FYI we leave our blower going all the time - Summer and winter. Have it set to "Manual ON" just so's we can have some air flow in the place. Last summer however, I had an issue with the outside unit where the cooling fan would not come on which would shut the whole unit down because it got too hot.....So I did a little youtube "research" and surmised the likely culprit was the "run capacitor" which typically costs several hundred $$$ IF you call a repairman to diagnose and replace it. I located one at a hardware store nearby for, I think $35. I figured if I was wrong I could always return it. Replaced the run capacitor in a matter of 5 minutes, turned the power to the unit back on and she worked just fine! Sometimes this old dog can still find a bone!
Before I retired I completely changed out my hvac with ot money, costly but worth it. Also had my water heater, toilets, faucets, sinks changed out with all quality fixtures.
Gotta love UA-cam "training" videos. I've repaired or replaced a few things in my home with a video playing next to me on my laptop as my guide. I do a step, watch the next step in the video, pause the video and then do that step. Thanks for sharing your experience with your furnace.
Right? We had a printer where we couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and a video showed a hack that worked perfectly. Something I never would have thought of. Amazing.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage Actually it still worked but my oil tank was leaking . I was talked into getting a natural gas burner by the salesman, as for the oil tank it was siphoned and removed but a large pine tree type bush with red berries was first removed but , it was put back in backwards and the ground keeps sinking where the tank was and I keep putting soil there . I think I may have it packed down finally
I retired 2 years ago, never touched heating and cooling before, but this last spring I installed a Pioneer HyPerformance Mini Split system in a lake cottage we have. With researching company/product reviews and watching a number of UA-cam videos I felt comfortable doing the install myself. We haven’t been thru a winter yet, but so far I have been very pleased.
Good show. Regular filter changes are a life saver and you should use inexpensive, light filters. The expensive, aggressive ones put a huge strain on the furnace and aren't doing you any good. Twenty seven years is a really good run and you'll probably have to buy one more in your lifetime. Keep Mrs. Buzz warm!
I am not an hvac guy, but a serious diy. I have replaced a few furnaces, central air units and did an entire install including ducting on a flip/remodel. I keep a flame sensor, igniter, control board, induction motor and capacitor for the ac on hand. It’s $250-300 in parts, and I can have the system back up and running in under an hour. Cracked heat exchanger, it’s game over. New furnace time unless it’s still under warranty.
I think this is one area where my wife and i did things right. Two years prior to retirement, we replaced our roof, all appliances, and our heating/ac system. Keeping our fingers crossed
Yup good advice for those that don't follow your tips. The one larger purchase was replacing both the furnace and A/C unit before retirement. Both of them were from the late 70's I retired in 2021. The comment from the installers was that they hadn't seen one this old as long as they had been doing that type of work but they were both young guys as well.
We just went thru Hurricane Helene here in N. Georgia. Oak tree down breaking our 6' wood fence, flooded living and bed room. Had to replace all the laminate. Didn't really see that coming...but lesson learned: keep an emergency fund.
Watching you tube videos on how to fix stuff has saved me a ton of money over the years. That’s how I started watching you tube. I basically learned how to fix almost everything on my truck.
It was funny because the tech couldn't get it to run after changing the board. I told him I read or saw on UA-cam, I couldn't remember, that you have to jumper something out on the new boards. He thinks he may have a bad board so drives 40 minutes back to the supply house. They ask him, "did you jumper it out?". Lol
Wow your furnace is clean! We’re also big on maintenance service for our furnace is actually tomorrow done yearly had gas fireplace cleaned in September also done yearly & A/C done yearly normally early May. I’ll change filters twice as well between services. As my Dad has taught me an Ounce of Prevention…! Happy yours wasn’t a real expensive fix! Valuable Content that all should take to heart! All The Best To You & Mrs Buzz! Be Well Be Safe & Stay Blessed.
Our furnace/boiler is a dinosaur, but one of the techs that does our yearly maintenance says his is older than our 30+ one. It did have the “block” replaced in 2013, before we bought the house. Last year, we got a new well pump, riding mower, brush mower, and refrigerator. This year, so far, it has been a cake walk, only had the septic tank pumped, just routine maintenance.
I change my furnace filters every 6-8 months. However, we have a HEPA filter on some external blower which takes the brunt of the dust/dirt from the HVAC system. I'll change those every 6 months because it absolutely needs it. My furnace also has filters on two sides. One of my fireplaces would flame out after being on for some time. Replaced the flame sensor, the controller and it was still occurring. Turned out to be a loose wire near the back of the fireplace which was really difficult to get to... It was a real knuckle buster to fix.
You lucked out that this one didn't break the bank. We have baseboard heat, and although the boiler system is more complex than the hot air system in our first house, I've tried to keep it maintained and do repairs where I could. So far, I've also been able to keep the costs low. I hope that furnace keeps running forever for you, Buzz. 😀
My father-in-law had a boiler system and I love that type of heat. I'll probably replace this and the AC in a few years. If I pass first, it will be a couple less things for my wife to worry about.
Our HVAC system died the week after I retired this year - 31 years old. And I currently have a 31 year old fridge in my kitchen that I'm expecting to kick the bucket any day. Such is life :)
I have a old GE at least 60 80 yrs old and it keeps the beer very cold the new ones are junk so try to keep that old one it’s worth putting some money into it if it break’s down
Keep that old refrigerator, the new ones are dying after a year or two because they all changed over to a new style linear compressor that is basically junk. Our refrigerator is about 35 years old and runs like a champ.
yes u want to make sure you keep that furnace working as long as possible. Here in the south we use heat pumps and they’ve gotten real expensive. AND the new ones are junk. I see posts all the time with people who have replaced the old with the new and have nothing but problems.
Hi Buzzy. 2 Years for me to retire.remodeled the kitchen this year and next year the replacement of driveway and the following year will replace boiler and AC last year of working. Hopefully all major expenses will be done
Replaced a heater in dec 2022 that was about 20-30 years old. Then replaced the ac unit earlier this summer that was similar age. Oh then our fridge went the week after. Luckily we still work but my annual budget assumes 5k of repairs
I like the way your mind works, Buzz. Well......at least the part you share with us. 😉 I love it that you are so proactive on the maintenance of things. It's an inspiration (truly). Have a great week and good luck with the bathroom reno.
Thank you. Haven't touched the bathroom yet. Today was demo day but the furnace repair jumped in front of that. Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be in the 70's so I need to be outside! Lol. Maybe Thursday!
@@BuzzRetirementGarage Buzz, Buzz, Buzz......that's starting to sound like me starting a diet or exercising....'maybe Sunday, maybe the first of the month, well the New Year is almost here and a good time to start.' 😜
One necessity for us homeowners is a hot water heater. They don't seem to last as long and have gotten really pricey. I use to replace the heater for less than a couple hundred dollars. The last one I had to replace cost me over a grand. Keep your tools in good working condition! Being aware of potential issues can save you. Good for you!
fyi. Look at what the factory warranty is on your water heater and replace the anode in it at least that often. The thing will not rot out. We are talking about a $25 part here.
Like the air filter on your furnace the water anode rods in the water heater need to be replaced on a regular basis....not as often as the filter - maybe once every 2-3 years. What are anode rods? They are a sacrificial metal rod that corrodes over time and prevents corrosion of the water heater tank by attracting rust and contaminants to itself. They cost like $35-$50 and you can get em at most big box stores.
I retired 4 years ago at 60 and my house had 2 oil furnaces. I had natural gas line run to my house and replaced the main house furnace over to gas and had them run connections for future upgrades for the water heater, stove and dryer. My second furnace is in the garage and heats the great room which is still oil heat.
I had the same issue a couple years ago, and had to replace the control board. It was below zero so had to pay full price from the local HVAC shop which ran around $400 for a new board and I installed it. I found a good used one on Ebay for $50 and have that on the shelf for the next time it happens. My furnace is a little over 20 years old.
We have baseboard heat/oil boiler. We just bought a new one last year and we have been here for 28 years so it lasted 27. That’s pretty good for a boiler from what I hear. We also just replaced the roof not long ago, put in a new deck, and had a garage delivered, so I think we should be ok for any heavy hitters. We need windows but we will see if we can do that before we retire. Thanks for sharing.
Eventually the heat exchangers will fail. Have it checked yearly with a combustion test. have a CO detector in your home. 27 years is considered old. Time to budget for a new rig. I retired from HVAC 2 years ago. Good luck Buzz.
Everything for me went in 2022. I had to replace my roof which was a boatload because it needed all new flashing and they had to replace an additional 40 sheets of plywood besides plus they cut in a ridge vent instead of using the attic fan (the cover flew off and broke and couldn't be replaced) which was the reason for looking for a new roof in the first place. Then my Washer and Dryer went, then my Central Air went and then my furnace went also. It was an endless storm in 2022. With the furnace we went with a tankless water heater which does both the hot water and my heat since we have hot water baseboard and we use gas. The price difference between just keeping the furnace and hot water separate or replacing with one unit mounted on the wall was only $1k so for me it was a no brainer. But, this happened before I retired so I was able to get those huge expenses out of the way before retirement this year. But, when these big ticket items happen, whether you're retired or not they are expensive and usually never expected.
