Hi,

My heat stopped working yesterday, I've got a 5 year old lennox G40
furnace. He tells me the problem is the draft induction blower motor,
and that it's fried and needs to be replaced. I believe that b/c it
jsut hums when the heat is turned on, and thats as far as the cycle
goes.
I'm already paying him $160 for coming out on the weekend and he
quotes me $1330.00 to fix it. After prodding a bit I found out that
the price for the work is "inflated a little" b/c it's a weekend call
(Saturday night). I pay him the $160 charge for coming out and say "no
thanks" to the rest of the work quoted.
After some research on the web, I noticed that draft induction
assemblies for this system average around $125. Unreal! I'm furious.

My questions a

1) Do all Heating and Air companies overcharge this much on the
weekends? Is this normal? It does not seem right. (The company is
Hibner Heating and Air)

2) What is the average price to fix this, on a weekday...under normal
circumstances?

Thanks for any help.

wrote in message
My questions a

1) Do all Heating and Air companies overcharge this much on the
weekends? Is this normal? It does not seem right. (The company is
Hibner Heating and Air)

No, they are screwing you.


2) What is the average price to fix this, on a weekday...under normal
circumstances?

My service company charges $60 an hour plus parts and travel.

On Feb 24, 5:02 pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
wrote in message
My questions a

1) Do all Heating and Air companies overcharge this much on the
weekends? Is this normal? It does not seem right. (The company is
Hibner Heating and Air)

No, they are screwing you.



2) What is the average price to fix this, on a weekday...under normal
circumstances?

My service company charges $60 an hour plus parts and travel.

Thanks Edwin! Appreciate the help. If you are within 500 miles I could
pay YOU to come and it would still be less than $1300!! ha

That's ridiculous. I'd turn them into the Better Business Bureau. The
BBB does work too. I've called them to inquire about companies in the
past and get good information. I even turned in the guy that was
picking up my trash in Texas because he quit picking it up even after
we paid him. We pay him quarterly, he's been picking up our trash for
ten years. We forgot to pay the beginning of one quarter and notice
the trash isn't getting picked up, then send a check and he still
doesn't pick it up. The guy was a jerk anyways. So I turned him in.

This guy calls me one morning at 7am and proceeds to tell me I'm a
liar, yatta yatta, I had no reason to turn him into the BBB and on and
on. I had just woken up and it didn't sit right with me so I asked the
guy, "Are you lecturing me, because if you are, get a life" He went on
so I told him to go &*^( himself. Guess what, I got my refund back. So
the BBB does work. Turn those robbers in.

The air induction motors in some furnaces are just crap. My mother-in-
laws furnace had one that would hang up and not run. The bearings just
don't last. That part is really simple to replace, you should do it
yourself if you have some tools.

On Feb 24, 2:13 pm, wrote:
Hi,

My heat stopped working yesterday, I've got a 5 year old lennox G40
furnace. He tells me the problem is the draft induction blower motor,
and that it's fried and needs to be replaced. I believe that b/c it
jsut hums when the heat is turned on, and thats as far as the cycle
goes.
I'm already paying him $160 for coming out on the weekend and he
quotes me $1330.00 to fix it. After prodding a bit I found out that
the price for the work is "inflated a little" b/c it's a weekend call
(Saturday night). I pay him the $160 charge for coming out and say "no
thanks" to the rest of the work quoted.
After some research on the web, I noticed that draft induction
assemblies for this system average around $125. Unreal! I'm furious.

My questions a

1) Do all Heating and Air companies overcharge this much on the
weekends? Is this normal? It does not seem right. (The company is
Hibner Heating and Air)

2) What is the average price to fix this, on a weekday...under normal
circumstances?

Thanks for any help.

charles smith
1) yes it is an avg price because its a weekend, its considered
emergency troubleshoting call on a week day it would be $75 plus
$10.00 travel fee for a troubleshoting call a service call is about
$65.00 total to clean a filter and make sure the unit is working
properly. an inducer motor could range from $75-$150 now think
about how much mark up the comany or technician will add tothe
purchase cost
I work in the industry in san diego CA if your fau/ furnace isonly 4
yrs old then the parts should still be under waranty if you have any
more questions call me 619-571-8838 c. smith

Yeah the $169 service charge I'm not upset about, it's the inflated
cost of fixing the motor that really bites me. What bothers me more
are the people that do not know any better (such as my grandmother,
single parents who are busy with kids and short on cash, etc.) that
may call them on a really cold weekend and are desperate for
heat...and they get screwed. When I get a decent company to isntall it
this week, I'm gonna run it by them and see what they think about all
of this.

I think I'm gonna use the serial number off of the furnace and order
the part online. If I cant get it on myself then I'll call another
repairman. From what I've read and researched it's just a couple of
wires to connect, no big deal.

Has anyone replace one before? Anything I need to know?

Thanks for reminding me about the warranty, but it's jsut over 5 years
old so it's not eligible.

Thanks again.

You as well Charles, I'm sure you have some thoughts on if I can
replace this myself? Since you are in the business...

On Feb 24, 4:13 pm, wrote:
snip
Thanks for any help.

Ty arnoldservice.com for advice and repair parts. Should be a half
hour job. HTH

Joe

wrote:
Yeah the $169 service charge I'm not upset about, it's the inflated
cost of fixing the motor that really bites me. What bothers me more
are the people that do not know any better (such as my grandmother,
single parents who are busy with kids and short on cash, etc.) that
may call them on a really cold weekend and are desperate for
heat...and they get screwed. When I get a decent company to isntall it
this week, I'm gonna run it by them and see what they think about all
of this.

