On Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:47:47 -0700 (PDT), Rebecca
wrote:

The quote from the HVAC service that I have been using for 7 years is
a whopping $1700 - 1900 to replace the control board on my furnace
(the ignitor is not getting any power).

But you know the control board is getting power? 27 years ago, I had
a Carrier furnace AC** that failed. It was the power supply
transformer that was built into the control board. The AC supply
place quoted me 400 or 600 just for the part, and I whined like a
little girl, and they suggested my just buying a transformer. 27
dollars. It was too big to fit where the original transformer went, so
I mounted it nearby. Dirty now but still working fine 27 years later,
as is the rest of the furnace (AC failed last summer)

I guess the tech told you needed the board, but he probably didn't
bother to distinguish what the problem with the board is. It's not
especially likely that you have the problem I did, but otoh, it's
possible.

Even the 27 dollars I paid was more than an electronics place would
charge for a 24 volt trnasformer (It would be under 10 even these
days), but I wasn't going to quibble when I was saving 400 dollars. (I
had never called a tech, so I don't know what the installed price
would have been.)

Do you know someone who can use a voltmeter and try to figure out
where the problem is.

Alternatively, what problems does the control board kit say it will
fix. Can you post some of the urls where it is for sale. Is it
installed just by replacing? That seems likely, except that it's
called a kit, which might just mean there is one additional part.


**I bought the house in May, and had 3 friends from NYC visit for July
4 weekend. Hot weekend. The AC failed at noon on Saturday, the water
failed at 6PM, and the electricity failed at noon on Sunday. Really
pretty amazing, since nothing much failed in the next 27 years and
never two things at once. But we ate out and weren't inconvenienced
that much.

However, I'm seeing the
replacement kit (by Carrier) online at about $300-500 from various
sites. Based on anyone's experience, what should this *realistically*
be costing me for labor?

What do you mean? How much of the 1700 asked is for labor? I don't
know.

Or how much labor will they charge to install the part if you buy it
separately? For this, you can just call and ask and they will tell
you but they'll also say they don't guarantee the part and there will
be a second labor charge just as high if it fails and they have to
replace it again. I would plan on installing it myself, yourself. I
think it's only screws, no soldering, but even if there is soldering,
to save 1400 dollars savings, you can learn to solder. It takes at
most 30 dollars for the iron and the solder and an hour to practice
before you touch the furnace. Instructions will come with the iron
and they are on line too.

Then on the off chance the part is no good, you can replace it again
in about 1/4 the time it takes you the first time.


Thanks!