Hi Buzz, Glad you were able to have someone look at your furnace today. Seems when you have more time you don’t necessarily have the ability or money to fix things. There will come a time when you will need to weigh the cost of repairs as they begin to increase the older your home is and think about down sizing or apartment/ condo living. Our family sold the “ big home” back in 2016 and we moved to a brand new construction home; very little yard decreased from 2000 SF in a ranch to 1800SF in a 2 story. We lived in the big house for 39 years and at the end in needed lots of work and it was a money pit. Best thing we did since my husband retired in 2009 and myself in 2012. Good luck in the journey and though you are living on SS , I hope you also have an emergency savings just for all the things that will begin to fail.
Hi Buzz, I know you are trying to make it work on just SS but there comes a time to spend the Emergency funds: that’s what they are for. No one told you you could only spend so much money.I suspect you retired last year because you felt you could manage and the SS seems like “ free money” . Making it work?? Well remember this is an experiment so don’t be too hard on yourself.
Good video. I have 2 HVAC systems one for the 2nd floor and one that covers the basement and main 1st floor. I have a HVAC guy come out twice a year to "service"/check out the electronics and verify that everything else is working as it should. I replace the filters every 3 months and that seems to be about right.
Buzz save the board ! The contacts on the relay are welded shut and a new relay needs to be installed on the board. The relay is around $7 and if you have a friend in electronics they can replace it. You would have a spare. That flame detector can be cleaned with a dollar bill. My gas furnace is a 1990s unit. I have found old units by the side of the road the same as mine and took the common parts home so I have a good chance of fixing it. I clean mine each year and 2 times each winter the filter is changed. Mine is more of a backup unit because I heat mainly with a pellet stove. That unit is about 20 years old and bought a new combustion blower because mine was making noise. I am not convinced its bearings so I just ordered a new one for $60 and will rebuild the old one. I have new bearings. I have almost all the parts needed for the stove. I bought a parts machine and a guy gave me 2 machines for parts. The government is giving 30% back on taxes for heat pumps and other energy efficient devices. I think the heat pump would be the way to go. I am also looking into a heat pump hot water heater. I want to update one each year.
I did clean the flame detector and will keep it as a spare. I'm not sure about heat pumps. In cold climates like mine I read they're not that great. I don't know.
FYI... Does flame sensors you can take them out and take a piece of steel wool and clean a tube and they work like brand new again. My HVAC systems nearing 40 years old. I've kept it going myself.
Buzz - Just got my filters at Lowe's a week or so back. They had a buy 2 get 2 free deal going on. Our 25x20x1 filters came out to $7.50/each. Not a bad deal. Our biggest hvac expense came with our new home. It's three years old now but our builder built it with one zone....for 4000 square feet. A few grand later we now have two zones. Had automatic dampers installed. When we had the house built they laughed when we asked to make sure we had two zones. "We dont build any house with just one zone" they said. Joke was on us. We use ecobee thermostats. Tells us when filters need replacement. Its great technology.
I missed that sale! Do you go by the Merv rating or just grab whatever? I'll look into that thermostat but I just put a new one in last year. Cheapest I could find. Lol
yep...vented hvac is crazy price... my a/c is getting old and i started pricing them out ...13 grand !!! ... it seems that mini splits are the way to go unless you got a really big place ... another diy tip... keep your outside unit clean (i got mine on a concrete slab with no grass or bushes no where near close to it
Same thing happen to me about 7 years ago. The control unit went out but for me it happen on the coldest day of winter and a weekend! So cost was pretty high because labor is much more on holidays and weekends. It may have been a holiday weekend now that i think of it. I think about $380 bucks. Like you I always keep the furnace clean and change filters every 3 months. Last winter for the 1st time i had a HVAC guy come out before winter to check everything out. It passed with flying colors and it's over 30 years old. It's a 80% furnace and he said these older units last many years compared to these new high efficiency furnaces. If i ever do replace it i will stick with a low cost 80% unit as i have now. I have a nest thermostac so it reminds me every 3 months on my phone app to replace the filter. Filterbuy online is good to buy from. I was also told to use a low Merv rated filter. no more then a 10 merv.
I am glad the furnace didn't cost an arm and a leg to fix. I had to replace the fan on my boiler last winter. I did it myself for about 1/4 the cost the furnace place wanted and it only took about 15 minutes. I don't have a forced air system so I have no filters to change. Mine is a propane fired boiler for our in floor radiant heat. The unit also provides our hot water. We don't have A/C here on the Maine coast, although we did have three hot days (over 80) last summer and the hottest day it hit 83. We dodged the heat by taking the yacht out. It never gets much above 60-65 out on the ocean.
It's amazing to read that you 83 is the warmest that you get! My father in law had boiler heat but baseboards not in the floor. I really liked it! Felt different than natural gas furnace.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage My wife hates forced air heat so that was a big factor when we were shopping for this house. Our previous house had electric baseboard heat. The radiant floor heat is nice because you don't have cold floors. On the other hand radiant heat is slow to respond, which my wife still doesn't get after living with it for 25 years. Our maximum temperatures are greatly impacted by ocean temperatures since we live on an island and the ocean never gets above about 55 degrees. We are about 200 yards from the ocean. We only get hot weather (>80 degrees) when the wind is out of the north for a couple of days. Because of where we live on the island we have water withing 1/4 mile to the west, south and east. To the north we have the bulk of the island. We get the opposite effect in winter when wind off the ocean keeps us relatively warm because the ocean never goes much below 40F here. North winds are cold winds for us and can result in temperatures to around zero at night. We have warmer winters here on the Maine coast than they do in the deep south (i.e., Boston).
That’s Good to know buzz. I have a fisher Paykel Stainless steel washing machine that I bought Several years ago and I couldn’t find the reason why it wouldn’t pump the water out. I did all the tutorials on UA-cam cleaned it washed it tested the pump. Tried using the computer to give me a diagnostic code and it wouldn’t give me one. I had to put it off to the side because I knew it was still in great shape and go buy a new one. I was a little disenchanted to spend another 600, 700 bucks last month.
Janet Andrews hello from Virginia: Buzz I definitely have my Hvac and furnace and waterless hot water heater maintenance at least 1 a year to ensure it keeps working. However, I must say even with the general maintenance I still had to replace my waterless tank over $2,000 grand bummer. Thanks for the tips.
Buzz oh man .. Our previous house we sold, and the furnace went out on the owners within a year .. bahhh! We bought a newer ( smaller ) house for this very reason. I run away from older things needing repairs. Best wishes on the replacement!
just replaced my control board in January, but furnace went out new years eve, which meant a week waiting for repair, which made for a big electric bill with space heaters.
Lucky you! A few days before thanksgiving last year, my 11yr old 1 year out of warranty furnace blower motor failed to go to high stage in heat mode, therefore shutting it down due to overheating. The blower and its module (sealed with hardened plastic) come as a unit. 1200 for the part, & an hour labor time. Big gulp! like you i'm retired. Budgeting is helpful but falls way short.
I studied and took the EPA 608 Type 2 exam last November (2023) for the very reason of the high cost of repairs. I have 2 units with one being a 1997 Rheem AC/Heat pump. Every year I had to call HVAC techs to correct my issues. Each time they came they’d put in a lb of refrigerant and say you’re good to go. After my exam I bought a digital meter and 5lbs of R22. Long story short, what I found was the system had waaaay too much refrigerant in it. After I leveled it out it ran/runs great. FYI: I paid $250 for 5lbs of R22. Techs where I live charge (in 2021, I don’t know what they charge now) $200 a pound. HVAC companies can purchase r22 for around $25 to $30 a lb.
@buzzretirementgarage Looks like you had a good repair experience. I spent my career in this field, you should consider budgeting for a replacement at some point, your equipment is well past it's expected life. I would also get the heat exchanger checked, that is a safety issue. After 20 years it could be cracked. The fan stays on until the furnace cools down to maximize heat transfer and cool down the heat exchanger, but it should go off once the air temp gets to around 90 degrees. Most likely cause was the controller as you discovered. On the filter, up to MERV 11 should be ok. If you have allergies keeping the fan on all the time can help. What does the blower wheel look like? Does it look dirty? That will give you an indication of the overall cleanliness. Thanks for all you do, it's good stuff.
