It is -24 F in my location, right now, not factoring in windchill. Last night, my furnace decided to play a prank on me. It spewed smoke through the vents, forcing me to turn it off for the night in order to not risk burning down the house or dying of carbon monoxide. Oh, that lovable rogue!
It is now morning, and I am typing this in my living room with cold hands as I wait for the furnace guy to show up. I have preheated the oven to provide additional warmth, and coffee is quaffed indulgently.
I wish furnaces had balls, so that they could be kicked.
Well in all fairness, the furnace is unlikely to cause you problems in the summer: when it’s not running!
The last time my furnace magically stopped working was a couple of years ago in the middle of winter, when I was away on business. My wife just kept the wood stove going till I got home. Somehow the programmable thermostat had lost its “turn on” setting. Took me 30 seconds to fix everything. I’m guessing you won’t be as fortunate.
Ours had a wonky pilot light issue a few years ago, we couldn’t even light it manually. It was a cold night. We ended up sleeping with the electric blanket on, toques on, and all the animals buried in the blankets around us as well.
It’s really not suprising that they give up the ghost when they’re working the hardest. Condolences, though. A couple hours ago, while walking the dog, I heard my neighbors heat pump compressor wailing and screeching. Tried knocking on the door to let them know, but no answer. I’m guessing it’s not gonna make it through the night. It’s going down to 12F here, cold for these parts. (Maryland)
If anyone was wondering, it turned out to be a faulty motor on the blower thingy. The furnace was generating heat, but the blower just sat there trying so very hard to blow and failing. After some time, this generated smoke with a faint electrical scent.
It’s all working now, thankfully. Only going to cost me about $300, which is much less than I thought I’d end up spending. (And a lot less than the amount I loaned my mom for a brand new furnace when hers completely died a few months back! At least hers had the decency to die before it got very cold.)