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SALT LAKE CITY — A crack in a home furnace “heat exchanger” can be a serious problem, leaking toxic carbon monoxide in levels that can sicken or kill a family.
When a crack is discovered, it’s common to have a new furnace installed.
Still, some repairmen are cautioning as temperatures plummet that heat exchanger cracks aren’t anywhere close to as common as they are diagnosed, and they’re urging homeowners to get second opinions to ensure they aren’t being hooked for overly-expensive repairs.
“Unfortunately, there are a few guys out there that are taking advantage of CO and trying to make a sale because of it,” said Blake Housley, owner of Big Timber Heating and Air.
Housley walked a KSL crew through a home in Roy that had a furnace initially diagnosed by a technician from another company as having a cracked heat exchanger.
Homeowner Lawanna Goodrich, 78, said the first tech pointed out on a camera what he said was a crack.
“I honestly can’t tell you I saw a crack,” Goodrich said. “He said it would be $1,700 to have the part replaced, something like $2,000 to get the furnace replaced.”
If she also wanted to install central air, Goodrich recalled being told it would cost her $7,000.
Rather than bite and buy a new furnace, Goodrich called her daughter and they contacted Housley for a second opinion.
They scare the homeowners into thinking they need a new furnace. They shut the gas off; people buy out of fear.
–Blake Housley, Big Timber Heating & Air
Housley, after combing through the furnace with a specialized camera, determined there was no crack – only scratching caused perhaps by the last technician – and the furnace only needed a new filter.
“You can actually see the scratches and that’s from them shoving the tip of the camera in there,” Housley said, pointing to the monitor on his camera. “So they rub it back and forth to make a line, then they show you that line.”
Housley said he has been asked to offer second opinions at four different houses in the past two weeks where homeowners were told their furnaces had cracked heat exchangers.
In all of those cases, Housley said the furnaces did not have cracked heat exchangers and there were no problems with carbon monoxide levels.
“They scare the homeowners into thinking they need a new furnace,” Housley said. “They shut the gas off, people buy out of fear.”
Housley said in 20 years in the business, he has only come across two heat exchangers that were actually cracked.
Goodrich said the first technician turned off her gas, before a second technician from the same company turned it back on – which raised questions in her mind.
Still, she feared she may have to make the big purchase, and became angry after learning it was not necessary.
“I was miserable to think that when he turned the gas off I was going to get cold before I started to get warm again,” she said.
Housley acknowledged the toll taken on fixed-income families. He said he encountered some people last year who were trying to pay for unnecessary new furnaces with money from their funeral plans.
“I think there are definitely some companies that are taking full advantage and selling on fear instead of selling on proof,” Housley said. “If the companies stand up and just do a good job, they’ll be plenty busy and they’ll have plenty of work. I don’t think that we need to be out scaring people, turning off people’s heat in the middle of the wintertime just to sell a new furnace.”
Housley recommended homeowners ask workers exactly what’s going to be done, make sure they’re dealing with service technicians instead of salesmen, and ask to see everything – from the filter to inside the furnace to the tests that are conducted.
“Don’t just automatically assume because somebody tells you [the furnace is] bad to go with that,” he said. “Just make sure you need it.”
Housley also recommended installing a carbon monoxide detector in the bedroom.
“If you’re sleeping, you may just not wake up,” he said. “It’s good insurance for $20.”