Thanks for the comment! That's why I'm trying to live on SS alone so savings can continue to grow. The gains someday will pay for those high ticket items. Water heater could be next. Buzz
Here in deep Southeast Louisiana, a functional AC system is critical for comfort in our hot, humid summers. This year, a storm power surge fried our upstairs heat pump. Both the inside, and outside units had to be replaced as well as some of the ducting. That was a $20,000 hit. We'll be paying for it for the next five years because being in the middle of a reno, we didn't have the free cash to handle it. I'm scared that in retirement, something like that would break us.
I have never cleaned my heater... and it's on the roof! So im sure its gross all the time.... :/ I also dont do anything for the water heater! Or the fridge! I need to learn the maintenance. I do need to go on my roof soon and do the winterizing. I have an evaporative cooler, so I have to drain the water out, and drain the supply line too. Then I have to switch out the things that close the ducts up there, so that the furnace can blow and the cooler vent is shut. A couple years ago my heater broke, and with a I figured out it was the igniter. I replaced it myself and it worked!
Make sure you take the faceplate off the bottom of your fridge and clean the coils. I do that every two months. I don't drain the water heater like they say you're supposed to. Meh. Luckily almost everything is on UA-cam.
@@TheahLil vacuum. Depends on your access but you may need to get an attachment to your vac that has mini brushes. I can't get to every inch of mine but I get 80%
My furnace is about 20 years old and I've replaced the following in the last 2 years.... flame sensor, pressure valve, circuit board, both blowers, and finally the heat exchanger. About everything is new now lol. I have about $1400 in the parts with the heat exchanger being the most expensive at $800. I was quoted early into this a new furnace installed for $7k and that's why I just rebuilt this one. Should be good for another 20 years.....and now I know it inside and out
My unit is similar to yours and it's 18 years old and the only thing I had to replace was the igniter,I went down to a HVAC supply in town and bought one for $12 and put it in and it took 3 minutes,very easy...if your blower comes on but the burners fail to light that is probably the fix.
my 19 year old furnace had the igniter replaced in November and the control board went out New years eve, hope you don't expierence the same thing. To top it off the control board replacement included the igniter replacement that was only a couple months old.
These days you probably have to budget for replacing all your appliances and vehicles in under 10 years the way things are made these days. We used to run second hand cars but now will only buy new due to the cost of repairs and parts etc. We tend to get a good run out of our stuff but there's certainly no guarantees that this will always be the case.
That's why I feel I may have to go back to work at least part time. I don't feel that I have enough saved to take care of all the things that can go wrong. Time will tell!
My furnace was replaced in 2007, so it's not REAL old, but I've had to replace a heat sensor and control board on it.... FYI - That big black blower fan on the right side.. It connects to the intake pipe that goes outside the house... I had some kind of critter crawl in to mine, all the way to the blower fan, where it died... When I was troubleshooting the problem, I took the blower unit out, and MAGGOTS crawled out of it !!! The critter was nothing more than "black furry soup" by then. It worked after thoroughly cleaning it out, but after that, I put a wire mesh in the outside pipe to keep more critters OUT.
Nothing has ever crawled in there that I know of, but I like that advice! I have some screen material that I could clamp around the pipe. Thanks for the idea!
My mother-in-law just spent $1800 on her 6 1/2 year old Trane HVAC system. Had to replace the compressor and an expansion valve and the parts were covered under warranty !! I tried to get the owner to give me an itemized bill but he said they don’t do itemized bills. Personally I think she got ripped off, the unit was $6K when installed new 6 years ago (package unit). Yes, a Trane can be stopped. Hope yours holds up Buzz !!
Most thermostats have an auto fan or fan on setting .Hope that wasn't the issue other than the control board ! Check your stat for that setting . Tim NJ
2019 we had furnace replaced and added central air , new well that year also was able to pay cash out of new garage fund. New garage on side lot still hasn't happened. Car parts got us in October just over $600.00 I did all the labor.
LOL! I might be retired, but my home isn't. During the past 15 years, I've had to replace the 70+ year old sewer line to the street, replace my roof (tear down job), redo my primary bathroom, replace the HVAC system (furnace and AC), and replace our washing machine and kitchen refrigerator. Along with this, I widened our driveway and install a new concrete sidewalk. Stuff happens. If one lives in a house, things break and need replacing. The key is to plan.
I'm trying to take care of a lot of this stuff while I'm still working. I just replaced a vintage 1990's air conditioner, replaced the roof, put in new windows. I'm horrified of touching anything inside my furnace/central air unit. That thing has 220V going into it.
@cathrynm Have owned my home for 46 years. Live in a home long enough and things get replaced more than once. B4 I retired, I was busy putting 3 children through college. Home took a back seat.
Did most of that too except I have an aeration tank and I'm surrounded by sewer lines but so far they haven't forced us to tie in. If they do, a huge bill is coming. I'll be dead before it's paid off.
@@stevemaggs6781Wow! I have only been in my house 20 years, and only one child through college. 46 in the same house is almost unheard of these days.
Hey, that looks a lot like the furnace I just replaced a week ago. So there's bit of change gone out of the bank account. I could have replaced the control board but that was around $500 and my furnace was 24 years old, so just not worth it. I'm not around the farm in the winter so having a reliable furnace is a good thing. I also heat with propane and that's a little harder on a furnace, it generates more moisture and rust/corrosion is an issue. And yes, replace the filters frequently.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage- heat pump is like using an electric heater, but the electricity used is way less on cool, not really cold days. Great to have for where you live, but since you likely have natural gas, it’s hard to beat the overall cost of natural gas heat. But they’re gaining!
@@BuzzRetirementGarage I have a heat pump system. It's not a good option for this area (Cleveland) as they are really only economical for heating down to about 20f degrees. Below that there is not enough ambient heat in the outside air for it to exchange and the "emergency heat" kicks in. The "emergency heat" is really just a bunch of wire coils that heat up that the fan runs air across and through to the ducts. Think of it as a giant hair dryer. And you know how much energy it takes to run a hair dryer, so imagine running a giant one for days/weeks on end in Jan-Feb!!! Not unusual for my electric bill to be $400 during those months....So do I have a heat pump?? Well, it came with the place and there is no gas line run to the house so I'm stuck with it unless I want to dig really deep and pay for a gas line install along with a new gas unit - not something I'd prefer to do unless I win the lottery - which is also highly unlikely!.
Nice video and reminder of hvac maintenance and occasional repairs I thought repairs such as this came out of your set aside savings rather than your ss income which covers your regular monthly expenses, I’m just curious what bucket you cover a repair like this from
I installed a Noritz tank-less water heater in 2010. I retired in Jan 2023. I knew that Tank-less was going to blow any day. Sure as Sh!t it blew the heat exchanger Dec 1st 2023. My first real world retirement $$$ surprise. It cost me $3400 to replace it. Didn't bother me much though. I have $12,000 set aside for emergencies like that.
Maintenance is key especially replacing the filter so the HVAC doesn’t have to work as hard. I’ve seen some nasty filters that I wonder how the HVAC is even working.
What goes out on those ninety plus furnaces is the secondary heat exchanger. With the age of your unit you're living on borrowed time my friend. Have a HVAC tech do a carbon monoxide check for you every fall before the heating season kicks in. Or get a CO checker and do it yourself. Better to be on the safe side.
We had a similar issue with our furnace about two years ago only with ours the blower wouldn’t come on. The technician diagnosed the control board as the root cause and indicated that he couldn’t find the part anywhere - not sure if this was because of the pandemic or if he was simply selling us a bill of goods……..🤔 Regardless, we ended up replacing the “furnace” side of our HVAC system to the tune of about $3000……….😕
During COVID parts were hard to get once current stock was depleted. But in my youth I had a tech outright lie to me. Good thing Mrs. Buzz suggested we get a second opinion.
It was convenient to save on your recent grocery haul. Watching your grocery budget a few more times will help offset the cost of this HVAC problem. I change my filters every two weeks. I have NO carpet in my house to catch much of the hair and dust.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage I have a paper one. Hmm, Buzz and @ noreenn6976, did I use the wrong word. These filters are not on the unit itself. It's called a "return"?!?!? One is in the hallway, and the other is in the dining room. If I run my A/C or heat, they need to be changed. I can go longer without changing the filters if I don't run the unit. Thank you both for wondering about it.
That was interesting. Looks very different to our typical gas boilers. The average life expectancy of our boilers is now about 7 years. Even with a yearly service, something catastrophic will happen and a new one is about £3,500-£5,000. Back in the day they would last up to 20-25 years. I have a 7 year old boiler and have had to take out expensive insurance just to be able to get it fixed until the inevitable happens 🙁
Yes, it's good to have a planned out budget for retirement, but ya need an "Oh Crap" fund too... Oh crap, there goes the furnace... Water heater... Roof shingles... Car transmission....
I'm thinking about replacing my problematic furnace before retirement. I was going to replace the roof but an ice storm destroyed the maple tree in my backyard, falling limbs destroyed the roof so my insurance company paid for the replacement.
