Five common furnace repairs and what they cost

flame sensor goes out. A lot of times you'll see people say, "Well, you can just clean it." And that's a temporary deal. I would not clean a flame sensor. You're cleaning a little bit of corrosion off of there. But really and truly, what you could be doing is just causing more brittleleness to show. It'd be like sanding like an over sanded piece of wood down to nothing. Like, sure, it's going to be there, but at the same time, too, you're probably better off just like get a new one, especially given the nominal cost of them. You're looking to replace one. It's going to be between $250 and like $350. Um, you can get a flame sensor there. Again, no needed to go OEM with this. We can go just generic, and that's typically what we do.

HVAC guys name things exactly for what they do. There is no like beating around the bush of like that's a you know a flumber bop and a flumeber senses the flames. No, a flumber bop isn't there. It is just a flame sensor. It's just there to do that one thing which is sense the flames and it is just getting just absolutely just burned. I mean I don't know if you've ever watched one of Elon's Falcon rockets take off, but imagine sitting under that and then being like expected to do your job again after you sat under that rocket. Well, that is effectively what a flame sensor is doing is then it's just sitting there taking the thrust from the furnace just and telling the system like, "Yep, I got flames, guys. I got flames." And the minute that you don't have flames, it shuts the system down.

It's the first cold night of winter, and your heater has stopped working, and your thought process goes, "How much is this going to cost me, and how long am I going to be without heat?" And guess what? Typically, it comes down to one of these five repairs, and I'm going to tell you how much it costs and what to expect when you're going through the repair process right now. I'm Travis Yarbrough with Yarbrough & Sons Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing, second generation. We've done over 10,000 HVAC and plumbing installs, and when it comes to keeping your home comfortable, we're the experts. Let's get into it. So, you're wondering, "What of the five repairs am I looking at, and how much is this thing going to cost me?" Because I need my house comfortable. Grandma's on her way with the peanut butter pie, and holy cow, we can't have an uncomfortable house for grandma, especially when she's bringing peanut butter pie. So, the draft inducer motor is typically the number five or the least common of the five that we see when it comes time to repair your system. So, the draft inducer motor, what does this do? Basically, what it's doing is it helps shoveling flue gas out of the system and out into, you know, the atmosphere, out of your roof. Um so, basically, what it's doing is it is going to be making sure that as uh combustion occurs inside of your heat exchanger, it is going to be drafting all of the spent gas or the non-combusted gas out of the flue vent and making sure that none of the carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion leaks into your home. So, it's an imperative piece of the heating system, and typically, the draft inducer motor, it's a pretty common repair. It made the top five, but it's not the most common. And I know what you're thinking. You're like, "How much is this thing going to cost me?" And what we're going to look at is I'm going to give you the big variance of from warranty costs all the way up to replacing with an OEM piece. Sound fair enough? Sound fair enough. So, whenever it looks at the cost, remember we think about the cost. If we are doing this under warranty, it is going to be just straight labor, and that is going to be about a $450 repair to replace just the inducer draft motor. We got to take the, you know, the heat exchanger apart, make sure that we can get the motor out, put it all back together. It's a good dog and pony show. It'll be about $450. But if we replace with an OEM, which is going to be our most expensive option. They do make generics, but if we replace with the OEM, and let me make a definition here. OEM is an original equipment manufacturer. So, an OEM part, so if you have an American Standard piece of equipment, we're going back with an American Standard piece of equipment to repair it or American Standard part, rather. Rather than a generic part. And those are going to be more expensive than those generics. So, on the high end to replace an inducer draft motor on a conventional heater, it is going to be around $1,600 for an OEM. Now, we see the average falling somewhere around $1,100. If we have the inducer draft generic in stock, typically we're able to do that same day. So, you're not going to be without heat anytime. Grandma doesn't have to worry about coming over to an uncomfortable house and peanut butter pie is still on the menu, boys. So, we made it. We're good to go. The number four most common heater repair that we have is a capacitor on the blower motor going out. And I know