Can you see a cracked heat exchanger?
What Do You Do If Your Heat Exchanger is Cracked? You may be unaware of a cracked heat exchanger unless your carbon monoxide detector beeps, but you may also notice the signs mentioned above. Unfortunately, you can’t really know for sure that your heat exchanger is cracked without an HVAC technician’s inspection.
Will furnace work with cracked heat exchanger?
If it is your heat exchanger, you cannot run your furnace, even if it seems to be running fine. The gases will continue to seep into your home’s air. Many companies, upon finding a cracked heat exchanger, will shut your furnace down so you cannot run it.
What does a cracked heat exchanger look like?
Symptoms Of A Cracked Heat Exchanger A yellow flame could mean that the burner is dirty or that it has a cracked heat exchanger. Additionally, a furnace should have a steady blue flame. Otherwise, if it is flickering, there is a good chance that something is malfunctioning inside the furnace.
What causes furnace heat exchanger to crack?
What is the cause of heat exchanger cracks? Overheating causes nearly all premature heat exchanger cracks. When a furnace cannot get enough airflow, the heat exchanger overheats and suffers excess stress from expansion and contraction. Over time, the heat stress causes cracks near weak areas such as bends or welds.
How much does it cost to replace a heat exchanger in a furnace?
The cost of replacing a heat exchanger ranges from $2,000 to $3,500. Replacing your furnace’s heat exchanger would be a good route to take if your furnace is fairly new. However, it is not worth spending your money on replacing your heat exchanger when it is near the end of its life span, which is ten years or more.
Is it worth replacing heat exchanger?
If your heat exchanger is cracked, your furnace is probably nearing the end of its life (18-20 years). If that’s the case, then it’s usually not worth the money to replace the heat exchanger. No matter who you ask, replacing a heat exchanger will be expensive. Heat pumps can heat and cool your home.
How hard is it to replace heat exchanger?
Unfortunately, heat exchangers are expensive to replace because the part itself is expensive and it can take up to 10 hours for a tech to replace it. In Michigan, the cost to replace a furnace heat exchanger ranges from $700 to $2,000.
Will furnace run without filter?
Technically, you can temporarily run a furnace without a filter. The consequences of running a furnace without a filter include: Poor air quality: For one, not having a filter in place means there is nothing to prevent dust and debris from being sucked into your furnace and recirculated throughout your home.
Will a furnace run with a dirty filter?
One of the biggest problems with running your furnace with a dirty filter is that it can cause your heat exchanger to crack. Your furnace heats air by blowing it over a heat exchanger.
What does the arrow mean on a furnace filter?
Not every furnace filter has an arrow stamped on its side, but when you do see it, it indicates which direction the filter has to face. It always points to the direction of the furnace’s air handler or blower compartment. The mesh side needs to be the furthest from the air handler.
Why does my furnace filter get dirty so fast?
Leaky Duct Work According to ENERGY STAR, a typical house loses 20-30% of air through leaks in the duct work and poor duct connections. Leaving these untreated can not only kill your furnace filter quickly, but also result in higher energy bills.
How long does a furnace air filter last?
The general rule for filter replacement is once every 3 to 6 months. Thicker filters don’t have to be changed as often, such as 6-inch filters, which can last between 9 to 12 months before they need to be replaced.
Why is my air filter not dirty?
A filter is designed to catch all the air that goes through your air conditioning. If the filter is not installed correctly, then the air can flow around the filter and not into it. When that happens, the filter won’t get dirty because all that air isn’t going anywhere near it.