Just had the same issue last week, but no heat, just fan. Bad transformer and board. They said $1,500 to fix and my furnace was 28 yrs. old. So . . . over $6,000 later, I have a new furnace. A hard pill to swallow for sure.
I know nothing about HVAC or any other technical system but every house needs maintenance and repairs. That's why our budgets need to include a sinking fund you contribute to every month in anticipation that something will go wrong. If you cut your grocery budget by $200/month, then you can re-allocate that money towards home repairs. $2400/year goes a long way to covering unexpected expenses.
That why you need to build is an emergency account, separate from your checking account. When things like your heating system go out. There are many things that can go out and cost you a lot of money. Be prepared with an emergency account . I keep 2,000
I’m kind of glad I have electric heat (supplemented by our wood stove in the winter with lots of free wood) and community well so we won’t have those big bills at least.
@BuzzRetirementGarage That's gotta be a huge relief. I've had 2 jobs in 27 years, commuting 60 or 80 miles round trip. I'm retiring in April and I cannot wait to get off these roads 2 hrs a day.
After paying the big $$$$$ to replace HVAC in our house I changed our filters monthly. However, we now have a Great Pyrenees so planning to change twice a month as this big boy (110 lbs) sheds allot. And, his favorite lounging spots are next to the air intake vents for the unit. Buy a year’s worth of filters on line through Home Depot and get a pretty good price break. Waiting on my neighbor’s AC guy to get me a quote buying through his supplier to see if they can beat Home Depot’s price since my next buy will be for 24. Also try to do seasonal servicing on the unit in spring and fall. Hoping to keep this unit ticking until I stop ticking (at least another 30-40 years 🤞). Thankfully have funds set aside in case it needs replacing before then.
Good advice. I average $10 each for the filters I buy. That dog will definitely make you change filters quicker than normal! Thanks for the comment. Buzz
I would suggest washable furnace filters. I have one that is 16 years old that came with my original geothermal furnace and I bought a second one a few years ago. I clean the filter at a car wash. They are a little expensive but cheaper in the long run.
@@calvinreichelderfer4922 I would NOT suggest washable furnace filters. My passion in life is indoor air quality. I design air filtration systems and PM programs for hospitals, K-12's, universities, commercial office buildings, etc. A washable foam or metal mesh filter doesn't stop anything but airflow. I know you wash it at a car wash to get the dirt off, but the only thing your filter is stopping is large items that find their way into your return duct. Use a MERV 8 pleated air filter to get not only the large contaminants, but the small particulate also. 99% of what's in the air, and remains in the air, is less than 1-micron. Your system will breathe easier with more air filter media to pass from the dirty side of the filter to the clean side, through your blower and into your supply ducts. A washable filter won't stop the small stuff. I won't get into filtration 101 here and the differences in air filter media's, the materials they're made from, their true MERV/MERV-A rating, how media are tested and qualified, etc. What I can tell you is 3M is a very large company with very deep marketing pockets and are in every big box store and many drug stores. That doesn't mean they make good quality air filters, but they'd be better than washable. The products I represent are typically available via HVAC wholesalers. Your geo system takes a custom size filter, typically roughly 31x34x2 or 32x36x2 or something like that which is a custom size. A good, pleated filter could give you a year's service. Even if you change it with the change of heating to air conditioning, you'll have cleaner indoor air, and your system will breathe easier.
@ I found a Filter King Merv 8 that comes in the correct size for my furnace which is 29.5” x 31.5” x 2” It says 90% efficiency, blocks air particles of 3 microns and larger. Effective for Dust, Pollen, Dust mites, Bacteria, Pet Dander unless you have mor than one pet. I have one small dog. Is this the kind of filter you would recommend?
There’s always something. That’s why we need money put away in an emergency fund to cover stuff like that when it breaks down. We have no idea how to work on HVAC systems.
No basements in California 😢 so our furnace is in the attic!!! Really? It's a very tight crawl space, accessed through the bedroom closet ceiling! So it will get neglected until something breaks 😂
27 years, I will take that. And it looks like you made out pretty good on this one.
Keep it clean and cross our fingers!
FYI we leave our blower going all the time - Summer and winter. Have it set to "Manual ON" just so's we can have some air flow in the place. Last summer however, I had an issue with the outside unit where the cooling fan would not come on which would shut the whole unit down because it got too hot.....So I did a little youtube "research" and surmised the likely culprit was the "run capacitor" which typically costs several hundred $$$ IF you call a repairman to diagnose and replace it. I located one at a hardware store nearby for, I think $35. I figured if I was wrong I could always return it. Replaced the run capacitor in a matter of 5 minutes, turned the power to the unit back on and she worked just fine! Sometimes this old dog can still find a bone!
Yep, more and more people are learning that you can replace the capacitor yourself. I get them on Amazon for less than $10. Keep one as a spare.
Not bad at all! You reminded me - it's time to change our filter, too! Thanks for sharing, Buzz.
Thanks for being here!
Before I retired I completely changed out my hvac with ot money, costly but worth it. Also had my water heater, toilets, faucets, sinks changed out with all quality fixtures.
That sounds like a great way to avoid some maintenance headaches later on!
Gotta love UA-cam "training" videos. I've repaired or replaced a few things in my home with a video playing next to me on my laptop as my guide. I do a step, watch the next step in the video, pause the video and then do that step. Thanks for sharing your experience with your furnace.
Right? We had a printer where we couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and a video showed a hack that worked perfectly. Something I never would have thought of. Amazing.
My 1939 thatcher oil burner lasted till 2007 and was replaced with a sears natural gas unit and was replaced after 9 years.
1939? Wow. 30's 40's and 50's they made thing to last!
@@BuzzRetirementGarage Actually it still worked but my oil tank was leaking . I was talked into getting a natural gas burner by the salesman, as for the oil tank it was siphoned and removed but a large pine tree type bush with red berries was first removed but , it was put back in backwards and the ground keeps sinking where the tank was and I keep putting soil there . I think I may have it packed down finally
I retired 2 years ago, never touched heating and cooling before, but this last spring I installed a Pioneer HyPerformance Mini Split system in a lake cottage we have. With researching company/product reviews and watching a number of UA-cam videos I felt comfortable doing the install myself. We haven’t been thru a winter yet, but so far I have been very pleased.
Having the time in retirement helps. You have time to learn and that makes for a successful install.
Good show. Regular filter changes are a life saver and you should use inexpensive, light filters. The expensive, aggressive ones put a huge strain on the furnace and aren't doing you any good.
Twenty seven years is a really good run and you'll probably have to buy one more in your lifetime. Keep Mrs. Buzz warm!
I use the $10 Merv 12 filters. Mrs. Buzz gets a blanket.
I am not an hvac guy, but a serious diy. I have replaced a few furnaces, central air units and did an entire install including ducting on a flip/remodel. I keep a flame sensor, igniter, control board, induction motor and capacitor for the ac on hand. It’s $250-300 in parts, and I can have the system back up and running in under an hour. Cracked heat exchanger, it’s game over. New furnace time unless it’s still under warranty.
Smart advice!
I think this is one area where my wife and i did things right. Two years prior to retirement, we replaced our roof, all appliances, and our heating/ac system. Keeping our fingers crossed
Perfect! The older we get the less we want to deal with.
Yup good advice for those that don't follow your tips. The one larger purchase was replacing both the furnace and A/C unit before retirement. Both of them were from the late 70's I retired in 2021. The comment from the installers was that they hadn't seen one this old as long as they had been doing that type of work but they were both young guys as well.
Good you got that done. No worries for a decade to come.
We just went thru Hurricane Helene here in N. Georgia. Oak tree down breaking our 6' wood fence, flooded living and bed room. Had to replace all the laminate. Didn't really see that coming...but lesson learned: keep an emergency fund.
Did insurance help?
@@BuzzRetirementGarage No flood insurance in N. Georgia...and $2000 deductible for the tree...so not much help. Important lesson...build a savings.
Watching you tube videos on how to fix stuff has saved me a ton of money over the years. That’s how I started watching you tube. I basically learned how to fix almost everything on my truck.
It was funny because the tech couldn't get it to run after changing the board. I told him I read or saw on UA-cam, I couldn't remember, that you have to jumper something out on the new boards. He thinks he may have a bad board so drives 40 minutes back to the supply house. They ask him, "did you jumper it out?". Lol
Wow your furnace is clean! We’re also big on maintenance service for our furnace is actually tomorrow done yearly had gas fireplace cleaned in September also done yearly & A/C done yearly normally early May. I’ll change filters twice as well between services. As my Dad has taught me an Ounce of Prevention…! Happy yours wasn’t a real expensive fix! Valuable Content that all should take to heart! All The Best To You & Mrs Buzz! Be Well Be Safe & Stay Blessed.
