Feeling the heat

Yesterday morning I had two work crews at the house. The first had been scheduled for a while. That was a contractor to replace the side door in the garage. The frame had rotted, so the whole thing had to go. He also rehung gutters on two sides of the house that were sagging. He finished a bit after lunch.

The other crew replaced the furnace. I had reported it had gone wonky a couple days ago. The crew brought in the new one, which I noticed is shorter than the previous one (and that one was shorter than the one in the house when I moved in). The crew did their thing and finished about 2:00. About then two more guys arrived. It was soon clear that one of these was the manager. One of the original guys explained he had installed furnaces before but this was the first under this company. His boss had come to inspect the work. At times they talked to me, explaining the changes in code since the previous furnace was installed. Mostly the boss talked to his guys.

Along the way the boss noted a few other things the guys should do to bring everything up to code, which included the type of material used to support the PVC pipes of the exhaust system. Which they changed. Though they were “done” at 2:00, the boss didn’t finish his lessons and they didn’t leave until 3:00.

I went out for dinner with friends and enjoyed the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The 10th Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich, with a supposed depiction of Joseph Stalin as its harrowing second movement, is an awesome piece of music!

I came home to a cold house. The temp had dropped 5 degrees again. This time the furnace didn’t kick in. By morning the inside temp was down to 58F. Before dashing to a morning event I called the heating company. I told the answering system for emergencies that I would be home by noon (I was actually home a bit earlier). Shortly before noon I got a call and a guy was here shortly after. He had the furnace running fairly quickly.

New furnaces are now required to go through a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt, the kind of outlet now required in bathrooms and kitchens where water is present. It had tripped while I was at the concert. The reason for it tripping is unknown.

This GFCI requirement was added to the code by the electricians. The furnace people hate it. As today’s repairman said: Suppose you go off to Florida for a month (lots of people in Michigan do that). A little bit of water leaks into the basement and flows into the drain. But the moisture is enough to trip the GFCI. The furnace cuts out and the pipes freeze and burst. Which is better, a puddle on the floor or frozen and burst pipes?

If the furnace cuts out again I know to reset the GFCI and see if that does it. Though it could be a cold morning while I make my way to the furnace.