MC Friday, YAAY!

 Julie, my furnace had similar problems - turns out the ducts (or something) were just too clogged/dirty, so the hot air wasn't getting pushed out the way it was supposed to, so the air in the furnace got too hot and the furnace shut off as a safety precaution (instead of overheating).

I'm probably waaay oversimplifying what our repairman said... but in any case, I would be wary at just installing a new thermostat, because if there's something causing your furnace to auto-off for safety, I'd hate to mess around with that!

I know you said the filter is new and clean... but is there a chance maybe the filter wasn't doing its job appropriately and there is gunk actually inside the furnace? If you trust yourself to not blow up your house, you could always shut it off, open it up, and just look inside to see if there's crapola in there...

Julie, in my mind, it would be worth the $85 to have someone look at it.  You can get a diagnosis and estimate without having to agree to anything on the spot, which will give you time to decide. 

Geez, just when we really need Jackie...

 Amanda, Ari wants to know if she can come visit. She said table surfing is lots of fun and it would be best to do it with two other mischievous types! She once got up on our table and I must have thrown her my best "you will not be among the living any longer if you don't get off" look because I didn't even say a word when she slunk off and tried to kiss me so I wouldn't kill her. I wish I could duplicate that look again lol.

sharismom

Geez, just when we really need Jackie...

LOL, that's what I was thinking. I wonder if any of the repair places deduct the diagnostic fee if they do the work. I personally don't think it's a problem with the thermostat but I don't know much about heat/AC units.

It's really nice and sunny this morning. I think we're supposed to get more rain tomorrow but for now, it looks like a nice spring day.

DH works all weekend, so I'm not sure what I'll do to keep myself busy. I want to go shopping for a big mirror for the dining room, but even if I find something, I won't be able to fit it in my car. I guess I could always pay for it and have DH pick it up on Monday.

I'd have a tech come out for the reason Courtney mentioned.  Better to have someone skilled diagnose the trouble than guess at it and maybe cause more trouble.  I'd have a hard time thinking that $85 is a "waste of money" if it gives you the right answer and the peace of mind to know you're not going to throw away the money on a new thermostat or something more.

I've been told we may have thunder snow tonight.  It's so warm out, but a cold front is coming and there might be a thunderstorm, but it might be cold enough for snow... interesting living right next to the Rockies.

Crap, I just remembered I have another paper due tonight.  I am not interested in analyzing financial statements - anybody else out there know what's worth looking at and what isn't?

Meanwhile, I had the coolest dream this morning.  I love houses where staircases come out from odd places with landing levels in between.  (I have one in my mind I saw on an HGTV episode but can't find it.)  Anyway, in this dream, I walked into a room that had a staircase to go up and at that level I could go down half way into another room with more stairs going back up to another room where the railings were made of polished natural curving twisted wood that led up to the ceiling which was a domed arch allowing a 360 view of the outdoors and the whole thing spun around.  It was awesome.  *sigh* loved it!

Jewlieee

Ok I need some decision making help:

 

It seems as though my furnace is on the fritz. My heat is set to 70 but the house is only warming to 65. The furnace comes on, blows warm air for a min or 2 the shuts off. The filter is new and clean. I haven't had the furnace serviced though since living here (3 yrs).

I have called around and it is $85 just for someone to come and diagnose the problem. Then who knows how much to fix anything. I hate getting ripped off and considering I know nothing about stuff like this, the possibility of getting ripped off is high.

So, do I have someone come out today or take a stab at installing a new thermostat myself guessing that may be it? I can live with 65 especially considering the temps are rising. However, it is friday. I would hate to have an emergency service call on the weekend. Help!

I'm a licensed HVAC contractor in Indiana.  The most common problem we find in today's furnaces are dirty flame sensors.  We would charge about $100 (total) to make this repair.  It's one of the things we do when we clean and service a furnace.  When choosing a company ck the BBB and stay away from the companies with the HUGE yellow page adds.  How do you think they pay for them?  If you need any advice just let me know.  And before you ask, no I can't make service calls to Michigan!  LOL  Hope this helps...

miranadobe

I've been told we may have thunder snow tonight.

 Crap, I just remembered I have another paper due tonight.  I am not interested in analyzing financial statements - anybody else out there know what's worth looking at and what isn't?

I think thunder snow is hilarious!  We get it here occasionally!

What do you need to analyze about financials?  Your main concerns would be cost of goods sold, labor percentages, repair costs, utilities, which all affect your assets vs liabilities (profit & loss).  I'm not an accountant, but I do accounts payable, and have a basic understanding of P&Ls.  Does that help?

sharismom

Julie, in my mind, it would be worth the $85 to have someone look at it.  You can get a diagnosis and estimate without having to agree to anything on the spot, which will give you time to decide. 

Geez, just when we really need Jackie...

I was thinking the same exact thing.  That's a Jackie question.  However, I agree...worth it to have an expert look at it.  I think those "foot in the door" service charges are typical.  High, but typical....and should go towards anything that needs to be fixed.

