The dreaded broken furnace

It is one thing when the electricity in the house goes out. But the furnace?

Yep, I have no heat. In Minnesota. In February. It is -23 here right now. Woke up FREEZING. Looked in the snake tank - the ambient air, WITH the ceramic heater, is 50 degrees, leaving the rest of the house about 40 at *best.* The hot spot is at 89 still, which is amazing (wish I could fit in there with him). Argus is still chipper and poked his head out at me when I moved things around. I moved the heater closer to the hot hide and called the maintenence people, who are coming with space heaters right now.

I never even considered it as something that might go wrong. Naive, I know. I think I should go get a space heater of my own just in case. the maintenence people provide them if needed, but it's still nice to have one of my own. SO happy with my UTH and thermostat. My bird is pretty miserable, but she is less prone to temp problems than the snake it! I am prepared for no electricity, but no heat?! Ugh.

M hands are so numb I can barely type this. I don't even know why I'm posting - Maybe as a heads up to have a backup plan for everything!

Oil filled heater.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Oil filled heater.

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Agreed

http://www.lowes.com/pd_100813-33454...ter&facetInfo=

I have two of these and really like them.

Oiled filled heater with a external t-sat in the snake room and as a back up in case the power goes out Buddy Heater. :gj:

I think I own enough heat tape and heat bulbs I could heat the house

Man that bummer. Good to see another mn person.It is cold here in the land of the10000 lakes. I'm in brainerd.. hope the heat gets fixed soon for you.

*waves* I miss MN, not so much the furnace going out though. Like the others suggested, the oil heaters are pretty nice. Or any heater but it's nice to have something that will work in emergency situations. Too bad you don't have a wood stove.

Been there done that but it was summer. Depending on whether or not you own the home, you can expect HVAC, the whole setup, to cost around $6500. We just did ours in Late July and after 30 + years the heat and AC needed to be replaced.

If you have a newer AC you may only need to replace the furnace, but it never seems to work out that way.

Good luck,,, we have a few more nights of misery here.

Isn't it special when it goes out when it couldn't get a lot colder LOL!

I had the exact thing happen a month ago.

Yeah, I'm in Texas, but it happened when it was in the low 20's overnight and stayed in the low 30's all day. Then the "fix" did not even last 24 hrs.

They adapt, thank goodness for a hot side.:)

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...744475a859.jpg

Heat is fixed! Argus is out roaming his tank again, so I assume while he probably wasn't thrilled with the situation it didn't affect him too much. I'm in a rented property, and I think there are laws about the winter months and heat being considered an emergency if it goes out here because it can be devastating and dangerous. I do have a heat blanket, but I wrapped the bird cage with it to keep her toasty in the AM, so I just had one measly blanket, lol.

I was thinking, if it was about 40 degrees in the house in the middle of the day (which was -10 and SUPER sunny) then over the night time, when it was -20something, and NO sun, I wouldn't be surprised if it legitimately dropped to freezing in the house, as the furnace went out around 9PM. The pipes took a bit to start up in the morning. It took a long while and a shower as hot as it coul go to warm up/get feeling in my extremities after the heat kicked back in.

I am going to get a space heater. A good oil filled one. I am actually moving in May to an apartment with a significantly better insulated unit (when we went to see it, the heat had been off and it was 58 - plastic the windows and patio door and it'll be comfortable). It has a fireplace too just in case. But, after this, I would like a backup! it is MISERABLE sleeping in freezing temps. You just wake up with that awful cold that seeps into your bones and you can't get rid of.

....Why do I live here again? :disbelief

Great news!

Heat is great isn't it! :)

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...1d529653c5.jpg

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Originally Posted by Spoons

I am actually moving in May to an apartment with a significantly better insulated unit (when we went to see it, the heat had been off and it was 58 - plastic the windows and patio door and it'll be comfortable). It has a fireplace too just in case.

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Great to hear that the heat is back on! Just an FYI though, fireplaces aren't the best for emergency heat, unless it's natural gas or propane, or it has a wood stove insert, with a blower to throw warm air into the house. Otherwise it tends to suck heat out of the house and send it up the chimney.

I live in Chicago, I have a styrofoam cooler and pillow cases for everybody. Enough heat packs for three days. If I can't get it fixed in a day. Everyone, wife, kids and snakes are going to the local holiday inn. And the best part is, nobody will even think twice about us bringing in a cooler to the hotel. I've used this method in a emergancy before. It might not be perfect, but it gets the job done. I guess it also matters how big your collection is. My furnace just went out about a month ago, put everyone in there. But it got fixed relatively fast. So no mini bar or swimming pool. I also use this set up for winter vet trips.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Great to hear that the heat is back on! Just an FYI though, fireplaces aren't the best for emergency heat, unless it's natural gas or propane, or it has a wood stove insert, with a blower to throw warm air into the house. Otherwise it tends to suck heat out of the house and send it up the chimney.

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It is a gas fireplace, and it is fantastic for heating the place up in a pinch. Probably not the cheapest option, though! Tried it out last weekend (as we technically already have the apartment, my current lease just doesn't end till May) and it warmed the place right up in no time. :)

The coolers are a good idea too. I will definitely have to pick one up.

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Originally Posted by Spoons

It is a gas fireplace, and it is fantastic for heating the place up in a pinch.

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Oh yeah they rock, my in-laws have one that will chase you out of the house!