Trilby is peacefully asleep in his cat bed and making contented little murmurs and squeaks. I'm glad to see he's dealing with this so well.

Oh no! The same thing happened to some friends of mine in PA last night too.

Fingers crossed for you guys.

Boo, Orange Swan! I will make a burnt offering to the furnace gods on your behalf.

Oh no! I hope it's fixable.

I came home to find my toilet isn't filling up. Googling says it's a broken washer, and as I have another couple of little jobs that need seeing to (a dripping kitchen tap that's driving me insane, a little bit of dampness on the wall near near the patio door) I'll get my contractor guy to sort them out. If it had just been the toilet, I probably could have fixed it myself but he'll get the toilet and the tap fixed in minutes, rather than hours if I attempt them. In the meantime, I'm filling the toilet cistern with a bucket.

Oh noes! What an awful time for this to happen. I hope the bright side is a working reliable furnace again -- soon!

eeeeeek!

The furnace guy told me he'll be here in one to two hours.

If you wear Trilby on your head you will lose less body heat.

Furnace is fixed! And I am $311.14 poorer.

Yay for a working furnace!

What was wrong with it?

Yay for fixes! Besides needing $311.14 worth of work, what was wrong? (And are furnace guys being slammed right now? I've put off having mine inspected for, umm, 5 years, so I really should get on that.)

Very glad the heat is on for you again. Hope that's it for furnace troubles.

Little comfort, I know, but it could have been a lot worse than $311.

The repairman replaced a part. I forget what it was called, and I can't read what he wrote on the receipt. He told me mine was a simple furnace with three parts that could break: the motor, the part that broke, and another piece. The other two pieces were more expensive than the one that broke.

My furnace was installed in 1991 and I should have it replaced soon. I was thinking in August of this year. I hate that I had to spend $311 on a furnace that's going to be scrapped in six months anyway. I was so hoping it would last just one more winter.

And yes, he told me it's been go go go all week with people's furnaces breaking down right and left. I guess when a furnace that's already near breaking point is having to work extra hard, you get a break down.

You can flush at least as well-- better, really-- by pouring the bucket directly into the bowl, Senyar, only save a bit in the bucket to fill the bowl to the usual line after the original contents go down.

I was so hoping it would last just one more winter

Well, have him back sometime in the summer to do a maintenance visit and ask him whether he thinks it's good for one more year. Now that you've invested in it and you know the new part won't fail, it's up to the health of the motor and fan, and then your other part, an igniter or exchanger, probably. If they're stable there may be no rush.

On the other hand, if you get a new efficient furnace sooner, you could make $311.14 back in your first heating season, easy.

you could make $311.14 back in your first heating season

Ooh, good point!

Thanks, jimjam. I filled the cistern to stop the hissing of the trickling infill and am now flushing by pouring the water directly into the loo.