I haven't been able to light my furnace for a few weeks. My landlord had been in the country of Columbia and didn't return my calls. So I called a furnace repair service to perform a diagnostic on the furnace and they found that my heat exchanger was cracked. When I mentioned the crack in a voice mail the landlord finally responded and claimed that the repairman was lying. When he got back he checked the furnace and claimed that the repairman sabotaged the furnace to charge more money and brought in his own repairman. He told the repairman that he shouldn't check the heat exchanger and just replace the ignition coils. He did, but when he turned on the heater he could clearly see a large crack in the heat exchanger. The landlord says that as long as the furnace lights and stays on that the heat exchanger doesn't matter. I worried about a CO risk, and the landlord wants the furnace to stay on so the pipes don't freeze. Any advice on what I should do?
Wow, talk about dead-beat Landlord. I would check your state or city for tenant rights and go from there, maybe get an attorney and sue him for unsafe living conditions. You could have the dept. of housing come in and inspect and they will probably condemn the place until repairs are made.
This is a tough one and I could go either way. The cracked heat exchanger is the scam of the new millennium perpetrated by furnace companies. On the other hand, if it is truly cracked there is some reason to believe it could cause a problem eventually. Couple of observations: the landlord may be a bit ticked that you called in someone in his absence. Why weren't you able to light the furnace? That would have nothing to do with the heat exchanger issue. Why were the ignition coils replaced? I think I would discuss the whole thing with the landlord and maybe the two of you could get another mutually agreed upon vendor to look at it and assess if there is a CO issue.
First off sorry about the dead beat land lord. And no the repairman did not do it. It is NOT, I repeat NOT safe to operate this furnace. Due to carbon monoxide leaking. Also, if the heat exchanger was cracked the HVAC repairman should have tagged the unit and shut the gas off. These two things are a long shot. But you could call the gas company (fib a little) and tell them you smell gas in your unit. And that you called your landlord he said dont worry about it. Hopefully they come out and when they do, tell them you had a hvac man there. Tell them what he found. Dont tell them over the phone or they wont come out. When they do they should check everything, and if your in luck they tag the unit and shut the gas off. Which in turn will force him to replace the furnace. Also, you could call the local fire department and explain the situation. If the send a inspector over then same as above. You could also try the board of health and turn it in. I would think out of the 3 someone will respond. Again DO NOT run that furnace you could die. Note: Not that its on your dime, but it generally more cost effective to replace the entire unit than fix it
The landlord is absolutely putting you in danger of your life. Call your local housing inspector or gas utility immediately. They will red-tag the furnace at which point it will have to be replaced. NOTE: Do not use the heater, period. And during the time that all this is going on, you will have no heat. In some states/jurisdictions you may escrow your rent until the furnace is replaced without incurring penalties or late-fees. Check the laws in your area and check your lease for your legal remedies.
