Saturday, December 6, 2008

Darn furnace

Last night, when DH and I came home from my harp job, we noticed the house was quite cold. Usually, when you come in out of the cold, the house feels so nice and toasty! It was not at all. I checked the thermostat (which had been set at 69), and it was 65!

We found out the vents were just blowing cool air. The pilot had somehow gone out.

I know nothing about our furnace, so I had to go downstairs and read some information on the side of it. (DH knows nothing about it, either. He needs to work on his handy-man skills.) Apparently, you cannot light the pilot yourself. It tries to relight it 3 times. If that doesn't work, then it goes on lockout for 3 hours. Then, it should reset. Great! Over 3 hours of letting the temperature drop!

By the time we went to bed, it was down to 63 degrees. We could bundle up, but I was worried about the harps. They need to be in a constant temperature, as changes in temperature and humidity affect the tuning and can cause strings to break. So, we put a space heater in the room with the harps. We kept it on low and kept the door cracked because we didn't want it to get too hot, either.

I woke up at 4:00 am (I think thanks to my cat who wanted to snuggle) and checked the thermostat. It was at 65 again. Yeah! However, the vents were still blowing cool air, which I thought was odd. At least it was getting warmer.

When I woke up later (I think around 7:30), I checked again, and it was up to 67. The vents were finally blowing warm air again. Thank goodness! I was worried we were going to have to call someone today and stay around all morning waiting for a service call. Plus, I was worried about the cost!

I think over break, I'm going to call and have someone just come check on the furnace. My dad said they're supposed to be checked every so often, because stuff can build up, causing them to not work. Luckily, I'm off for quite a while, so it won't be a big deal to wait around for someone one day.

3 comments:

leah @maritalbless said...

Boo to that, nothing like not knowing what to expect! I hope you resolve it quickly!

a.j.g. said...

Brr!!! Hope it doesn't go out again! At least you have someone to keep you warm, though! :)

By the way, I tagged you on my blog.

Aimee said...

The furnace went out again last night! :-( We noticed it was blowing cool air again before I had to leave to go play at a Christmas party. Luckily, by the time we got home, it had fixed itself. We're going to call to have someone come look at it Monday or Tuesday. Since it's the end of the quarter, I really can't take any time off because there's so much to do! My mom is going to come and house sit for us. Thank goodness!