what you're thinking. You're like, "Tucker, capacitors are an AC thing." Guess what? The system is a system. It's both. Your air conditioner and your heater, they're sympatico, if you will. They talk together. But, it's a different capacitor. Both sides have a capacitor. Both sides have a fan motor. One's an indoor fan motor and one is an outdoor fan motor, also known as the blower motor and a condenser fan motor. And your blower motor has a capacitor, similar to that of your condenser fan motor. But, a blower motor, fan motor, you know, typically we're going to have um it's in a squirrel cage. It's a little bit more labor. It's a little bit tighter spot to be working in. So, the replacement cost, I know the capacitor is not going to cost hardly, you know, anything. A capacitor costs between 25 and $90, just depending on what kind of capacitor you get. And the replacement cost for those is almost identical indoor versus outdoor, regardless of the difference in labor. And so, what we look at is a standard capacitor is going to cost like 140 to 160 dollars. But, if you go with an upgraded turbo US-made, has a 5-year warranty, it's going to cost upwards of around like $400. It'll be like four or 390 to like 415, somewhere in there. It doesn't fail just as much because the thing that causes capacitors to fail a lot of times is heat, dirty voltage, and age. And heat, you're probably not going to have a whole whole lot of heat around the indoor capacitor because it is always going to be in a conditioned space. Even though it's sitting right next to the furnace, even as the box gets hot, it is nothing compared to that of the plight of the outdoor condenser fan motor's capacitor. That thing >> I'm tired of this, Grandpa. >> No wonder it quits, cuz it gets really hot on those outdoor condenser fan motors. >> TOO DAMN MAD. >> BUT, THE INDOOR blower motor capacitor, it's going to fail at a pretty reasonable clip. We typically see them last anywhere between 3 to 7 years. Uh if you've made it past that, you're living on grace. During your next maintenance visit, you might have your your technician go ahead and swap that out for you so you don't have an unplanned inconvenient night without heat. Rather, you can choose a day and just make it happen while it's still operational. But, between $180 and about $400 depending on the level of capacitor that you purchase, because again, it comes with different warranties, different longevities, things like that. I would say that a capacitor upgrade is almost always worth it depending on how much life you expect to have in the system. Time. The number three is a limit switch. The limit switch is the thing that makes the brakes get thrown. The absolute e-brake speed racer down the highway, we're stopping middle of the road because something terrible has happened. And that limit switch is what makes it to where your furnace box can't get too hot. The heat exchanger can't get too warm. And whenever it gets too warm, that limit switch pops, and then it makes it to where, "Hey, nothing's going to run because this limit switch said, whatever's going on in there is none of my business, but it's all my business because I need to turn this thing off." So, what happens is is as that furnace gets warm, and if we have an inducer draft motor that's going out, or maybe we have a blower motor that's going out, a limit switch I'm going to say a lot of times a limit switch is a symptom rather than a solo failure. A limit switch is going to be indicative of an inducer draft motor not working and pulling hot flue gases out like it should at at a reasonable manner, or a blower motor not moving home moving home yet moving home moving air through the home like it should allowing for hot air to stick in the furnace box in the heat exchanger box for too long. And when that happens, that limit switch is doing its job, it shuts the air conditioner or the heater off. It shuts the heater off. But, sometimes those limit switches fail. Most of the time, thank goodness, they fail in an open position, meaning they do not have continuity, meaning that the system can't run if the limit switch is open. So, if it fails, heart rate come down, blood pressure come down. It is not going to fail in a closed position most of the time. This is why maintenance is imperative. We test limit switches during maintenance to make sure that, hey, if this thing is going to fail, you know, that we can catch it before it does. But, most of the time the way they're engineered, they are engineered to fail in an open position, meaning they do not allow to pass continuity, meaning it will not allow your heater to heat your home in a manner that is, um, you know, adequate. You're going to be getting just latent air. But, the cost to replace your limit switch is going to be between $100 and $375. It is just this little bitty relay that we're able to just pop in, pop out. It's going to be a 30-minute job. