No Heat

[2510Paul]

Looks like we have been without heat since about 10:30 or 11:00 last evening. The temp. has been dropping in the house about 1F per half hour. I woke up around 3:30 at 56F.

Minus 28 outside, -42 wind chill. I set up a 115V space heater, I had a heat lamp running by the outdoor facet piping, and we setup the oven with the door open with a window fan blowing at the door. We are maintaining 57F, the furnace fan is running.

I emptied and checked the condensate pump. I checked the exhaust and air intake. I cycled the furnace. I am second on the list for the repair guy. Funny, the furnace guy said the phone started ringing just before I called. I guess people were waking up to a cold house.

The furnace guy thinks its the thermostat, I am guessing the igniter. The thermostat calls for heat, we get the fan but not the flame.

Anyway we are holding at 57F. Our house is very well insulated.

Paul

 

[rrlund]

That's been my biggest fear through this whole thing. I'm on pins and needles if it's too long before the furnace starts,then I breath a huge sigh of relief when I hear it ignite.

 

[JohnV2000]

Stay warm. I had my power to put a couple months ago during a fairly cold day and my house got down into the 40 degrees before the power came back on.

 

[Mike M]

If LP maybe tank is too cold to vaporize the gas ? worse if the tank is low ,IIRC ?

 

[GEO-TH, In]

I'm a believer the best way to stay warm is insulation, good windows and doors.

Also a believer I'm KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. High efficiency heating systems are prone to failure. They fail when you need them the most and many systems have a life expensive around 15 to 20 years.

 

[Mutt and Jeff]

You and every other tenant and homeowner
calling the man
like he's gonna help when your system's beyond design capacity and can't keep up.

Here's the bill mister 2 filters, service call and a complete lookover $350.

use the appliances they make heat too

 

[showcrop]

I woke to a cold house a couple months ago. It was the air purge valve that had malfunctioned spewing water everywhere including on the control box. I have a splash shield over it now.

 

[stevob671]

Check your flue outlet, make sure it's not iced up or covered. If the exhaust fan can't get enough air flow- the gas won't ignite. We had a motor going south, ran and "seemed" good but couldn't make enough flow. Once the new motor was in, could tell the difference.

 

[GEO-TH, In]

Mike, easy to tell how much LP is in tank. Look for the ice.

Also easy to tell atic needs more insulation, no snow or frost on roof.

 

[Dick L]

Get some pots of water boiling also.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

That's one thing I don't have to worry about with my Low Tech heating heating system the wood stove don't break down.As much as we loose power can't imagine living in a house without
a wood stove and a good pile of wood no matter what type heat I normally used.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

I feel for you. I’m 2 hours south and it’s -26 here. My house was built in 1929 and is a couple steps above a corn crib but we’re holding out.

 

[JF in MI]

This has happened to several friends of mine several times this winter already.

 

[Crazy Horse]

On our natural gas furnace (mid efficiency Lennox) the fan will not come on until there was enough heat in the furnace built up after firing up. the heat sensor is what is usually the problem on ours, I used to clean it with a Brillo pad for years to correct the problem. Last year I put a new one in. I am always waiting for it to crap out on me through the winter months.

 

[Richard G.]

I put 3 sticks of black locust on last night at bedtime and it was putting out heat this morning at 6:00.
Can't beat that.
Richard

 

[makoman]

Over the years, I have collected(for free), 5 old kerosene heaters for just this reason. New wicks are readily available. These have a bad name, but when tuned up, work great. Have one that is 22,000 btu's and runs for 12 hours.

 

[Rkh]

Don't forget to use stove oven

 

[SHALER]

Let us know the final diagnosis. I am siding with you and igniter.

 

[SDE]

My Daughter has an apartment in the Chicago area. Her apartment was about 60 yesterday. The maintenance man said the the heat system was working properly. She found that there was a gap under the window air condition that was letting too much cold air in. I hope that she is more comfortable today.
Good Luck

 

[OregonAaron]

We put in a high efficiency heat pump system about 2 years ago... it is very nice and costs very little to keep the house warm. However, when remodeling the living room we kept the wood stove for situations like this (plus I love wood heat). Best of luck to you all out there in the freeze zone! Our winter has been unusually warm over here in the west... I dont like it, we should be frozen but are a wet muddy mess.

