Ask Me Help Desk - Do I replace heater

Do I replace heater

I just was told that the circuit board and heat exchange on my 9 year old Goodman 1 stage furnace were shot. The heater went off several days ago and goes on for an hour or two once or twice a day but will not bring the house temperature over 60 degrees.

Repair man said he thought we shoud replace it for $5323 installed. This includes a Goodman/Amana unit 70,000BTU, 95% Efficient two stage and a 4 Ton blower.

The warranty is 10 years parts and labor and lifetime on the heat exchange. Repair would be $2000 or so. What do you think.

What's the AFUE of your current system, how long do you plan to stay in the house, does that quote include a VS blower, and have you gotten any other quotes for different make/models/AFUEs?

$2000.00? For an in-warranty repair? Are you serious? Sorry, but it sounds to me like someone is trying to steer you towards replacement of the unit. If your existing unit is only 9 years old, the h/x is still in warranty (10 years on GMP, at least 20 on GMPN). The manufacturer will impose a warranty handling charge of $40-$50, and the circuit board (wholesale) is less than $100. Maybe it's just me, but heat exchanger replacement is just not that big a deal anymore. Lately, I've been doing 2-3 per week, averaging about 3 hours per job. I would LOVE to make the kind of profit your contractor is proposing. If I were you, I would seek other estimates.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dac122

What's the AFUE of your current system, how long do you plan to stay in the house, does that quote include a VS blower, and have you gotten any other quotes for different make/models/AFUEs?

I thi nk it is 80%. It does include a 4 ton blower. I contacted another company that came out and said there was some dust on the sensor, which they cleaned and system is now working. However, they said if they replaced the heat exchange they would charge $4300 just for that part and work.

I then cvalled the owner of the first company who told me that if they had misdiagnosed the problem they would provide a new heater without charge. I am totally confused.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC13

$2000.00? For an in-warranty repair? Are you serious? Sorry, but it sounds to me like someone is trying to steer you towards replacement of the unit. If your existing unit is only 9 years old, the h/x is still in warranty (10 years on GMP, at least 20 on GMPN). The manufacturer will impose a warranty handling charge of $40-$50, and the circuit board (wholesale) is less than $100. Maybe it's just me, but heat exchanger replacement is just not that big a deal anymore. Lately, I've been doing 2-3 per week, averaging about 3 hours per job. I would LOVE to make the kind of profit your contractor is proposing. If I were you, I would seek other estimates.

As I mentioned to another responder, because I was suspicious, I called another company to come in and they told me that that did not see either problem. However, they said if there was a problem with the heat exchange that the replacement would be $4300. I then called back the first company and spoke with the owner. The owner was very disturbed about the difference in diagnosis and told me it was their company's (One Hour Heat and Air)policy to replace the system free if they misdiagnosed the problem. The second company who charge so much more to do work they said they saw no need for, told me the problem was caused by a dirty sensor, which he cleaned off and the heater now works.

I am uncomfortable with the free heater offer... call me suspicious. Am now totally confused. But clearly, the prices in northern California are more than in your area.

Suspicious, intuitive... it's a fine line. Remember this site the next time your system experiences a problem.

Call back the first contractor and tell them you're concerned about their diagnosis. Ask for details on what they did to check and diagnose this problem. Then call your second contractor and ask the same question.

Let us know what you find. You want to be 100% certain you don't have a bad HX as that can be a dangerous situation

KC13 is correct. Your HX should be under warranty. And yes, each locales prices vary, sometimes greatly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dac122

Call back the first contractor and tell them you're concerned about their diagnosis. Ask for details on what they did to check and diagnose this problem. Then call your second contractor and ask the same question.

Let us know what you find. You want to be 100% certain you don't have a bad HX as that can be a dangerous situation

KC13 is correct. Your HX should be under warranty. And yes, each locales prices vary, sometimes greatly.

Thanks for your input. I have made several calls to the people who initially installed the unit for the developer, but they don't seem to remember to call me back. THe heater has now been working perfectly for two days since the second company cleaned the sensor. I have to leave town for a month and will turn unit off. If when I return we have any more problems I will call the installer of the original unit and insist they inspect it, but who knows how honest they are. I guess this is an area where a couple hundred dollars spent on multiple opinions is safer than believing someone who suggests a new unit after 8 1/2 years.

Thank you all for your help.

Are you confident that you won't have problems with frozen plumbing by turning the system off? If you leave the heat on at a low setpoint (55-60), the unit will run minimally and the safety controls will shut down the unit in the event of a serious malfunction.