Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

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Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

January 10, 2011, 07:36:35 PM

Awoke a few days ago at 1:30 AM to a tremendous boom noise, I figured it was a shotgun or gun shot around somewhere (it was loud enough to make me jump in bed). I looked around outside and all was normal and I go back to bed.

3 days later, (Fri). I get off work and go to throw my 18 pack of Bud in the Fridge in the basp00get. I notice the top cover to my funace laying about 4 feet out on the floor. The Train emblem is knocked off also. Disclaimer....I know very little about HVAC.... I notice the sealed combustion chamber is blown apart at the top and the air intake pipe for the furnace is blown off the top and pen 15ed off to the side. I call the company that installed my funace to check it out.

Long story short, my 7 year old Traine furnace that was pretty much top of the line when I bought it, is destroyed.

The lucky part is my family is OK, the thing was putting out 1600 on the carbon monoxide , it should be like 10 or less. When they did the annual furnace check a few days before the incident.. the reading was Zero. My wife and everyone had been feeling "funny", nonspecific type symptoms(Headaches and mild stomach stuff). I think it makes sense now.

Fri night was a very cold night here in Kansas, we had NO heat.

Im not sure what is going to happen, but they called me the next day (SAT) 8AM and had rounded up a crew and new furnace and parts came out and installed a new furnace for me (no payment) and said Traine was very likely to owe me a new furnace. I guess this type of failure is supposed to be "impossible". Installer told me there are 9 safety checks to fail to allow this to happen on these new high effiency furnaces. My old one was 93%, this new one was 95%.

Trane took the old furnace and probably reverse engineering it. LOL

I guess Im just sharing and throwing this out there, PLEASE everyone be safe and get a Carbon Monoxide detector. It may save you and your family's life.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #1 – January 10, 2011, 07:40:37 PM

Glad to see you guys made it out ok. Sucks about the furnace and going without heat for a night, but at least you got a free replacement.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #2 – January 10, 2011, 07:49:57 PM

That's some scary stuff. Glad everyone is ok.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #3 – January 10, 2011, 07:51:36 PM

Mike , We're glad you family is okay also even more to see a Company fix a mishap furnace friend. :poke:

Dan & Paula ;)

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #4 – January 10, 2011, 08:18:25 PM

I have been it the HVAC business for 30+yrs. I have seen that happen a time or two, sounds like the gas valve was leaking internally while the unit was not running and the next time it went to light...BOOM. You have a great company that went ahead and replaced it without giving you a bunch of red tape. My hat is off to them they make our profession proud!!! Glad you are all ok and yes always have a co monitor anytime you have a fuel burning furnace.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #5 – January 10, 2011, 08:41:32 PM

The tech said he has seen it occasionally in the past, but these "new" HE funaces, it is supposed to be impossible with all the fail safes and solid state sensors etc.

I hope it all works out well financially, we'll see what Trane says and what the install charges are. I trust my company though, they have gone above and beyond what I feel is standard service. A new furnace equal to mine would be 3.5-4K, I have no way to pay that currently. God is definately helping me. Thank you guys.

We were talking at my work and I guess CO is heavier than air, correct? I guess I need to put a detector in my basp00get. Are they only "good" for so long? This one is about 10 yrs old.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #6 – January 10, 2011, 08:50:12 PM

Wow you know the odds of that happening......
Go buy some lottery tickets right now.....

I'm glad everybody is ok, I always have a Co2 detector by the furnace and HW tank.... You just never know

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #7 – January 10, 2011, 08:51:45 PM

Sheesh. That sounds unnerving...

When I bought my house, the furnace scared me a little bit because it is so old (it's from the 1960s!). I have a friend who is a retired furnace guy. I invited him over to check it out. He came down the steps and said "Hot ! An old Bard! I haven't seen one of these in years!". He reassured me that these old ones don't have a whole lot to them. A valve, a burner, a heat exchanger and a blower. He said they made heat exchangers thicker back in the day and they were less pr0ne to cracks. I had him run all new gas plumbing, and install a new gas valve. I tell ya, this old beast runs very well! I still bought a CO detector just to be on the safe side... He said it would be a pig on the gas, but it hasn't been too bad.

I've been afraid of these new high efficiency furnaces because I heard they don't last. Now I have a new reason to be afraid of them, lol.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #8 – January 10, 2011, 08:53:00 PM

Your right, I better buy a ticket soon. LOL How crazy would it be to hit the Big One. You guys would be high on my gift list.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #9 – January 10, 2011, 09:12:32 PM

Wow, I'm glad everyone's alright. +1 on the CO detector.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #10 – January 10, 2011, 11:30:30 PM

when we moved here to our new house the gas man told us to never use the furnace that was here. I happen to have a friend that works for an HVAC company and he hooked us up big time on a new furnace. BTW I'm glad you guys are alright CO is nothing to mess with especially with young kids

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #11 – January 11, 2011, 02:15:32 AM

Wow...lucky ending, thankfully nobody was hurt. Coupla years ago, an incident happened about 10 miles from me. Older couple, lived alone, kids grown and moved out. Anyway, the man went into the basp00get, to light the furnace...apparently had a propane leak. Big boom. He died instantly...the woman died a few days later, house completely destroyed as well. shiznit ain't no joke folks. I worked for a year and half for a friend who owns a HVAC outfit...I always had the feeling that bomb disposal folks get when they're messing with an explosive..

If you have ANYTHING that burns gas, wood, oil, or ANY combustible...you need a CO detector in every room that has a source of CO. One each in every bedroom is also a good idea, and I think some states/cities make this mandatory. Speaking of which, I'm going to go test mine...I've been having headaches for a few days now.

Furnace problem... my family is very lucky

Reply #12 – January 11, 2011, 10:26:02 AM

Wow . glad it worked out ok