furnace blowing all the heat up the chimney

Posted by on November 4, 2009, 3:20 pm

I'm tired of people telling me that there's nothing wrong with my
furnace. There is something wrong with my furnace.

It's a 10-year-old Amana 45,000 BTU, 80% efficient unit in a 1300
square foot ranch style house. This is my 4th winter in this house,
and I'm sick of being limited to one habitable room all winter.

The air coming out of the vents is cool, around 70 degreees according
to my thermometer. The exhaust to the chimney is smokin' hot. The
plenum does not get perceptibly warm.

I change the filter regularly. The old filter comes out visibly just
as clean as the new filter I put in. There is plenty of airflow
through the unit, as I can feel the cold draft hit my feet from across
the room when the furnace kicks in.

The flames are steady and clean blue.

I have to close off all the bedrooms and heat only the living room and
kitchen during the coldest months, otherwise the furnace would run
24/7 and the temperature would never get above 62.

The pros say there's nothing wrong.

Posted by Lefty on November 4, 2009, 3:38 pm

> I'm tired of people telling me that there's nothing wrong with my
> furnace. There is something wrong with my furnace.
> It's a 10-year-old Amana 45,000 BTU, 80% efficient unit in a 1300
> square foot ranch style house. This is my 4th winter in this house,
> and I'm sick of being limited to one habitable room all winter.
> The air coming out of the vents is cool, around 70 degreees according
> to my thermometer. The exhaust to the chimney is smokin' hot. The
> plenum does not get perceptibly warm.
> I change the filter regularly. The old filter comes out visibly just
> as clean as the new filter I put in. There is plenty of airflow
> through the unit, as I can feel the cold draft hit my feet from across
> the room when the furnace kicks in.
> The flames are steady and clean blue.
> I have to close off all the bedrooms and heat only the living room and
> kitchen during the coldest months, otherwise the furnace would run
> 24/7 and the temperature would never get above 62.
> The pros say there's nothing wrong.

Something's wrong, but you did'nt say where you are loacted. In my area,
you may need a furnace of 65,000-77,000 input to do the job for that house.
And it sounds like your blower may be going way too fast. All are really
guesses though, given the information it really takes to make a proper size
analysis. You need tro try another pro; especially one who will look at the
whole building, as well as the heating plant.

HTH, Lefty

Posted by Ed Pawlowski on November 4, 2009, 10:58 pm

>> The pros say there's nothing wrong.

My first thought is that the unit is a bit on the small size for that house
but I don't know the construction. That said, if it has been there for 10
years it must have done the job at some point. You should be getting more
than 70 degree air While the stack will be hot, it may be much more than
needed. Sounds like there could be a problem with the heat exchanger if
heated air is getting by. I think what you really need as a more competent
service tech. They should be taking the temperature of both the stack and
the plenum.

Posted by ransley on November 4, 2009, 3:40 pm

On Nov 4, 2:20=A0pm, mkirs...@rochester.rr.com wrote:

You do have AC right, have you actualy looked at the AC coil, my
neighbor got a house where the AC coil passed no air it was so
clogged, but you still need a Pro, not the hacks youve had out for
beer money.

Posted by on November 4, 2009, 4:22 pm

> On Nov 4, 2:20=A0pm, mkirs...@rochester.rr.com wrote:

> > I'm tired of people telling me that there's nothing wrong with my
> > furnace. There is something wrong with my furnace.
> > It's a 10-year-old Amana 45,000 BTU, 80% efficient unit in a 1300
> > square foot ranch style house. This is my 4th winter in this house,
> > and I'm sick of being limited to one habitable room all winter.
> > The air coming out of the vents is cool, around 70 degreees according
> > to my thermometer. The exhaust to the chimney is smokin' hot. The
> > plenum does not get perceptibly warm.
> > I change the filter regularly. The old filter comes out visibly just
> > as clean as the new filter I put in. There is plenty of airflow
> > through the unit, as I can feel the cold draft hit my feet from across
> > the room when the furnace kicks in.
> > The flames are steady and clean blue.
> > I have to close off all the bedrooms and heat only the living room and
> > kitchen during the coldest months, otherwise the furnace would run
> > 24/7 and the temperature would never get above 62.
> > The pros say there's nothing wrong.

> You do have AC right, have you actualy looked at the AC coil, my
> neighbor got a house where the AC coil passed no air it was so
> clogged, but you still need a Pro, not the hacks youve had out for
> beer money.- Hide quoted text -
> - Show quoted text -

I'm located in Rochester NY for the record, and I do have central
air.

There are two ratings on the furnace, one is 45,000BTU and the other
is 61,500BTU, but the furnace was made in Quebec and everything
written on it is in FRENCH! Online translators were no help in
figuring out what the tag says...

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