Central Heat is out....PERFECT!!!

[wavinwayne]

Nice! My central heat went out, complete with burning plastic smell throughout the house last night. I immediately shut the unit off at the breaker box, and we spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm. The repair guy should be here later today; this is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. Ahhhh, the joys of being a homeowner...

 

[Schmoe]

Plastic smell....I'm assuming you have electric heat and not gas?

 

[paulo57509]

I feel your.....cold. Hopefully you get the furnace back on line soon.

The ignitor plate (I think that's what it's called) went out twice on me the past two winters ('08-'09 and '09-'10).

The same repair guy came out back last November and admitted he botched the first install at the connector.

There was a base charge for coming out to the house, but the guy apologized profusely and told me to forget the charge and if the office called to verify, tell them we canceled the service call.

 

[bepperb]

We have gas forced air, and when our secondary heat exchanger failed (after 27 years) it also smelt terrible, like burnt plastic as well.

Best of luck, I know how you feel, and it isn't good.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
Nice! My central heat went out, complete with burning plastic smell throughout the house last night. I immediately shut the unit off at the breaker box, and we spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm. The repair guy should be here later today; this is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. Ahhhh, the joys of being a homeowner...


I feel you pain. Our furnace went out last year when the outside temp was at -20 degrees. Put portable heaters in the bathroom and small living area and shut the doors. How come heaters don't break down just before the start of spring.

 

[Schmoe]

I'd be looking at the control box...probably the only thing that is plastic in that setup. You MIGHT have also just burned out the fan belt....check that first, easy fix.

 

[troberts]

And the opposite with a/c. Arrived home in Houston late on a scorching summer evening, clicked the thermostat down to a livable temperature, and was greeted by a loud explosion from the other end of the house and fire shooting up past the bedroom window near the compressor/condenser as a frayed 220v. wire ignited compressor oil!! By the time I could run around the house with a fire extinguisher, the flames were gone, replaced by a trail of evaporating refrigerant going into the night. Shades of pioneer days with windows up and fans on.....

 

[ARCOgraphite]

How cold was it in the house? We had an ice storm last december adn had no heat, running water or electricity for a week. No toilet, no shower. Used the wood stove and went through a 1/2 cord of wood. My wife actually broke down and cried when the power came back on.

 

[wavinwayne]

Luckily we have a gas log fireplace that can be used to heat the house in a pinch, but I won't run it while we're sleeping, due to fire and CO risks. Still waiting on the repair guy to show.

 

[eljefino]

Get some space heaters at walmart, keep them as a good backup plan, you can go through 1500 watts with a cheap $12 heater.

 

[IndyIan]

My central heat goes out every night at about 1 or 2... depending on how we load the woodstove. Wear some sweat pants, a sweater and some wool socks and you should be good down to the mid 50's F.

 

[NJC]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
and we spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm.

Honestly I didn't think this would be a concern in Alabama.

 

[benjamming]

It was 34°F last night. That's freezing cold (as they say here)! It's 42°F at 12:23pm now but sunny so radiant heat will help some. I mean it's February already, shouldn't we be putting up our coats pretty soon?

 

[Scienceman]

Originally Posted By: NJC
Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
and we spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm.

Honestly I didn't think this would be a concern in Alabama.

Not for someone who loves in canada.

 

[Papa Bear]

Lives and loves ...

 

[wavinwayne]

The HVAC repairman just finished up; looks like the immediate problem was a bad blower motor capacitor. So for the time being at least, my humble abode has heat again.

 

[greenaccord02]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
Ahhhh, the joys of being a homeowner...


Man, tell me about it. We had the same thing happen last winter. Sucks. Luckily I know an HVAC guy.

 

[NJC]

Originally Posted By: Troy_Built
Originally Posted By: NJC
Honestly I didn't think this would be a concern in Alabama.

Not for someone who loves in canada.

Well, Vancouver - although definitely a part of Canada - is quite mild. I can turn off my central heating for almost 4 months of the year.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
The HVAC repairman just finished up; looks like the immediate problem was a bad blower motor capacitor. So for the time being at least, my humble abode has heat again.

If the motor capacitor goes out again, you've got a issue in the ignition circuit or the blower motor.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: nthach
Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
The HVAC repairman just finished up; looks like the immediate problem was a bad blower motor capacitor. So for the time being at least, my humble abode has heat again.

If the motor capacitor goes out again, you've got a issue in the ignition circuit or the blower motor.


I believe I remember the repair guy saying something to that effect. Being a mechanical designer by trade, I enjoyed being out there watching the repair guy get into the guts of the system. NOT being an electrical controls guy, I had no clue what/where all the wires did/went.