So, apparently our xmas gift from the universe is no gas heat. The exhaust fan runs, but the ignitor never fires (that's just a guess). It's not horribly cold outside, and we have multiple other ways to heat the house so I'm not overly concerned.

The furnace hasn't been serviced in several years. The company we had install it did "free" service calls that somehow always cost us at least $500. The last straw was one of their techs charging us $50 for pulling 3 little twigs out of the exhaust fan outlet (I watched him do it, but never expected to be charged for something like that). So we never called them again.

So, here's what I know, the exhaust fan is working, or at least I can hear it running, haven't gone & put my hand to the exhaust to verify. The circulation fan's working, it blows air out of the vents when I turn it on manually. I just changed the batteries in the thermostat about a week ago. We're pretty good about swapping in new filters when they're due, and the one that's in there is getting close to due, but is still working (I heard the furnace kick on yesterday, so this is brand new behavior). When the filter is due to be changed, it kind of does a "thump" sound as the vacuum of the circulation fans pulls it taut.

I am not particularly keen to go down into the crawlspace to try to figure it out, arthritis has made me creakier than I like to admit, plus I managed to take a fall yesterday onto my driveway, then fell again getting myself up. Bruises abound with the extra special aches.

Is there an HVAC tech in the Duvall / Redmond / Carnation / Monroe area who could come take a look at this? It doesn't have to be immediately, like I said, it's not that cold out, and we have propane, kerosene & a wood stove options for heat, plus a couple of electric oil filled heaters which will keep us warm enough. We have plenty of firewood, so we're not going to freeze, just might get a bit chilly inside.

I will of course pay for this service.

dave sounds like your igniter is cracked hence why it wont start, usually held in by a screw or 2. I'd know you don't want to crawl under neath but wondering if you can see a spark

if there is a spark and no light then it would be your flame sensor, usually last 3-5 yrs

Did you Take off the cover? Any red lights on?

Is the educator fan running? Does the igniter spark? Did you clean the flame sensor?

I bet your igniter is toast. Is there flame? All previous questions are applicable. When this happened to us, I got a new igniter from Ferguson the same day and was back to comfort before she got home from work.


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Thanks for all the responses guys, I really appreciate it, especially over the holiday. It's a bit chilly in the house, but our bedroom's nice & warm and we'll start cooking downstairs soon enough, and that'll start to warm up the downstairs, plus I'll turn the oil heater back on down there which kept the house at about 70f all evening last night till we went to bed. It'll have to play catch up this morning, but I might just fire up the kerosene heater, if it's really cold down there. It's got a full tank and I've got another five gallon drum of fuel for it.

Responses to your questions & suggestions below:



It's down in the crawlspace, which I haven't cleared a way to. Access is through our pantry floor and while not hard to get to, it's tedious because you have to basically empty the closet/pantry to get the hatch exposed. So, for all the following questions about things I can't see yet, that's the answer for now. Rita & I have decided we're not going to try to fix it on xmas day.


Haven't seen it yet, but from other visits down there, I don't remember seeing any lights. I don't know what an educator fan is, if you mean the exhaust fan that runs before it starts, yes, that's running, and it's blowing air to the exhaust port on the side of the house. An eductor is for removing water from a flooded space on a ship, so I'm pretty sure that's not you meant. Also, the blower fan is working, but I have to turn it on manually. When I do, cool air comes out of the vents around the house.



I'll look into this once we have access to the crawl space cleared away. Is Ferguson a store?



Thanks for the video, I'll watch it shortly.

Update: Maybe Santa sent his repair elves over night?

We turned on the thermostat this morning, the exhaust fan did its thing, and the furnace lit. The house was at 60f when we came down, and the temperature's climbing nicely. It may just be a one off, so I'm going to let it run until it gets the house up to temperature (70f). We're also going to replace the filter for good measure even though the old one looks like it still has some life left in it.

What does this behavior tell you guys? Obviously the ignitor is still working, at least temporarily. Maybe it just needed blowing off or something? We'll still gain access to the furnace, probably tomorrow, and I can go down there with a can of compressed air to blow things out / off properly, and check the general state of the system (after watching the video above).

Pretty hard to diagnose without being down there with the cover off. Things to look for

1. Red lights, which are diagnostic indicators. The number of lights lit will tell you where the error is.
2. Is the pilot light lit? If not, re-light it.
3. Is there a clicking noise before furnace comes on? That’s the igniter. No clicking means igniter is bad
4. Do the burners come on and then go right out? That is a bad flame sensor.

There are also various pressure sensors and other crap in there. Since the unit has not been serviced in a while, your best bet is to have a pro come in and check it out. If it died once, it probably will again.

Completely agree, we're going to gain access to the crawl space and I'll go in and take a look (not looking forward to it). Finger's crossed, it's been working normally all day since I turned the thermostat back on this morning. If nothing else, now that the house is warm, the oil heater will be able to maintain the temperature. I don't know if it'd have ever been able to catch up, but had that been the case I'd have brought the kerosene heater in from the garage, which definitely would have.

One more possibility is a defective thermostat. Not usually the problem, but you can change it without getting cold, wet and dirty!

And remember YouTube is your friend when diagnosing and fixing your furnace

That vid I posted is a great diagnostic and explains the process of start up. Remarkably simple.
This happens, that happens, igniter comes on ( you can see it glow)
Gas starts, flame sensor senses ( or doesn't) flame and it either goes or shuts down.
If it's the flame sensor he shows you how to polish it up.