I called Ardent Heating in Barrie recently to repair a noisy vent exhaust fan on a 10 year old furnace. Ardent had repaired the same furnace 3 years previously so I called them for the repair. I called and booked the inspection, gave the serial and model of Carrier furnace and that was all the information that was exchanged.

Carrier furnaces guarantee that particular heat exchanger for life if you are the original owner, 20 years if you are not. General life expectancy of furnaces is generally considered to be in the 17 to 20 year range.

When I arrived at the house, it was a rental, the Ardent service person was working downstairs and my painter immediately told me that I needed a new furnace. The technician then came up and took me down and showed me the crack in the heat exchanger. He then told me Jason would be calling to give me some options on buying a new one.

I appreciate the fact that Ardent Heating identified that the heat exchanger was cracked and there was a possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning to anyone in the house.

This raised two questions in my mind:

The First question I asked the service technician why he had drilled a hole in my HVAC and tested for a cracked heat exchanger, to which he replyed that it was, “company policy to test any furnaces over 10 years old”. I then asked him if there was any regulation to enforce this policy, to which he replyed, “he didn’t know”. I had a discussion with the owner and requested a copy of regulation stating this was required. He did send a copy of TSSA link but no mention was made of any regulation for residential gas installation, it did mention Special Properties like ASSEMBLY or INDUSTRIAL occupancies.
Jason from Ardent Heating did comment that TSSA verbally approved of this type of testing and it was a safety issue etc etc but again, no regulation supplied to back up policy.
Jason, after the fact, also offered that they inspected every, Heat Exchanger, whether 1 year old etc, but did clarify that they only took the furnace apart and drilled through HVAC after ten years. So, although not being a furnace technician, how do you check after one year, if not by same visual inspection as after ten. Ten seems to be the magic number that is being thrown around by everyone…but no one tells the homeowner!

The Second questionIf it truly is a safety issue, and it is required by regulation for Special Properties, then should not the TSSA in conjunction with these companies who are following their own policies, consider changing policies to protect these people who have furnaces over ten years old. As a home inspector I inspect properties every day that have furnaces over ten years old. I would assume my furnace was an exception to the rule and possibly had some defect to cause early failure. If a large number of furnaces do have premature failures there is usually a manufactures recall.

I personally was not happy that the Ardent Heating service person who was contracted for one particular job, entered my home, performed a test he was not asked to perform without stating their particular company policy and charged me for it. I am thankful that the cracked heat exchanger was identified, but I believe in the rights of individuals and in this situation I feel it was money not safety that was the issue.

How can these “furnace technicians” that quote safety and concern for individuals not voice their concerns to the appropriate authority if in fact there is a real and present danger to all the homes that have 10 year and older furnaces. Why is the regulation only effective on Special Occupancies, 90% of the houses in my subdivison all have furnaces of 10 years old, why are they not being informed..

Is is safety, or is it money….you be the judge.

CAVEAT EMPTOR – BUYER BEWARE

This article is for your information only and as always when you call a contractor, you should always ask questions prior to arranging for work to be done.