Thank you. I am slacking on my fireplace chimney cleaning. Did it once in 27 years. Think it's due? Lol
Our furnace/boiler is a dinosaur, but one of the techs that does our yearly maintenance says his is older than our 30+ one. It did have the “block” replaced in 2013, before we bought the house. Last year, we got a new well pump, riding mower, brush mower, and refrigerator. This year, so far, it has been a cake walk, only had the septic tank pumped, just routine maintenance.
Sometimes it comes in spurts. Hopefully I have no other problems this year. Crossing my fingers!
Knock on wood . . .
I change my furnace filters every 6-8 months. However, we have a HEPA filter on some external blower which takes the brunt of the dust/dirt from the HVAC system. I'll change those every 6 months because it absolutely needs it. My furnace also has filters on two sides.
One of my fireplaces would flame out after being on for some time. Replaced the flame sensor, the controller and it was still occurring. Turned out to be a loose wire near the back of the fireplace which was really difficult to get to... It was a real knuckle buster to fix.
At least you found the issue. Thanks for sharing.
You lucked out that this one didn't break the bank. We have baseboard heat, and although the boiler system is more complex than the hot air system in our first house, I've tried to keep it maintained and do repairs where I could. So far, I've also been able to keep the costs low. I hope that furnace keeps running forever for you, Buzz. 😀
My father-in-law had a boiler system and I love that type of heat. I'll probably replace this and the AC in a few years. If I pass first, it will be a couple less things for my wife to worry about.
I liked the video, Buzz. Good advice. I'm an HVACR mechanic up here in Canada. 4 months from retirement.
4 months? Yes! You're going to love it!
Hi Buzz! Sounds like you got lucky that the repair bill was only a few hundred dollars. Good job keeping up on the maintenance.
Had a good tech that works for himself.
Damn Buzz, you will do anything to avoid starting that bathroom Reno. I'm sure Mrs. Buzz is reminding you Thanksgiving is around the corner.
Right? Weather is too nice. 78 degrees. Can't work inside until Thursday.
Hey Buzz, Glad it wasn't worse. No guarantee, but I replaced my HVAC just a couple of years ago so I hopefully make it w/o repair for a good while🤞😉
Excellent. You can sleep well for the next decade!
Our HVAC system died the week after I retired this year - 31 years old. And I currently have a 31 year old fridge in my kitchen that I'm expecting to kick the bucket any day. Such is life :)
I have a old GE at least 60 80 yrs old and it keeps the beer very cold the new ones are junk so try to keep that old one it’s worth putting some money into it if it break’s down
Keep that old refrigerator, the new ones are dying after a year or two because they all changed over to a new style linear compressor that is basically junk. Our refrigerator is about 35 years old and runs like a champ.
We have an old Kenmore in the basement used for storage but it works! Has to be 40 years old!
And that's 2 grand. Geez
I love all your video handsome man. Keep them coming...🥰👌👍
Appreciate it, thanks for watching!
yes u want to make sure you keep that furnace working as long as possible. Here in the south we use heat pumps and they’ve gotten real expensive. AND the new ones are junk. I see posts all the time with people who have replaced the old with the new and have nothing but problems.
Everything being made now is junk. Everything thinner and cheaper components.
Hi Buzzy. 2 Years for me to retire.remodeled the kitchen this year and next year the replacement of driveway and the following year will replace boiler and AC last year of working. Hopefully all major expenses will be done
Good plan! How's the roof?
Whenever you think you're ahead,something breaks. $$. Lucky 4 me, my son is a hvac professional tradesmen. Good racket he got into !
Isn't that true! Hopefully your son gives you a discount. Lol
Replaced a heater in dec 2022 that was about 20-30 years old. Then replaced the ac unit earlier this summer that was similar age. Oh then our fridge went the week after. Luckily we still work but my annual budget assumes 5k of repairs
I just wonder if the new stuff we're buying will last a long time. Over the past 5 decades everything seems to be made as a "throw away" item.
You look a little spooky there. Remember the lighting for next Halloween.
That's what Mrs. Buzz said too. Lol
I like the way your mind works, Buzz. Well......at least the part you share with us. 😉 I love it that you are so proactive on the maintenance of things. It's an inspiration (truly). Have a great week and good luck with the bathroom reno.
Thank you. Haven't touched the bathroom yet. Today was demo day but the furnace repair jumped in front of that. Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be in the 70's so I need to be outside! Lol. Maybe Thursday!
@@BuzzRetirementGarage Buzz, Buzz, Buzz......that's starting to sound like me starting a diet or exercising....'maybe Sunday, maybe the first of the month, well the New Year is almost here and a good time to start.' 😜
@@vickiwest4149 priorities!
One necessity for us homeowners is a hot water heater. They don't seem to last as long and have gotten really pricey. I use to replace the heater for less than a couple hundred dollars. The last one I had to replace cost me over a grand. Keep your tools in good working condition! Being aware of potential issues can save you. Good for you!
That will be the next thing for me. You're right. I see them at $1,000 now.
fyi. Look at what the factory warranty is on your water heater and replace the anode in it at least that often. The thing will not rot out. We are talking about a $25 part here.
@@TomcatSTL I was watching videos on that. I see they have those power rods now.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage Thanks for the info! I had not seen that until you mentioned.
Like the air filter on your furnace the water anode rods in the water heater need to be replaced on a regular basis....not as often as the filter - maybe once every 2-3 years. What are anode rods? They are a sacrificial metal rod that corrodes over time and prevents corrosion of the water heater tank by attracting rust and contaminants to itself. They cost like $35-$50 and you can get em at most big box stores.
So happy you did not have to replace the whole unit. Sounds like that will never happen with the option of replacing parts. Good info!
I hope it works out that way. but, usually when one thing goes, the other parts follow, I don't want things to fail in January. Lol
I retired 4 years ago at 60 and my house had 2 oil furnaces. I had natural gas line run to my house and replaced the main house furnace over to gas and had them run connections for future upgrades for the water heater, stove and dryer. My second furnace is in the garage and heats the great room which is still oil heat.
What year was the house built? Rare to see oil furnaces I would think?
I had the same issue a couple years ago, and had to replace the control board. It was below zero so had to pay full price from the local HVAC shop which ran around $400 for a new board and I installed it. I found a good used one on Ebay for $50 and have that on the shelf for the next time it happens. My furnace is a little over 20 years old.
We have baseboard heat/oil boiler. We just bought a new one last year and we have been here for 28 years so it lasted 27. That’s pretty good for a boiler from what I hear. We also just replaced the roof not long ago, put in a new deck, and had a garage delivered, so I think we should be ok for any heavy hitters. We need windows but we will see if we can do that before we retire. Thanks for sharing.
You got a lot of important items crossed of the list. Good job!
Eventually the heat exchangers will fail. Have it checked yearly with a combustion test. have a CO detector in your home. 27 years is considered old. Time to budget for a new rig. I retired from HVAC 2 years ago. Good luck Buzz.
I have a detector right next to it. Hopefully it lasts a while longer.
We haven’t retired yet, but are learning a lot of things to have ready ahead of time. Funds set aside for things such as this.
It's always good to be prepared!
Everything for me went in 2022. I had to replace my roof which was a boatload because it needed all new flashing and they had to replace an additional 40 sheets of plywood besides plus they cut in a ridge vent instead of using the attic fan (the cover flew off and broke and couldn't be replaced) which was the reason for looking for a new roof in the first place. Then my Washer and Dryer went, then my Central Air went and then my furnace went also. It was an endless storm in 2022. With the furnace we went with a tankless water heater which does both the hot water and my heat since we have hot water baseboard and we use gas. The price difference between just keeping the furnace and hot water separate or replacing with one unit mounted on the wall was only $1k so for me it was a no brainer. But, this happened before I retired so I was able to get those huge expenses out of the way before retirement this year. But, when these big ticket items happen, whether you're retired or not they are expensive and usually never expected.
Hi Buzz, Glad you were able to have someone look at your furnace today. Seems when you have more time you don’t necessarily have the ability or money to fix things. There will come a time when you will need to weigh the cost of repairs as they begin to increase the older your home is and think about down sizing or apartment/ condo living. Our family sold the “ big home” back in 2016 and we moved to a brand new construction home; very little yard decreased from 2000 SF in a ranch to 1800SF in a 2 story. We lived in the big house for 39 years and at the end in needed lots of work and it was a money pit. Best thing we did since my husband retired in 2009 and myself in 2012. Good luck in the journey and though you are living on SS , I hope you also have an emergency savings just for all the things that will begin to fail.
Yes I do have savings but would like it to grow for 3 or 4 years. So, just spending SS is what I'm confining myself to. So far so good.
Hi Buzz, I know you are trying to make it work on just SS but there comes a time to spend the Emergency funds: that’s what they are for. No one told you you could only spend so much money.I suspect you retired last year because you felt you could manage and the SS seems like “ free money” . Making it work?? Well remember this is an experiment so don’t be too hard on yourself.
