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Give me some heat, man!
Oct. 29th, 2009 06:17 pmThe first year or two I was in this house gave me the impression that oil furnaces were finicky devices as likely to kill you as warm you. I was very happy to have central heat after having lived in the PacNW for five years in an apartment that only had puny little electric wall heaters. The only thing the wall heaters ever did was discolor the bedroom wall, and made one side of my futon couch hot--which was enough for Koshka.
Anyhow, when the heat works it is fabulous to have it come on automatically before I get up, and be on by the time I get home. The problem was it was often not working. After a year of having the maintenance folks out every few months--and having some very cold weekends--, it became obvious that there was something messed up and all signs pointed to the chimney. It's a little short one, and it was completely open so when it rained hard it would fill up and drip down the pipe into the furnace. Soot+Water -> Corrosive, sticky acid.
Last year I had a chimney mason show up and put a chimney cap up there, and it's been pretty reliable since. This year I fired up the furnace and it worked but after a few weeks it stopped working. It was time for an annual cleanup anyhow, so I had them out this week.
Turns out the problem was that my short little chimney was full of soot and other junk. They are supposed to be cleaned out every 6-10 years, and who knows if mine has ever been cleaned since it was installed in 2002. Today I fought through rush-hour game traffic to make sure I could met the furnace cleaner people. They had a truck-sized shop vac and cleaned it out. Good news since Rhys will be here tonight and while he would be happy to be sleeping in his mummy bag sleeping bag, I wasn't happy with the idea of needing him to.
Anyhow, when the heat works it is fabulous to have it come on automatically before I get up, and be on by the time I get home. The problem was it was often not working. After a year of having the maintenance folks out every few months--and having some very cold weekends--, it became obvious that there was something messed up and all signs pointed to the chimney. It's a little short one, and it was completely open so when it rained hard it would fill up and drip down the pipe into the furnace. Soot+Water -> Corrosive, sticky acid.
Last year I had a chimney mason show up and put a chimney cap up there, and it's been pretty reliable since. This year I fired up the furnace and it worked but after a few weeks it stopped working. It was time for an annual cleanup anyhow, so I had them out this week.
Turns out the problem was that my short little chimney was full of soot and other junk. They are supposed to be cleaned out every 6-10 years, and who knows if mine has ever been cleaned since it was installed in 2002. Today I fought through rush-hour game traffic to make sure I could met the furnace cleaner people. They had a truck-sized shop vac and cleaned it out. Good news since Rhys will be here tonight and while he would be happy to be sleeping in his mummy bag sleeping bag, I wasn't happy with the idea of needing him to.
