Gas furnace good luck story!

[JRR]

First of all, per my wife, I'm the seasonal "Grinch" or "Scrooge" ... as I don't fully appreciate/help/tolerate her avid Christmas spirit as she labors and decorates the house and yard, and listens to endless Christmas music from Thanksgiving to the end of Advent.  Sometimes I even complain a bit ... and that never proves to be wise.  So when she said the white tree light string was nowhere to be found this year ... I thought I might make a few points by venturing down in the remote basement for a search for the missing lights.  So I descind down the concrete steps to the dark furnace/storage/spider room, hit the basement light switch and ... nothing!  Several hours and several trips to the hardware store later, I've replaced enough switches, tightened enough terminals that the basement area lights are now working well.

The good luck part of this story?  Well, during this period of working on the lighting ... I had the chance to observe the furnace thru a couple of start/run/stop cycles.  Not pretty!  The combustion process seemed to be choked ... in fact, occassionally, the flame would pulse backward out of the burner chamber.  So the furnace then was shut down while I checked/vacuumed the chimney flues, ... replaced the vent pipe ... removed the combustion fan and cleaned out the combustion chamber, etc, etc.  In the end, the furnace now runs smoothly and safely.

I can only imagine some of the possible outcomes if I had not gone to look for those tree lights!  The tree lights were found later, elsewhere!

So, PLEASE, all of us with remote gas or oil furnaces ... in the attic or down below ... take a few minutes to get close and personal with the beast and observe/listen during a heating cycle or two.  You might have some luck of your own.

EDIT ADD:  Another posting is reminding me that I should write ... that I am not suggesting we take on all the inspection of our furnaces ... the primary inspections should be left to the professionals who have the skills and equipment necessary to do a professional job!  In fact, we should try to find those folks who service our furnaces by brand if possible ... I always look for a RUUD guy for my furnace.  Also, often our fuel suppliers offer free or low cost inspections.  My natural gas supplier will come right away to check all gas appliances .... looking for leaks, proper piping hook-ups, and observing pilot flames and combustion cycles.

What I am suggesting is that we ADD eyes and ears to the inspection program.  Are there any changes to the sounds and flame appearance of the furnace?  Is the furnace area free of combustables ... or has someone stored cardboard boxes too near?   Are the cooking gloves and hot handle pads hanging over cooking range tops?  Kichen range vents working and clean?  Lights working?  Fire extinguishers?  etc, etc.