Good video. I have 2 HVAC systems one for the 2nd floor and one that covers the basement and main 1st floor. I have a HVAC guy come out twice a year to "service"/check out the electronics and verify that everything else is working as it should. I replace the filters every 3 months and that seems to be about right.
You're on top of it! Good job.
Buzz save the board ! The contacts on the relay are welded shut and a new relay needs to be installed on the board. The relay is around $7 and if you have a friend in electronics they can replace it. You would have a spare.
That flame detector can be cleaned with a dollar bill.
My gas furnace is a 1990s unit. I have found old units by the side of the road the same as mine and took the common parts home so I have a good chance of fixing it. I clean mine each year and 2 times each winter the filter is changed.
Mine is more of a backup unit because I heat mainly with a pellet stove. That unit is about 20 years old and bought a new combustion blower because mine was making noise. I am not convinced its bearings so I just ordered a new one for $60 and will rebuild the old one. I have new bearings. I have almost all the parts needed for the stove. I bought a parts machine and a guy gave me 2 machines for parts.
The government is giving 30% back on taxes for heat pumps and other energy efficient devices. I think the heat pump would be the way to go.
I am also looking into a heat pump hot water heater. I want to update one each year.
I did clean the flame detector and will keep it as a spare. I'm not sure about heat pumps. In cold climates like mine I read they're not that great. I don't know.
FYI... Does flame sensors you can take them out and take a piece of steel wool and clean a tube and they work like brand new again. My HVAC systems nearing 40 years old. I've kept it going myself.
Correct on the flame sensor. For $9 I figured a new one would be good.
Hello good seeing again 😊
Glad to see you! Hope all is well!
Buzz - Just got my filters at Lowe's a week or so back. They had a buy 2 get 2 free deal going on. Our 25x20x1 filters came out to $7.50/each. Not a bad deal.
Our biggest hvac expense came with our new home. It's three years old now but our builder built it with one zone....for 4000 square feet. A few grand later we now have two zones. Had automatic dampers installed. When we had the house built they laughed when we asked to make sure we had two zones. "We dont build any house with just one zone" they said. Joke was on us.
We use ecobee thermostats. Tells us when filters need replacement. Its great technology.
I missed that sale! Do you go by the Merv rating or just grab whatever? I'll look into that thermostat but I just put a new one in last year. Cheapest I could find. Lol
yep...vented hvac is crazy price... my a/c is getting old and i started pricing them out ...13 grand !!! ... it seems that mini splits are the way to go unless you got a really big place ... another diy tip... keep your outside unit clean (i got mine on a concrete slab with no grass or bushes no where near close to it
My AC is 27 years old and the capacitor had to be changed twice. So far no other issues. I keep it clean and wash the coils annually.
My furnace was a 1984 model and I just had to replace it luckily I have about two years before retirement to pay it off
Now you won't have to worry about it!
Same thing happen to me about 7 years ago. The control unit went out but for me it happen on the coldest day of winter and a weekend! So cost was pretty high because labor is much more on holidays and weekends. It may have been a holiday weekend now that i think of it. I think about $380 bucks. Like you I always keep the furnace clean and change filters every 3 months. Last winter for the 1st time i had a HVAC guy come out before winter to check everything out. It passed with flying colors and it's over 30 years old. It's a 80% furnace and he said these older units last many years compared to these new high efficiency furnaces. If i ever do replace it i will stick with a low cost 80% unit as i have now. I have a nest thermostac so it reminds me every 3 months on my phone app to replace the filter. Filterbuy online is good to buy from. I was also told to use a low Merv rated filter. no more then a 10 merv.
I think mine is a 92% efficiency but maybe I got lucky and 27 years ago they made them better. I'll check out that website. Thanks!
I am glad the furnace didn't cost an arm and a leg to fix. I had to replace the fan on my boiler last winter. I did it myself for about 1/4 the cost the furnace place wanted and it only took about 15 minutes. I don't have a forced air system so I have no filters to change. Mine is a propane fired boiler for our in floor radiant heat. The unit also provides our hot water. We don't have A/C here on the Maine coast, although we did have three hot days (over 80) last summer and the hottest day it hit 83. We dodged the heat by taking the yacht out. It never gets much above 60-65 out on the ocean.
It's amazing to read that you 83 is the warmest that you get! My father in law had boiler heat but baseboards not in the floor. I really liked it! Felt different than natural gas furnace.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage My wife hates forced air heat so that was a big factor when we were shopping for this house. Our previous house had electric baseboard heat. The radiant floor heat is nice because you don't have cold floors. On the other hand radiant heat is slow to respond, which my wife still doesn't get after living with it for 25 years. Our maximum temperatures are greatly impacted by ocean temperatures since we live on an island and the ocean never gets above about 55 degrees. We are about 200 yards from the ocean. We only get hot weather (>80 degrees) when the wind is out of the north for a couple of days. Because of where we live on the island we have water withing 1/4 mile to the west, south and east. To the north we have the bulk of the island. We get the opposite effect in winter when wind off the ocean keeps us relatively warm because the ocean never goes much below 40F here. North winds are cold winds for us and can result in temperatures to around zero at night. We have warmer winters here on the Maine coast than they do in the deep south (i.e., Boston).
Thanks for the explanation. A unique area for sure!
That’s Good to know buzz. I have a fisher Paykel Stainless steel washing machine that I bought Several years ago and I couldn’t find the reason why it wouldn’t pump the water out. I did all the tutorials on UA-cam cleaned it washed it tested the pump. Tried using the computer to give me a diagnostic code and it wouldn’t give me one. I had to put it off to the side because I knew it was still in great shape and go buy a new one. I was a little disenchanted to spend another 600, 700 bucks last month.
I'm surprised that it is giving you so much trouble. Can you talk to the manufacturer?
Mold mitigation hit me like a ton of bricks right after I officially retired a few months ago.
That's not good. It can get really expensive.
It’s great to be handy and have UA-cam!!
Without UA-cam I'd be paying a lot of professionals!
Janet Andrews hello from Virginia: Buzz I definitely have my Hvac and furnace and waterless hot water heater maintenance at least 1 a year to ensure it keeps working. However, I must say even with the general maintenance I still had to replace my waterless tank over $2,000 grand bummer. Thanks for the tips.
Nothing is cheap anymore. HVAC prices have gone up considerably after covid. Buzz
Today, HVAC units are designed to last only 15 years. That time goes fast. Sinking funds in laddered CDs are a must.
Good advice.
Buzz oh man .. Our previous house we sold, and the furnace went out on the owners within a year .. bahhh! We bought a newer ( smaller ) house for this very reason. I run away from older things needing repairs. Best wishes on the replacement!
We replaced a lot including the roof before retirement so I hope I get lucky for the next few years.
Glad you were able to fix this!
Better than buying a new one! That's a scary thought.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage yes! I replaced my 16 yr old HVAC system last year… Trying to replace older appliances before I retire. It’s def scary.
Buzz I am glad it was simple repair at a low cost. I get my filters off Amazon.
I never looked on Amazon. I'll check tonight. Thanks!
We replaced the furnace 10 years ago. Everything computer on the wall . $10,000 no a/c .
Aircon, furnace, water heater, trees, roof, siding, carpet, appliances are all part of my home maintenance budget. $3000/year
Good planning!
just replaced my control board in January, but furnace went out new years eve, which meant a week waiting for repair, which made for a big electric bill with space heaters.
What happened to it?
Lucky you!
A few days before thanksgiving last year, my 11yr old 1 year out of warranty furnace blower motor failed to go to high stage in heat mode, therefore shutting it down due to overheating. The blower and its module (sealed with hardened plastic) come as a unit. 1200 for the part, & an hour labor time.
Big gulp! like you i'm retired. Budgeting is helpful but falls way short.
Yikes that's an expensive part. That's the way it goes though!
Those are the new emc type motors ,full of electronics, unlike the older psc type motor,which are only about 100,00 .new high efficiency crap now days
Good Ole Buzz pointing out an important step in retirement planning, Make an assessment of your big ticket items to minimize post retirement expenses.
Stash some cash for the inevitable breakdowns.
I studied and took the EPA 608 Type 2 exam last November (2023) for the very reason of the high cost of repairs. I have 2 units with one being a 1997 Rheem AC/Heat pump. Every year I had to call HVAC techs to correct my issues. Each time they came they’d put in a lb of refrigerant and say you’re good to go.
After my exam I bought a digital meter and 5lbs of R22. Long story short, what I found was the system had waaaay too much refrigerant in it. After I leveled it out it ran/runs great.
FYI: I paid $250 for 5lbs of R22. Techs where I live charge (in 2021, I don’t know what they charge now) $200 a pound. HVAC companies can purchase r22 for around $25 to $30 a lb.
