Furnace Breakdown and Fix

As I've mentioned in several previous posts including this one from last summer we have dampers in our attic that have to be adjusted in the spring and fall to maintain the temperature upstairs and down. Getting to the levers to do so requires climbing over the furnace condensation and gas lines while ducking underneath the roof truss.

How it looks in the attic where our HVAC system is located.

Every time I've gone up there to adjust them I've mentioned to Jenny how I don't like how this is set up. Getting through there is a bit of balancing act and I've been afraid every time I do it that I'm going to slip and fall into them. Going around the other side of the system isn't any easier and would require wiggling underneath insulated ductwork and I'm not sure I'd actually fit through there. The poor design of this was borne out this week when, on the brink of the coldest night we've had in years, our furnace stopped working.

Along with the snow we had earlier in the week a bitter cold front swept through the region bringing with it record low temperatures. On Thursday evening I had gone to bump the temperature up on the thermostat a bit when I noticed the display was blank. I checked the breaker which was fine and then realized I could stick batteries in it as a back up. Even once it came on the heat didn't so I immediately called the emergency number for the HVAC company to get a tech out here. In the meantime one of my awesome neighbors (who has also had heating issues) lent us a space heater.

Around 9:15pm the tech arrived and after taking a look at our furnace in the attic discovered that the condensation line had broken off from inside the furnace. From there water had dripped into the pan underneath tripping the moisture sensor and shutting the unit down. Earlier in the day we had had our 10 Month Review (more on this in another post) and the service manager and I had gone up in the attic to look at the system. While up there he had climbed over the lines and must have bumped it enough to break it. (I'll emphasize here that I don't in any way blame him for this. It could have just as easily been me that did it any of the other times I'd been up there.) Unfortunately the technician didn't have the parts nor could he obtain them so late at night to fix it. Facing not having heat I asked (pretty much pleaded) if there was any way he could at least patch it for the night. Enter our friend and miracle worker, duct tape. Using a copious amount of it he was able to reattach the drain trap the pipe connects to back to the furnace and get it running but with no guarantee that it would hold. He also installed a less sensitive moisture sensor that should the patch fail would allow more water into the drip pan and buy us additional time before it shut the furnace off again.

It's hard to tell from this photo but this is the duct taped drain trap.

Needless to say I didn't sleep very well Thursday night worrying that the patch would fail and we would lose our heat. I got up multiple times to go in the laundry room and to make sure I could still hear the condensation dripping down the pipe that runs through the wall. Luckily the patch did hold and we made it through to Friday morning with the heat still running. (Good thing because it was 0 degrees with a negative wind chill outside.)

Friday morning I followed up with Superior Plumbing, Heating, and Air of Ashland, Virginia to make sure the parts to fix it would be available. About an hour later I got a call that they were and they'd be out by midday to fix. True to their word they were there a few hours later and within 20 minutes had the unit fixed. The only thing I'll need to do in a few days once it warms up outside is haul my shop vacuum up into the attic to remove the water from the pan once it thaws. 

I also followed up with our service manager in several calls during Friday as well. I feel like this set up is a poor design that is way too easy to break. Given that adjusting the dampers is a routine maintenance item and that I will have to continue climbing over this line to get to them I'm worried that eventually this situation could happen again. He's going to meet with me next week to look at it but I've told him that I would like for them to install an additional access panel at the other end of the attic. In houses without the pull down steps like we opted for the access panel is located in the laundry room and allows for access to the dampers without climbing over the condensation and gas lines. It seems to me that this could be done very easily and even though I'd have to haul a ladder upstairs when I need to get up there to adjust them it'd be worth the extra effort to avoid breaking the line again.

All of that being said we really appreciate Superior's quick response to our problem along with the service manager's efforts at getting it fixed quickly as well. He mentioned to me on the phone that he had called the HVAC folks Friday morning and told them that if the parts were not available they were to go pull them from another house under construction so we could get it fixed by the end of the day and not have to wait any longer than necessary. I wish it hadn't happened on the coldest possible night but it worked out as best as could have been expected.

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Snow!

A major (for Central Virginia at least) storm swept through the state last night dumping the most snow we've seen in a while. The governor has declared a state of emergency and most everything is shut down right now. At our house at least we received about 6-7 inches and may receive a bit more tomorrow evening. We're also expecting absolutely bitter cold temperates that combined with the snow I expect will keep us out of school most of this week. (Perk of being a teacher.)

A Glimpse into our Future

With the kids in tow this afternoon we stopped by another identical-to-ours Sienna model under construction in our neighborhood to get a better feel for the interior dimensions. This particular house we had been in after it had been framed prior to signing our own contract but it was hard at that point to fully imagine it without the drywall up. In walking through it today we were able to better visualize where our furniture could be placed and make plans for things we need to buy. 

We also noticed things that were hard to see based on the floor plan available online. For instance the little nook that will be in our older son's bedroom is far deeper than it looks on the plans. The pantry is also smaller than what Jenny was expecting but still far bigger than what we have in our current house. And we hadn't noticed on the plans but there's no door to the mudroom so we'll have to make a better effort at keeping that area well organized since you can see everything from the living room.

We left there even more excited about our own house. It's going to be a long three months before it's completed and we're able to move in.

Welcome

Welcome to Jeff and Jenny Build a Sienna where we'll be blogging about about the process of building a Sienna model house with Ryan Homes.

Who we are: Jeff (technology integrator for a local school system) and Jenny (medical education administrator for a major teaching hospital). We have two sons, Zach and Matthew, two cats, a loveable but dimwitted Cocker Spaniel, an ever snoring Pug, and a betta fish. To say our home is a zoo is a bit of an understatement but we wouldn't have it any other way.

For the years we had planned to eventually sell our current house and get a decent amount of land out in a more rural area. With the birth of our second child in May 2013 we really started feeling cramped and needing something bigger. About a year ago a new Ryan Homes development started going up down the road from us. We passed by there nearly every day and after looking at their website we eventually decided to visit with our real estate agent to get a more in-depth look at what they had to offer. We spent far longer than planned on that initial visit but were really impressed with what we found. We also decided that as much as we wanted additional land we wanted to stay close to family, not have to make our son switch schools, and keep reasonable commutes to our jobs. On December 30 we put down a deposit on a lot and signed a contract to build the Sienna. We're on our way.