My American Standard furnace (13-14 years old) has been acting up lately, not wanting to start for a while, especially in the mornings. It can take around 5- 10 minutes to finally get started, but once started, runs just fine.
We thought this was a thermostat issue, but after one conctractor spent two hours in the basement checking things out, he said the pressure reading was low, which was causing it to cut out early or take a while to start up. He attributed this to a dirty heat exchanger (i.e., the caked on dirt was causing a blockage and thus bad pressure readings), which he could clean for only $1000!!!!. However, if this turned out not to be the source of the problem, then I would need to replace the furnace for the low, low price of only $6000. This just didn't seem right to me.
I called another contractor this morning, and he felt it was the pressure switch itself if it was indeed not reading properly, or something to do with the blower. He never heard of cleaning the heat exchanger, although he said he could probably do it by simply vacuuming out the soot if that's what I wanted. The other guy made it sound like it was more than soot caking the exchanger, like it was hard stuff that would need to be scraped off (I have no idea what this would be).
Absent a dirty exchanger, it might be due to cracks in the exchanger causing pressure problems. He seemed eager to clean the exchanger and charge me a boatload for it, but couldn't tell me if there were cracks in the exchanger. We would know this, according to him, if the cleaning didn't do the trick.
In any event, should I first try to get the exchanger cleaned (by the second contractor, and not for $1000), and if that does't work, and if it's not the pressure switch, can I simply replace the heat exchanger rather than purchase a new furnace? I can't afford a new furnace right now.
Something about the first guy, even though he spent two hours of his time and didn't charge me for it, still doesn't sound right. He did lower the price of the cleaning to $875, and then said that if it turned out not to be the problem, and I bought a new furnace, they would only charge me $125 for the cleaning, and apply the remaining cost to the new furnace. Reading other people's posts, it sounds like he could have easily determined whether the heat exchanger was cracked or not, rather than putting me through an expensive cleaning that may not be the issue after all.
Is this a scam?
Any and all help and suggestions are appreciated.
We thought this was a thermostat issue, but after one conctractor spent two hours in the basement checking things out, he said the pressure reading was low, which was causing it to cut out early or take a while to start up. He attributed this to a dirty heat exchanger (i.e., the caked on dirt was causing a blockage and thus bad pressure readings), which he could clean for only $1000!!!!. However, if this turned out not to be the source of the problem, then I would need to replace the furnace for the low, low price of only $6000. This just didn't seem right to me.
I called another contractor this morning, and he felt it was the pressure switch itself if it was indeed not reading properly, or something to do with the blower. He never heard of cleaning the heat exchanger, although he said he could probably do it by simply vacuuming out the soot if that's what I wanted. The other guy made it sound like it was more than soot caking the exchanger, like it was hard stuff that would need to be scraped off (I have no idea what this would be).
Absent a dirty exchanger, it might be due to cracks in the exchanger causing pressure problems. He seemed eager to clean the exchanger and charge me a boatload for it, but couldn't tell me if there were cracks in the exchanger. We would know this, according to him, if the cleaning didn't do the trick.
In any event, should I first try to get the exchanger cleaned (by the second contractor, and not for $1000), and if that does't work, and if it's not the pressure switch, can I simply replace the heat exchanger rather than purchase a new furnace? I can't afford a new furnace right now.
Something about the first guy, even though he spent two hours of his time and didn't charge me for it, still doesn't sound right. He did lower the price of the cleaning to $875, and then said that if it turned out not to be the problem, and I bought a new furnace, they would only charge me $125 for the cleaning, and apply the remaining cost to the new furnace. Reading other people's posts, it sounds like he could have easily determined whether the heat exchanger was cracked or not, rather than putting me through an expensive cleaning that may not be the issue after all.
Is this a scam?
Any and all help and suggestions are appreciated.