I think I'm gonna use the serial number off of the furnace and order
the part online. If I cant get it on myself then I'll call another
repairman. From what I've read and researched it's just a couple of
wires to connect, no big deal.

Has anyone replace one before? Anything I need to know?

Thanks for reminding me about the warranty, but it's jsut over 5 years
old so it's not eligible.

Thanks again.

When I 1st got this Amana 90+% furnace,
there was alway problems with
condensate water leaking from the
combustion blower. After about a
year, I got Amana to replace the blower
BUT, they would not "let" me
do the work. So, I had to pay a company
$65 to walk in, take out a
few screws and connect the new blower.
I think he was out in about
35 minutes. AND, it still leaked.
Years later, the bearings went bad, so
I went to a DIY friendly HVAC place and
got a new fan/motor. I installed
it in about an hour .... no leaks.
Thank you very much Amana and your
"authorized" service guy. I don't know
about your unit, but on mine, the
important thing is the black gasket
material between the fan and the
secondary heat exchanger. If you don't
have a 90+% unit, this should
even be easier. But, from the sound of
the OP, it must not be too cold
where he/she is located. In the Chicago
area (and others) these things
need to be fixed immediately. As far as
being able to do the work
yourself, I did it, but I consider
myself to be fairly handy at these things.
But, it was not that difficult.

On Feb 25, 2:17 pm, Art Todesco wrote:
wrote:
Yeah the $169 service charge I'm not upset about, it's the inflated
cost of fixing the motor that really bites me. What bothers me more
are the people that do not know any better (such as my grandmother,
single parents who are busy with kids and short on cash, etc.) that
may call them on a really cold weekend and are desperate for
heat...and they get screwed. When I get a decent company to isntall it
this week, I'm gonna run it by them and see what they think about all
of this.

I think I'm gonna use the serial number off of the furnace and order
the part online. If I cant get it on myself then I'll call another
repairman. From what I've read and researched it's just a couple of
wires to connect, no big deal.

Has anyone replace one before? Anything I need to know?

Thanks for reminding me about the warranty, but it's jsut over 5 years
old so it's not eligible.

Thanks again.

When I 1st got this Amana 90+% furnace,
there was alway problems with
condensate water leaking from the
combustion blower. After about a
year, I got Amana to replace the blower
BUT, they would not "let" me
do the work. So, I had to pay a company
$65 to walk in, take out a
few screws and connect the new blower.
I think he was out in about
35 minutes. AND, it still leaked.
Years later, the bearings went bad, so
I went to a DIY friendly HVAC place and
got a new fan/motor. I installed
it in about an hour .... no leaks.
Thank you very much Amana and your
"authorized" service guy. I don't know
about your unit, but on mine, the
important thing is the black gasket
material between the fan and the
secondary heat exchanger. If you don't
have a 90+% unit, this should
even be easier. But, from the sound of
the OP, it must not be too cold
where he/she is located. In the Chicago
area (and others) these things
need to be fixed immediately. As far as
being able to do the work
yourself, I did it, but I consider
myself to be fairly handy at these things.
But, it was not that difficult.

The price of a whole new furnace is less than what you got quoted...in
the land of the brave and home of the free (canada) we do have a chain
of supply stores that will sell to the 'average' handyperson.
Its Wollesly Supply.
Fair prices, will sell a complete air conditioner or furnace or parts
for the above.

Some brands of parts are hard to find online. They are only sold
through the dealers. Lennox and Trane come to mind.

I've not done much Lennox service, so I'm not sure what the
prices are like. But that does sound high. Did you get it fixed?
Or find another company?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
ups.com...
: Hi,
:
: My heat stopped working yesterday, I've got a 5 year old lennox
G40
: furnace. He tells me the problem is the draft induction blower
motor,
: and that it's fried and needs to be replaced. I believe that
b/c it
: jsut hums when the heat is turned on, and thats as far as the
cycle
: goes.
: I'm already paying him $160 for coming out on the weekend and
he
: quotes me $1330.00 to fix it. After prodding a bit I found out
that
: the price for the work is "inflated a little" b/c it's a
weekend call
: (Saturday night). I pay him the $160 charge for coming out and
say "no
: thanks" to the rest of the work quoted.
: After some research on the web, I noticed that draft induction
: assemblies for this system average around $125. Unreal! I'm
furious.
:
: My questions a
:
: 1) Do all Heating and Air companies overcharge this much on the
: weekends? Is this normal? It does not seem right. (The company
is
: Hibner Heating and Air)
:
: 2) What is the average price to fix this, on a weekday...under
normal
: circumstances?
:
: Thanks for any help.
:

It's an 80% unit by the way. And yes, I'm in Memphis so it's a good
thing the lowest this week will be 39 at night. A ceramic portable
heater can handle the 1500 sq foot house just fine for
now...especially in the master bedroom.

This happened yesterday...tomorrow is Monday so I'll start making some
phone calls in the morning. I've found it on several websites anywhere
between $80 and 4150. I just need to check the serial numbers and
exact model of the furnace (Lennox G40..http://www.lennox.com/products/
overview.asp?model=G40) then I'll see how long it will take to get the
part.

To be honest, I'll probably call a couple of local Lennox dealers in
the area and tell them that I'm 90% sure it's the draft induction
blower/motor and see what it's gonna take for them to come out, bring
the part... and get it fixed.

and yes, arnoldservice.com is by far the best place I can find on the
internet that explains how the entire system works. His advice helped
me fix my own issue about a month ago...the site could use a little
work to make it easier to read, but I am grateful for his information.
I could not find any details/tips on his site about replacing this
particular part though.