Our furnace has become the ultimate puzzle... To make a long story short... When we had the house inspected a house inspector checked it out... he said it was fine. When we first moved in and were doing work it was hot so there was no need to run it, but the few times we tested it, it ran fine.
A few weeks after moving in, we called PG&E to come out and check all of our gas appliances just to be safe since when we first moved in there was a certain fleeing smell of gas. Although they didn't find anything major, they did recommend we fix the venting on the furnace, and the filter, but that other than being kind of old, the furnace was great.
When winter hit around November, we decided we would try out our furnace. We had gotten the new venting cleared, and it was supposedly in great shape.
Well, we turned it on... no heat. This was alarming as it had worked several times and now when we needed it... nothing. So we decided to mess with it a bit, but much to our dismay, it never produced hot air.
So we called PG&E and had them come out again. This time it was a different guy. He went down and inspected it and said that the gas valve seemed to have a small crack and for safety reasons it was best to fix it, but that it would be a relatively simple task that any handyman could do and that it wouldn't be too expensive. He assured me that after that it would run great. I asked him if we should just replace it in his opinion and he said "no way, it's great. It's old, but it will definitely last for a few more years. All it will require is normal basic maintenance".
I scour the Internet for about 2 weeks after that in search of a Honeywell gas valve that would be compatible with our 1971 Day & Night furnace (yes it's from the 70's and it's powder blue color is proof). I found the part and we ordered it and had MC install it.
Once again, it was all set up, we turned it on annnnd... the pilot light went out. The pilot light would not stay lit. I decided to look online about possible causes. MC and I then spent the next 3 hours in the basement trying to troubleshoot it. No matter what we did the pilot light would not stay on.
Finally we decided to turn to the HVAC guys (although we feared it would be expensive).
After 4 different HVAC guys I am now more confused than when we started. To sum up the whole experience here is what they said.
1st guy says: $300 to repair it, and it'll work, then calls back and says "he talked to his friend" and he was wrong, it's actually $800 and he wont guarantee it
2nd guy says: he won't work on old furnaces, so our only option is to get a new one for at least $2000 (does not include installation or removal of the old one)
3rd guy says: he won't work on furnaces so we have to get a new one for at least $1500 (also not including installation or removal of the old one)
4th HVAC guy says: totally broken and cracking need a new one... or he can retrofit our old one for $1200 (but once again NO guarantees)
Basically I think it's a bit fishy that they all have economic interest in fixing our furnace and all have a completely different take on our furnace. There was actually not one consistent remark about our furnace from any of them.
Then you take the guys who look at heaters every day for a living, are the ones in charge of clearing furnace safety for real estate purposes and a major gas company... and they all have consistent stories: the furnace is fine.
In the end however, all of this only amounts to one thing:
NO HEAT
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