Yay for tax refunds!  Wish I could be happy...  Likely we will pay in.  But, I do know that the accountant is digging through our stuff as we speak.  Ours is a bit of a pain this year because we formed an LLC mid year.  The accountant is probably not liking us too much right now.  Oh well, dems the breaks.

Tina, I didn't know you had rednecks in Michigan.  LOL. 

Amanda...Cher was just trying to continue her training on sitting on varying things; and well uh...Bevo needed to show her the proper way to sit on the table.  Tee Hee.

Deb...almost falling over your Goober reminded me of my recent fall over Heidi.  She was being good and focusing on me...however turned and stood right in front of me while doing so.  Down I went...scraped knees and hands to boot.  That was not a good week.  Same week Bruder bodyslammed into my face.    I was a colorful mess that week.

I am feeling better today, took the last of those UTI symptom releiving pills yesterday.  Man, those things are nasty...made me feel quite gross.  But, much better today and I'm raring to go.  Took the day off today.  Took the dogs in for a grooming; got my truck inspected, oil changed and washed.  I think DH and I are going shopping tonight; and to eat Tex Mex.  Hmmmm....should we go shopping before or after margaritas?  I think after.  Yeah, after.

It is going to be a beeeautiful weekend.  Definately going for a ride on the Harley sometime over the next couple of days. 

CoBuHe

Tina, I didn't know you had rednecks in Michigan.  LOL.

oh, go north of the middle of the lower peninsula and there are tons of them.  Kid Rock is very popular here.

Jewlieee

Ok I need some decision making help:

 

It seems as though my furnace is on the fritz. My heat is set to 70 but the house is only warming to 65. The furnace comes on, blows warm air for a min or 2 the shuts off. The filter is new and clean. I haven't had the furnace serviced though since living here (3 yrs).

I have called around and it is $85 just for someone to come and diagnose the problem. Then who knows how much to fix anything. I hate getting ripped off and considering I know nothing about stuff like this, the possibility of getting ripped off is high.

So, do I have someone come out today or take a stab at installing a new thermostat myself guessing that may be it? I can live with 65 especially considering the temps are rising. However, it is friday. I would hate to have an emergency service call on the weekend. Help!

My mom had trouble with her less than 5yr old furnace, and apparently something was tripped -- as someone mentioned above -- but there was a trick to resetting it, and it would keep tripping until reset.  It would blow and blow and blow, in her case, though.  But you could try poking around and at least seeing if there is any sort of reset mechanism on the unit itself?  I'm not that savvy, so maybe that's bad advice, but I would at least look.

Reminds me, our furnace and a/c hadn't been serviced in a while when we got the house, so I suppose I need to look into that.  Wonder how much a basic "check everything over" would run me?  Too bad you can only do the furnace in cold weather and a/c in warm weather.... ugh.

OK ... what is thunder snow?

I have this deal with a local AC/heating place.  They take $11.95 out of my checking account every month and for that I get a complete cleaning/tune of of the AC in the spring and the AC in the fall.  If it needs any work/parts, I get a discount on that because I'm an on-going customer. I know that's about $144 a year, but each of those things would probably cost me around $72 anyway, and it's pretty painless doing it in small amounts monthly.  I just have to make sure I remember to deduct it.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

OK ... what is thunder snow?

It's like a thunderstorm, but instead of rain, it's just cold enough to be snow instead.

sl2crmeg

I am channeling my Gina side. For lunch I am having medium garlic chicken wings (from last night), a small bag of BBQ chips, and a black cherry soda. I can feel my arteries clogging...mmm...

And you both stay skinny.  Jerks.

Tina, turns out my paper on the financials isn't due until next week, it's a discussion on financial statements and financial indicators that I have to participate in this week.  However, the Marketing paper is due tonight.  Which has me even more screwed, because they want some graphic display attached (ie, get creative) in addition to all the writing to be done. Wooo, way to leave it until the last minute.

I think I'm going to get this car-camping tent this weekend.  They have it at Costco for $130, it retails on Coleman's website for $290.  My full set of gear is back in NH, and I'm not much of a backpack-and-tent kind of person.  It will always be a car load of gear for me, so why not have a giant tent?  Me, my sister, and three med-large dogs warrants this, I think.  Shoot, it even has a place for a lightbulb (w/battery pack). lol

CoBuHe

Yay for tax refunds!  Wish I could be happy...  Likely we will pay in.

Same here. I used to love tax time but not any more. I tend to put it off until the very last minute but I really should do them and see how bad it's going to hurt.

There were protests all over the state yesterday regarding higher ed fee hikes. They had a picture of one of the protestors at the capitol carrying a sign that said "Higher fees???" "WTF??". I was all indignant spouting off that someone wanting more money for higher ed might want to act more mature and educated. I got an email from someone this morning to let me know that the WTF stands for "where's the funding".  LOL but I doubt I'm the only one who thought it meant something else.