It's pretty unlikely it's the furnace itself, so a replacement of the
whole thing is very likely unwarranted, esp if funds are a problem (when
aren't they?). If it were the furnace, you would have had other
explicit comments to make about things that happen to it when it finally
does start, IMO.

It is however in the furnace controls somewhere, IMO. Thermostat,
wiring, burner eye, fuel filters, amount of fuel delivered, air that
seeps into the piping, transformer, fuel valves, etc. etc. etc..
Is there a tank or is it municipally supplied?
Are the pressures always OK when it goes out?
What's the weather like when it goes out? Any connection to temp or
humidity?
Do you have other gas fired appliances running from the same source?
Is the pipe run to the furnace excessively long? Longer than the
other equipment?
Do other gas appliances work right all the time?
Is preventive maintenance done yearly on the furnace? Always by the
same company?
Is the tank always full, half or near empty when that happens? IFF
you have a tank tha tis.

You need to begin more sluething and get a reliable, trustworthy company
to check it next time it dies. Ask around; neighbors, coworkers,
family, etc. for a company to try. Then chgeck them against your local
BBB to weed out any that might have a record already.

Lotsa luck

Pop`




Ball of Fluff wrote:
Hi,

I'm not sure if anyone would have any input but if you have any
theories, would love to hear 'em.

Our natural gas furnace is a bit elderly (18 years old, almost) but
always always always was tempermental.

There's always been one thing or another going on with it.

But this latest thing has stumped me. What happens is if we turn the
heat down too far, like at night or when we go out for a few hours, if
the heat turns off, then it doesn't want to come back on.

The heat went out Christmas day and we had no heat for an entire day
and a half from that furnace.

Pressed the reset button, did all that.

So we called the utiltiy co. They didn't come out until two days later
because that's the turnaround time. By then, it had gone on by itself
the previous night.

I asked them to see if they could see any problems ANYWAY, and they
could not.

Since then, since this happened two more times, we see that it has
something to do with turning off then not wanting to come back on.

It eventually DOES come back on but it's always anybody's guess as to
when with the Christmas 36 hour delay being the worst.

Why might it do that?

I probably should get a new one but they are expensive and if I can
get a couple or few more years out of this one, then that's what I
want to do.

Claire