Trane NG furnace 23 years old. Last winter flame would cycle on and off during a heat cycle so I cleaned the flame sensor and all was well. It is a little chilly this morning so I started the furnace and flame would light extinguish then relite after a minute or so. I ordered a new OEM flame sensor from Amazon for $7 shipped. Just a reminder, you might want to make sure your furnace is working as it should before it gets too cold.
Furnace check up
- Thread starter gman2304
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Yeah my 5 year old furnace needed a new gas pressure switch because it would intermittently stop firing up and then error out. Luckily it was under warranty but it is always good advice to test it early! 
I wish I had gas but I have an oil burner. Sacrilege on this site!
30+ years old Burnham Boiler.
Tough these days keeping that old guy going!
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My old furnace before this gas one was oil but it cost us $2500 one winter and so that was a no brainer to replace. Gasoline here is about $4 a gallon and home heating fuel (similar to diesel) is not much better than that.
My natural gas bills now are about $300 for the same amount of time that the $2500 would cover.
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Originally Posted By: gman2304
Trane NG furnace 23 years old. Last winter flame would cycle on and off during a heat cycle so I cleaned the flame sensor and all was well. It is a little chilly this morning so I started the furnace and flame would light extinguish then relite after a minute or so. I ordered a new OEM flame sensor from Amazon for $7 shipped. Just a reminder, you might want to make sure your furnace is working as it should before it gets too cold.
My parents had to wait a month for a new control board on their Trane XV95 and while the installer gave us a break(free part, paid the labor to slap it in), they said annual check-ups are a prereq for warranty service.
Speaking of which, I need to schedule a call with them for a checkup.
My 1978 Clara natural gas furnace got the annual "vacuum out, clean the flame light, oil the motor bearings, vacuum out all the vents for at least 10 feet in" it ritual a couple of weeks back. It hasn't gotten cold here yet, but slightly after it changes to regular operations cycles, I'll complete the process with its 1st new filter. The second one will be put in around Jan 1st.
The Clara is old school with no electronics other than the digital programmable thermostat I installed 11 years ago. The whole system works great and has never had any issues. Our gas bill (hot water heater included) is about $110 per month from November to February. Simple and effective.
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Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
My 1978 Clara natural gas furnace got the annual "vacuum out, clean the flame light, oil the motor bearings, vacuum out all the vents for at least 10 feet in" it ritual a couple of weeks back. It hasn't gotten cold here yet, but slightly after it changes to regular operations cycles, I'll complete the process with its 1st new filter. The second one will be put in around Jan 1st.
The Clara is old school with no electronics other than the digital programmable thermostat I installed 11 years ago. The whole system works great and has never had any issues. Our gas bill (hot water heater included) is about $110 per month from November to February. Simple and effective.
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
My 1978 Clara natural gas furnace got the annual "vacuum out, clean the flame light, oil the motor bearings, vacuum out all the vents for at least 10 feet in" it ritual a couple of weeks back. It hasn't gotten cold here yet, but slightly after it changes to regular operations cycles, I'll complete the process with its 1st new filter. The second one will be put in around Jan 1st.
The Clara is old school with no electronics other than the digital programmable thermostat I installed 11 years ago. The whole system works great and has never had any issues. Our gas bill (hot water heater included) is about $110 per month from November to February. Simple and effective.
My first house had an oil furnace, that seemed to go thru lots of oil.
On a lark I borrowed a pyrometer from the lab and checked the flue temp
After reading a good Audel book on oil burners! She was cranking 350F+
at the flue! That sure looked like a fire risk and $$$ going straight up the chimney.
Long story short, changed to a smaller oil nozzle (3/4 US Gal/hr rate) reset the air band
for a clean flame with smaller air flow to keep gas in the heat exchanger longer,
flue temp dropped to 150F.
Cleaned soot out of the exchanger filled 4 old style paper shopping bags! The oil guy wondered
why I wasn’t order tank fulls like the past owners! It’s possible the ‘service’ side of his biz
had messed with the furnace for the ‘great’ results! No more!
also good time to put NEW batteries in CO detector (or REPLACE if it's more than ~5 years old - YES, they wear out and become in-effective.
IF your co detector is older than 2009, TRASH and replace immediately - http://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/s...ide_alarm_.aspx
Get oil boilers and furnaces serviced by an independent service guy.
Last month I replaced my 30 year old oil fired stem boiler with a new Weil -Mclain gas fired steam boiler. The old one developed a leak in the cast iron, and was leaking into the firebox. Had a company do the conversion. I still have about 60-70 gallons of oil left in the tank I can't seem to give away. The tank at least is in the basement and easy to get to. Hopefully we will save enough on the price of not paying for oil, to cover the conversion after a few seasons.,,
Originally Posted By: Donald
Get oil boilers and furnaces serviced by an independent service guy.
Glad the boiler in my system is only a few years old! Plus hot water heat is awesome. No filters, no blowers, just a small circulating pump and two water valves. The 110+ year old radiators still do a wonderful job of keeping the house warm.
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Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
My 1978 Clara natural gas furnace got the annual "vacuum out, clean the flame light, oil the motor bearings, vacuum out all the vents for at least 10 feet in" it ritual a couple of weeks back. It hasn't gotten cold here yet, but slightly after it changes to regular operations cycles, I'll complete the process with its 1st new filter. The second one will be put in around Jan 1st.
The Clara is old school with no electronics other than the digital programmable thermostat I installed 11 years ago. The whole system works great and has never had any issues. Our gas bill (hot water heater included) is about $110 per month from November to February. Simple and effective.
Originally Posted By: 14Accent
Glad the boiler in my system is only a few years old! Plus hot water heat is awesome. No filters, no blowers, just a small circulating pump and two water valves. The 110+ year old radiators still do a wonderful job of keeping the house warm.
Originally Posted By: ecotourist
My circulating pump (on a house in Winnipeg) failed on the coldest day of the year. The hot water system worked just fine without it. A bit better with it, but not that much. We had a 2 story house with a basement so those changes in elevation would have been important.
I bought a new pump and had the old one rebuilt (we were in Winnipeg where there are lots of small businesses that do most everything). The old pump fit better so I put it back and kept the new one as a spare.
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I wish I had gas but I have an oil burner. Sacrilege on this site!
30+ years old Burnham Boiler.
Tough these days keeping that old guy going!
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