On Monday, July 17, 2017 at 9:15:48 AM UTC-5, wrote:

To be honest, I rarely, rarely, rarely go in the basement

So the fact that the water heater failed may have saved your life because it alerted you to the problem with the furnace.

Count your blessings.

m


Absolutely. I DO think it's a blessing in disguise. If not for
it's failure in all likelihood first time I turned on my furnace
in November I'd never woken up.

Yes, I was fussing that it failed and only thinking of the
expense until the plumber pointed out the numerous large holes
in the exhaust pipe. I thanked the Lord profusely in my prayers
that night that he saw fit to spare me a while longer.