 

[wvfarmboy]

thought i was the only one that did that glad to know i am not

 

[K Effective]

Ours quit making heat about 0500 today, At 0700 I checked it, was trying to start, but not. Went outside, and found a snow/ice plug in the inlet piping for the purge blower- looks like the drips of condensation from the purge exhaust is being blown by the winds over to the intake. Cleaned both side out, it fired while I was out there.

Fed cows and checked the waterer was open, and by the time IU came back in it was up to 59, on its way to 61 now.

When the drain line from the purge blower is plugged- it fills the fan with water and it can't spin up.

There should be a red LED on the control board, it will flash a code which may be listed on the side of the furnace or on the internet, it may tell you exactly that it is your flame sensor or lack of purge flow, or whatever.

 

[jacksun65]

No fun I know. I live in KY and not to bad now 4*. I grew up when you might have power or not, so I always have two forms of heat. Propane, wood, electric or nat gas.

 

[K Effective]

I failed to mention, the advice from an HVAC guy on another board I frequent- change the filter today, put in a cheap non-pleated one. Turn the t-stat up and leave it up, the furnace will be better off running constantly than cutting back for the night or workday. It will be far cheaper to heat the house for a few days than call the guy to come fix anything.

I think I should have overridden the setback and kept ours up all night, the intake probably wouldn't have plugged, but Mrs. K likes the bedroom cold (insert inappropriate but accurate joke here ) so I let it go back. Not tonight.

 

[Craig2]

Our primary heat is an OWB. We have a generator that will run the stove and the fan on the furnace if the power goes out. I have lived in this house for 13 years and thankfully we don't lose power too often.

 

[gab]

Thing I worry most about is a power outage at night. I have a generator that starts good but I never tried to start it at 30 below or in the dark, did use it a few years ago in the winter when the power was out two or three times during the day.

 

[2510Paul]

Well, I have a red LED flashing four times and then a pause. I am looking for that code. Paul

 

[Russ from MN]

We keep a spare igniter on top of the furnace, they are inexpensive online and easy to test and change. A few years ago the furnace man said ours was getting bad, he didn't have one with him. It would of been over $100 for him to order one and come back and change it. My wife got one online for $17 and I changed it in 5 minutes.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Yea I went up on the mountain and got a load of locust to burn before this cold wave set in,can't beat it for heat.

 

[2510Paul]

XV95 Trane Furnace

 

[SweetFeet]

hope you are soon back to being warm!

 

[gab]

My daughter and son in law live in Chicago too, haven't talked to her for a couple of days and she was working from home that day.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

Check for a snow blocked exhaust pipe.

 

[dahlin]

Check your air intake we have a train and had a similar problem I lifted the air intake off the furnace and it started there was a leaf in the intake.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Paul ..... this isn't much help but here it is .... now try to figure out what it means is another thing !!!

Watch for Trane Furnace Error Codes that Flash Multiple Times
The great thing about having a Trane furnace is that there are error codes that will blink in sequence to let you know what?s wrong with your system, and once you know these codes, you?ll easily be able to schedule repairs. Watch out for these sequence of flashes:

Two flashes means that there has been a system lockout
Three flashes indicates a draft pressure error
Four flashes and your furnace is experiencing an open temperature limit circuit issue
If you see five flashes, a flame was sensed within your furnace that should not be present
The six flash error code means that your AC power was reversed or the voltage was too low
Seven flashes indicates a problem with your gas circuit
A low flame is indicated by eight flashes
Check your igniter circuit if you see nine flashes

 

[3000OH]

+1 on blocked intake. One time We had a drift on roof that blocked it. Uncoupled intake at furnace and ran a shop vac exhaust up it for about 20-25 min to thaw it open.

 

[gab]

My daughter and son in law live in Chicago too, haven't talked to her for a couple of days and she was working from home that day.