Fire up the furnace

When my husband and I purchased our home in 2018, we knew the HVAC system had seen better years. In fact, the home inspector we hired to look at the house over before we signed the final papers told us it was at least 20 years old but was still operating fairly well and wouldn’t need to be replaced as long as it continued to operate without issue.

Tim and I began saving after we bought the house, hoping to get through at least five years before having issues. We made it through the first two years before our first hiccup.

This past summer, the air conditioner didn’t work when we turned it on for the first time. The outside condenser wasn’t working so it was only warm air pumping through the vents.

The people at Baxter Comfort Solutions came and fixed our issue, and we decided to sign up for their Comfort Club to hopefully prevent the system from failing when we really needed it. They come twice a year to service our equipment to check to see if it was operating as it should.

After the first of the year, we had our appointment for one of their technicians to check our furnace. The tech was very thorough but unfortunately he found some significant issues with the heat exchanger in the furnace.

That is the thin metal shield that sits between the combustion chamber and the blower. It essentially prevents the combustion fumes, which are toxic, from being blown throughout your house with the warm air. Using his small optic camera, the technician took several photos of the damaged piece so we could see the issues.

The technician legally couldn’t turn our furnace back on knowing the extent of the damage. The unit was manufactured in 1994 and the piece couldn’t be fixed or replaced. Therefore, Tim and I needed a new furnace — not exactly the news anyone wants to hear.

We are thankful we had saved some money so it wouldn’t completely drain our “rainy day” fund. We opted to replace the air conditioner unit at the same time. It didn’t make sense to install a brand new furnace to an old AC when we had the means to do so.

Given the urgency, they were able to get the install scheduled the next day and the guys from BCS worked all day to get the furnace going. The only bump in the road was having the wrong air compressor so the AC wasn’t finished, but we shouldn’t need that for several months.

I felt bad for the heat and cooling guys because the mix up cost them the beautiful weather they had last Thursday. They came out Monday morning to finish the install. They got the condenser mostly installed before the worst of the snow started to fall.

I am extremely grateful for the speed in which Baxter Comfort Solutions installed the new furnace and for the savings we did have so we didn’t have to delay the project. While the furnace had been working, there’s no telling when the cracks could have potentially put our lives at risk or caused the furnace to fail. With a 1 year old in the house, we didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks for our son’s health or our own.

I’ve only been a homeowner for two and half years now, but I certainly have an appreciation for all the upkeep and decisions to be made to run a household. As I hit my stride in this “adulting” thing, I can see why people are excited about big purchases like an HVAC system. It makes you appreciate the blessing you have with a roof over your head and the means to keep yourself warm in the Iowa winters. I wish everyone could be as blessed as my family is.

Contact Pam Pratt at pampratt@newtondailynews.com