The more you know.....that was a smart move on your part. Saved you a good deal of money.
@buzzretirementgarage Looks like you had a good repair experience. I spent my career in this field, you should consider budgeting for a replacement at some point, your equipment is well past it's expected life. I would also get the heat exchanger checked, that is a safety issue. After 20 years it could be cracked. The fan stays on until the furnace cools down to maximize heat transfer and cool down the heat exchanger, but it should go off once the air temp gets to around 90 degrees. Most likely cause was the controller as you discovered.
On the filter, up to MERV 11 should be ok. If you have allergies keeping the fan on all the time can help. What does the blower wheel look like? Does it look dirty? That will give you an indication of the overall cleanliness. Thanks for all you do, it's good stuff.
Thanks for the comment! That's why I'm trying to live on SS alone so savings can continue to grow. The gains someday will pay for those high ticket items. Water heater could be next. Buzz
Here in deep Southeast Louisiana, a functional AC system is critical for comfort in our hot, humid summers. This year, a storm power surge fried our upstairs heat pump. Both the inside, and outside units had to be replaced as well as some of the ducting. That was a $20,000 hit. We'll be paying for it for the next five years because being in the middle of a reno, we didn't have the free cash to handle it. I'm scared that in retirement, something like that would break us.
Insurance won't cover any of that?
Sinking funds gotta be in the budget for all these things that break and wear out.
I don't categorize my funds that way. It's in in one pot to me.
I need to buy some more filters for mine. I change mine every 3 months also.
We have a pellet stove and use infrared heaters around the house. Pretty good $$ wise.
Hopefully I'll find a sale this month.
@@niki9638 I bet. I would love to have a pellet stove
My parents AC and heater was over 40 years old and it had a couple small issues here and there but still was still running when I sold the house.
Some last a long time!
I have never cleaned my heater... and it's on the roof! So im sure its gross all the time.... :/ I also dont do anything for the water heater! Or the fridge! I need to learn the maintenance. I do need to go on my roof soon and do the winterizing. I have an evaporative cooler, so I have to drain the water out, and drain the supply line too. Then I have to switch out the things that close the ducts up there, so that the furnace can blow and the cooler vent is shut. A couple years ago my heater broke, and with a I figured out it was the igniter. I replaced it myself and it worked!
Make sure you take the faceplate off the bottom of your fridge and clean the coils. I do that every two months. I don't drain the water heater like they say you're supposed to. Meh. Luckily almost everything is on UA-cam.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage do you vaccum the fridge coils, or how do you clean them?
@@TheahLil vacuum. Depends on your access but you may need to get an attachment to your vac that has mini brushes. I can't get to every inch of mine but I get 80%
I've fixed the HVAC in my previous two houses. Got my parts online, never thought to try Wolff. I'll keep that in mind.
They were reasonable and no waiting.
My furnace is about 20 years old and I've replaced the following in the last 2 years.... flame sensor, pressure valve, circuit board, both blowers, and finally the heat exchanger. About everything is new now lol. I have about $1400 in the parts with the heat exchanger being the most expensive at $800. I was quoted early into this a new furnace installed for $7k and that's why I just rebuilt this one. Should be good for another 20 years.....and now I know it inside and out
Well you won't have to worry about it for another decade or two!
My unit is similar to yours and it's 18 years old and the only thing I had to replace was the igniter,I went down to a HVAC supply in town and bought one for $12 and put it in and it took 3 minutes,very easy...if your blower comes on but the burners fail to light that is probably the fix.
my 19 year old furnace had the igniter replaced in November and the control board went out New years eve, hope you don't expierence the same thing. To top it off the control board replacement included the igniter replacement that was only a couple months old.
@ramonal2205 I replaced my igniter 6 years ago and had no other issues so far.😁
These days you probably have to budget for replacing all your appliances and vehicles in under 10 years the way things are made these days.
We used to run second hand cars but now will only buy new due to the cost of repairs and parts etc.
We tend to get a good run out of our stuff but there's certainly no guarantees that this will always be the case.
That's why I feel I may have to go back to work at least part time. I don't feel that I have enough saved to take care of all the things that can go wrong. Time will tell!
My furnace was replaced in 2007, so it's not REAL old, but I've had to replace a heat sensor and control board on it.... FYI - That big black blower fan on the right side.. It connects to the intake pipe that goes outside the house... I had some kind of critter crawl in to mine, all the way to the blower fan, where it died... When I was troubleshooting the problem, I took the blower unit out, and MAGGOTS crawled out of it !!! The critter was nothing more than "black furry soup" by then. It worked after thoroughly cleaning it out, but after that, I put a wire mesh in the outside pipe to keep more critters OUT.
Nothing has ever crawled in there that I know of, but I like that advice! I have some screen material that I could clamp around the pipe. Thanks for the idea!
My mother-in-law just spent $1800 on her 6 1/2 year old Trane HVAC system. Had to replace the compressor and an expansion valve and the parts were covered under warranty !! I tried to get the owner to give me an itemized bill but he said they don’t do itemized bills.
Personally I think she got ripped off, the unit was $6K when installed new 6 years ago (package unit).
Yes, a Trane can be stopped. Hope yours holds up Buzz !!
You never know. Years ago, I had a shady guy, so I got a second opinion, and it was a $25 part. The first guy said replace the furnace. Imagine that!
Most thermostats have an auto fan or fan on setting .Hope that wasn't the issue other than the control board ! Check your stat for that setting . Tim NJ
That's the first thing UA-cam videos tell you to check. I'm good on that!
2019 we had furnace replaced and added central air , new well that year also was able to pay cash out of new garage fund. New garage on side lot still hasn't happened. Car parts got us in October just over $600.00 I did all the labor.
Well at least you don't have to worry about the HVAC systems for many years.
LOL! I might be retired, but my home isn't. During the past 15 years, I've had to replace the 70+ year old sewer line to the street, replace my roof (tear down job), redo my primary bathroom, replace the HVAC system (furnace and AC), and replace our washing machine and kitchen refrigerator. Along with this, I widened our driveway and install a new concrete sidewalk. Stuff happens. If one lives in a house, things break and need replacing. The key is to plan.
I'm trying to take care of a lot of this stuff while I'm still working. I just replaced a vintage 1990's air conditioner, replaced the roof, put in new windows. I'm horrified of touching anything inside my furnace/central air unit. That thing has 220V going into it.
@cathrynm Have owned my home for 46 years. Live in a home long enough and things get replaced more than once. B4 I retired, I was busy putting 3 children through college. Home took a back seat.
Did most of that too except I have an aeration tank and I'm surrounded by sewer lines but so far they haven't forced us to tie in. If they do, a huge bill is coming. I'll be dead before it's paid off.
@@stevemaggs6781Wow! I have only been in my house 20 years, and only one child through college. 46 in the same house is almost unheard of these days.
@Duke_of_Prunes Bought it as a "starter" home. Wanted to buy a larger one, but my wife didn't. Now retired, this home suits us fine.
Hey, that looks a lot like the furnace I just replaced a week ago. So there's bit of change gone out of the bank account. I could have replaced the control board but that was around $500 and my furnace was 24 years old, so just not worth it. I'm not around the farm in the winter so having a reliable furnace is a good thing. I also heat with propane and that's a little harder on a furnace, it generates more moisture and rust/corrosion is an issue. And yes, replace the filters frequently.
Now you don't have to worry about it for a couple decades. Good job.
I switched over to heat pumps two years ago, so far so good. Very economical to run.
I've read good and bad on them. Better for warmer climates?
@@BuzzRetirementGarage- heat pump is like using an electric heater, but the electricity used is way less on cool, not really cold days. Great to have for where you live, but since you likely have natural gas, it’s hard to beat the overall cost of natural gas heat. But they’re gaining!
@@BuzzRetirementGarage I have a heat pump system. It's not a good option for this area (Cleveland) as they are really only economical for heating down to about 20f degrees. Below that there is not enough ambient heat in the outside air for it to exchange and the "emergency heat" kicks in. The "emergency heat" is really just a bunch of wire coils that heat up that the fan runs air across and through to the ducts. Think of it as a giant hair dryer. And you know how much energy it takes to run a hair dryer, so imagine running a giant one for days/weeks on end in Jan-Feb!!! Not unusual for my electric bill to be $400 during those months....So do I have a heat pump?? Well, it came with the place and there is no gas line run to the house so I'm stuck with it unless I want to dig really deep and pay for a gas line install along with a new gas unit - not something I'd prefer to do unless I win the lottery - which is also highly unlikely!.
@@jonathonchalk6603 Thanks for that info! Buzz
Nice video and reminder of hvac maintenance and occasional repairs
I thought repairs such as this came out of your set aside savings rather than your ss income which covers your regular monthly expenses, I’m just curious what bucket you cover a repair like this from
Great question. I hope to absorb it in our monthly SS income. If not, it will be another red month.
