With all of the snow piling up on our families in Virginia and Ohio, we had considered ourselves pretty lucky to be "in the clear." However, the "powers that be" apparently didn't want us to be left out of the nationwide cold spell, because our furnace broke on Friday, right as Charlotte was getting blanketed by a good 2-3 inches of snow. So, the following is a brief recap of two first-time homeowners with little to no knowledge of HVAC systems and little to no money to spare attempting to figure out the problem:
Sarah: I think the air vent is blowing cold air.
Tom: No its not. Its just because I turned the air down while we were gone today.
Sarah: Maybe the furnace is broken.
Tom: No, its not.
Sarah: Are you sure? I mean, it really feels cold.
Tom: I'm sure.
Two hours later...
Tom: I think the furnace is broken. The damn thermostat is at 58 degrees and hasn't gone up.
Sarah: Yeah, I thought the air vents were blowing cold air.
Tom: They weren't. Will you go on Google and look up how to check the pilot light in a furnace?
Sarah: Sure. It says that there is a danger of causing a natural gas leak or other injury if you try to do this yourself.
Tom: Okay. What does it say to do?
Sarah (yelling from the spare bedroom up to the attic): It says to check the copper colored pipe that runs from the valve. Then see if you can see the pilot light lit.
Tom (yelling down from the attic): I don't see anything.
Sarah: Do we have a modern furnace?
Tom: I don't know. Why?
Sarah: Because if we have a modern furnace then there is no pilot light to light. We have to call someone.
Tom: I don't know if our warranty will cover that. I'm not paying full price for anything.
Sarah: Okay, I'll post something on Facebook and maybe someone has advice.
Tom: Good idea.
Sarah: Ms. Wheeler said she and her husband will come over.
Tom: Great. I need another beer.
Okay, so maybe it was a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. Anyways, my co-worker (Ms. Wheeler) and her husband came over in the snow on Friday night (we enticed them with alcoholic beverages) but even Handyman Dan couldn't fix our problem. So, we spent Friday night all huddled up on the couch in the spare bedroom. When I say all I mean Tom, myself, and the two dogs. With a down comforter and a quilt. On Saturday afternoon, the furnace man came to fix the problem, which was apparently a broken ignitor. We only had to pay $75 because we have a one year home warranty, so we were okay with that. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend (Saturday night at Strike City, an upscale bowling alley/bar in downtown Charlotte, with friends and Sunday church and dinner at Brixx) and enjoyed a visit from my dad, who was in town on business, on Monday night (he took us out to dinner, which is always the way to our hearts.)
Things were going just swimmingly until today (Tuesday) when we came home from work. Brief recap of the conversation:
Tom: The thermostat is at 58. I set it to 62 today when we left for work.
Sarah: That's weird. Does that feel like cold air coming out of the vents to you?...
I'm on my own this time as far as being cuddled up on the couch goes, though, because Tom is stomping around the house and yelling about just about everything and Bauer is cowering behind the couch in fear, shaking and refusing to come out.
Ahh...the joys of home ownership.
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