Yep, there it is...do you want to feel it for yourself?"
"Um, no thanks...I believe you."
And I did believe him -- as soon as I heard the same thing from two other furnace companies that I called for second opinions. Neither one argued with the fact that I had a large crack.
The bottom line? I have a new furnace. Like the old one, it seems to work just fine.
Who can EVER know how serious these things are? I paid a small fortune to have my chimney checked for "dangerous cracks" and I swear the guy looked up the flue for all of two seconds.
Suzette
Posted by: Suzette Martinez Standring | February 04, 2008 at 05:12 PM
Kay,as usual your unique way of writing a story provides as vivid a picture as if I were watching a truly funny sitcom.Thanks for the moment of laughter.
Posted by: Beverly Simpson | February 04, 2008 at 06:23 PM