BE AWARE!
My furnace was not throwing any heat so I called this company to have a look. I was told the service fee would be $69, which was fine with me. The service man was prompt and appeared knowledgeable. However, when I was told there is a $260 diagnostic fee, I started to become wary and told the service man this was very expensive. However, it was Friday afternoon just before a long weekend so I felt compelled to agree to the expensive diagnosis. The diagnosis took only 10 minutes and the news was not good.
-there was severe heat exchanger rust
-the ignition module was burnt out. He could replace the ignition module at a cost of about $1,200 but then there may be something else wrong so it would be better to replace the furnace.
-the soonest he could install a new furnace, which would cost over $5,000, was after the long weekend. In the meantime he has to turn off the furnace because it could be dangerous to use. He could provide me with heaters over the long weekend that he said work pretty good.
I did not look forward to a few days without furnace heat but I did not believe what he told me.
I told him I could not agree to a new furnace from him without thinking more about it. He turned the gas and electricity off to the furnace and left. I immediately called another furnace company, who fortunately had a service man in the area. He was here within one hour and told me the diagnostic fee was in included in the service call fee of $79. Upon opening the front of the furnace he immediately noticed there were some screws missing and a ground wire was loose. He attached the ground wire and the furnace worked fine. Further, the ignition console was fine and the heat exchanger was rusty but exhibited no cracks. He cleaned the furnace and I had heat within an hour and it is still running fine.
About a week later I had a gas company check the furnace and was told that it is safe.
Be careful of what this company advises you have to do. The advice may be wrong.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $300.00