We just had to pay for car repairs. Unexpected of course. We cut back to one car last year. Fuel order coming up & vet bills. Never a dull moment. 🐈
It's always something!
I installed a Noritz tank-less water heater in 2010. I retired in Jan 2023. I knew that Tank-less was going to blow any day. Sure as Sh!t it blew the heat exchanger Dec 1st 2023. My first real world retirement $$$ surprise. It cost me $3400 to replace it. Didn't bother me much though. I have $12,000 set aside for emergencies like that.
I'll need a new water heater in the next few years. Should I go tankless? Was thinking about staying old school.
@@BuzzRetirementGarage i stay old school because I don't want to spend 3400 on a hot water tank for 2 people
Maintenance is key especially replacing the filter so the HVAC doesn’t have to work as hard. I’ve seen some nasty filters that I wonder how the HVAC is even working.
The one video I watched was amazing. Had a horizontal filter and at least 2" of crud. Amazing.
You look like Ghoulardi in your thumbnail (Cleveland reference here. Locals will get it)
I should get the beard and glasses!
What goes out on those ninety plus furnaces is the secondary heat exchanger. With the age of your unit you're living on borrowed time my friend. Have a HVAC tech do a carbon monoxide check for you every fall before the heating season kicks in. Or get a CO checker and do it yourself. Better to be on the safe side.
Thanks for the advice. I keep a CO detector very close. I should probably get another one too. Buzz
We had a similar issue with our furnace about two years ago only with ours the blower wouldn’t come on. The technician diagnosed the control board as the root cause and indicated that he couldn’t find the part anywhere - not sure if this was because of the pandemic or if he was simply selling us a bill of goods……..🤔
Regardless, we ended up replacing the “furnace” side of our HVAC system to the tune of about $3000……….😕
During COVID parts were hard to get once current stock was depleted. But in my youth I had a tech outright lie to me. Good thing Mrs. Buzz suggested we get a second opinion.
It was convenient to save on your recent grocery haul. Watching your grocery budget a few more times will help offset the cost of this HVAC problem. I change my filters every two weeks. I have NO carpet in my house to catch much of the hair and dust.
Every two weeks seems excessive. Do you have one that you wash and replace or a paper one?
every two weeks 😳
@@BuzzRetirementGarage I have a paper one. Hmm, Buzz and @ noreenn6976, did I use the wrong word. These filters are not on the unit itself. It's called a "return"?!?!? One is in the hallway, and the other is in the dining room. If I run my A/C or heat, they need to be changed. I can go longer without changing the filters if I don't run the unit. Thank you both for wondering about it.
Yep....last month furnace expense was 480.00 for repairs!
Yep, it happens. Better before winter!
That was interesting. Looks very different to our typical gas boilers. The average life expectancy of our boilers is now about 7 years. Even with a yearly service, something catastrophic will happen and a new one is about £3,500-£5,000. Back in the day they would last up to 20-25 years. I have a 7 year old boiler and have had to take out expensive insurance just to be able to get it fixed until the inevitable happens 🙁
My father in law had steam heat and his house was built at the same time as ours. 1963. I liked the boiler he had.
Yes, it's good to have a planned out budget for retirement, but ya need an "Oh Crap" fund too... Oh crap, there goes the furnace... Water heater... Roof shingles... Car transmission....
Correct. That's a few good reasons why I don't want to touch my savings.
I'm thinking about replacing my problematic furnace before retirement. I was going to replace the roof but an ice storm destroyed the maple tree in my backyard, falling limbs destroyed the roof so my insurance company paid for the replacement.
Good news bad news on the roof. Hopefully no one got hurt and glad they replaced it.
Just had the same issue last week, but no heat, just fan. Bad transformer and board. They said $1,500 to fix and my furnace was 28 yrs. old. So . . . over $6,000 later, I have a new furnace. A hard pill to swallow for sure.
Such is life right? Now you won't have to worry about it for a few decades.
I know nothing about HVAC or any other technical system but every house needs maintenance and repairs. That's why our budgets need to include a sinking fund you contribute to every month in anticipation that something will go wrong. If you cut your grocery budget by $200/month, then you can re-allocate that money towards home repairs. $2400/year goes a long way to covering unexpected expenses.
Cutting my food budget will make me too weak to fix anything. Lol
That why you need to build is an emergency account, separate from your checking account. When things like your heating system go out. There are many things that can go out and cost you a lot of money. Be prepared with an emergency account . I keep 2,000
All in one bucket for me.
I get my HVAC checked twice a year. Living in the South, AC gets a work out. In fact, I am still using AC because we are still getting to the 80’s.
Where you located?
That makes sense!
@@planefun42 do you like living there ? I find that a interesting place to move to some day
I’m kind of glad I have electric heat (supplemented by our wood stove in the winter with lots of free wood) and community well so we won’t have those big bills at least.
Do you have to the the water quality tested once in a while?
Holy smokes, 5yr old car with 140k miles?! And I thought I was high mileage at 14k/yr.
19 years of driving 95 miles a day just to work and back. Actually, this was year 6.
@BuzzRetirementGarage That's gotta be a huge relief. I've had 2 jobs in 27 years, commuting 60 or 80 miles round trip. I'm retiring in April and I cannot wait to get off these roads 2 hrs a day.
@@bpage3 The drive was one of three reasons why I retired in September of last year. Didn't want to go through another winter.
After paying the big $$$$$ to replace HVAC in our house I changed our filters monthly. However, we now have a Great Pyrenees so planning to change twice a month as this big boy (110 lbs) sheds allot. And, his favorite lounging spots are next to the air intake vents for the unit. Buy a year’s worth of filters on line through Home Depot and get a pretty good price break. Waiting on my neighbor’s AC guy to get me a quote buying through his supplier to see if they can beat Home Depot’s price since my next buy will be for 24. Also try to do seasonal servicing on the unit in spring and fall. Hoping to keep this unit ticking until I stop ticking (at least another 30-40 years 🤞). Thankfully have funds set aside in case it needs replacing before then.
Good advice. I average $10 each for the filters I buy. That dog will definitely make you change filters quicker than normal! Thanks for the comment. Buzz
I would suggest washable furnace filters. I have one that is 16 years old that came with my original geothermal furnace and I bought a second one a few years ago. I clean the filter at a car wash. They are a little expensive but cheaper in the long run.
@@calvinreichelderfer4922 never tried those.
@@calvinreichelderfer4922 I would NOT suggest washable furnace filters. My passion in life is indoor air quality. I design air filtration systems and PM programs for hospitals, K-12's, universities, commercial office buildings, etc. A washable foam or metal mesh filter doesn't stop anything but airflow. I know you wash it at a car wash to get the dirt off, but the only thing your filter is stopping is large items that find their way into your return duct. Use a MERV 8 pleated air filter to get not only the large contaminants, but the small particulate also. 99% of what's in the air, and remains in the air, is less than 1-micron. Your system will breathe easier with more air filter media to pass from the dirty side of the filter to the clean side, through your blower and into your supply ducts. A washable filter won't stop the small stuff. I won't get into filtration 101 here and the differences in air filter media's, the materials they're made from, their true MERV/MERV-A rating, how media are tested and qualified, etc. What I can tell you is 3M is a very large company with very deep marketing pockets and are in every big box store and many drug stores. That doesn't mean they make good quality air filters, but they'd be better than washable. The products I represent are typically available via HVAC wholesalers. Your geo system takes a custom size filter, typically roughly 31x34x2 or 32x36x2 or something like that which is a custom size. A good, pleated filter could give you a year's service. Even if you change it with the change of heating to air conditioning, you'll have cleaner indoor air, and your system will breathe easier.
@ I found a Filter King Merv 8 that comes in the correct size for my furnace which is 29.5” x 31.5” x 2”
It says 90% efficiency, blocks air particles of 3 microns and larger.
Effective for Dust, Pollen, Dust mites, Bacteria, Pet Dander unless you have mor than one pet. I have one small dog.
Is this the kind of filter you would recommend?
There’s always something. That’s why we need money put away in an emergency fund to cover stuff like that when it breaks down. We have no idea how to work on HVAC systems.
UA-cam teaches us how to do anything. Lol
@ if we only had a dollar for everything we looked up on UA-cam about ‘how to’ we’d be multimillionaires ✅
Buzz,try not to use air filers over merv 8 ,they're too restrictive higher than merv 8 ,retired hvac guy
Most are 11 I believe. Seems to work well. I know not to get the real real high MERV level. Thanks!
No basements in California 😢 so our furnace is in the attic!!! Really? It's a very tight crawl space, accessed through the bedroom closet ceiling! So it will get neglected until something breaks 😂
I'll do the grass and furnace. Just need a plane ticket. Lol
@@BuzzRetirementGaragethe list is getting longer 😂