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. I would recommend probably doing this once every 5 to 7 years during your maintenance. Just go ahead, swap out the limit switch, make sure that you have a fresh limit switch involved. That way, if the furnace ever does decide that it wants to get a little too spicy up in there, uh, somebody's there to shut it off and cut the fun off. The number two most common heater repair that we see during the heating season is a hot surface igniter. Hot surface igniter is exactly what it sounds like. It is the thing that makes the furnace go It's that thing. And without that thing, the furnace can't go And so, if it can't go >> [screaming] >> it is not going to heat your home. Do you know what I'm saying? You feel me? We leveling? Sometimes I need visual representation, noises, sounds, and extracurricular activities to explain things. But, hot surface igniter makes system go And that right there allows your home to get warm during the wintertime. And if your hot surface igniter fails, nothing is going to happen. Nothing's going to heat. We're not going to It ain't got no gas in it. It ain't got no gas in it. That's what's happening right there. So, to replace a hot surface igniter, it is a pretty nominal cost. It's between 150 and about $600. Again, that $600 side is an OEM replacement. So, if we're going back Lennox for Lennox or Carrier for Carrier, that's on the higher end. But, it'll be between 150 and, you know, $600-ish. We see the average being somewhere around the high fours, uh, most of the time for a generic, uh, hot surface igniter. I wouldn't be married to an OEM uh, replacement on a hot surface igniter. It's a pretty generic part. I almost view it a little bit consumable. As the system goes on, that failing is better than a heat exchanger or something else failing. So, I view that more like a consumable, meaning that the repair cost is going to be a little bit lower. But, it is worth, you know, one, putting on your planned maintenance time to replace during a planned maintenance time. And two, I don't think it's worth going back with an OEM piece unless the system is still under warranty, in which case go back with the OEM and it'll be a pretty cheap repair because it'll be under warranty repair coverage as opposed to full cost coverage. The number one most common repair that we see is a flame sensor going out. The flame sensor just sits there in front of the in front of the furnace light or on the furnace inlet, really. It just sits there and senses it does exactly, you know, I love it. HVAC guys name things exactly for what they do. There is no like beating around the bush of like that's a you know, flumberbop. And a flumberbop senses the flames. No, a flumberbop isn't there. It is just a flame sensor. It's just there to do that one thing, which is sense the flames. And what it's doing and why it's sensing the flames, it is sending a micro voltage down to the gas valve to make sure that it is getting one proper gas, two, make sure that we're not just releasing gas into the system, all of that good stuff. But, a flame sensor sometimes, you'll see people who say that you can just clean a flame sensor and you know, we've done cleanings of a flame sensor, but typically that is a temporary fix because you got to think about it. That flame sensor is sitting there in front of this just hot, I mean, it's basically like a small jet engine. And it is just getting just absolutely just burned. I mean, I don't know if you've ever watched one of Elon's Falcon rockets take off, but imagine sitting under that and then being like expected to do your job again after you sat under that rocket. Well, that is effectively what a flame sensor is doing is it is just sitting there taking the thrust from the furnace just and telling the system like, "Yep, I got flames, guys. I got flames." And then the minute you don't have flames, it shuts the system down. And sometimes a flame sensor, whenever it fails, it is not going to allow the system to run similar to that because a heater on almost all of its parts, whenever a heater is running, it is all good to go. And when something fails, it fails in a manner that doesn't allow the system to keep operating at all because we need the safety checks involved. When we have literally a small like rocket propulsion system in your house, we want to make sure that it fails properly. And if it fails, it needs to fail in a way that nothing else runs. Flame sensor goes out, a lot of times you'll see people say, well, you can just clean it. And that's a temporary deal. I would not clean a flame sensor. You're cleaning a little bit of corrosion off of there, but really and truly what you could be doing is just causing more brittleness to show. It'd be like sanding like an over sanded piece of wood down to nothing. Like sure, it's going to be there, but at the same time too, you're probably better off just like get a new one, especially given the nominal cost of them. You're looking to replace one it's going to be between $250 and like $350. Um you can get a flame sensor. There again, no need to go OEM with this. We can go just generic and that's typically what we do. Most of the time with our maintenance customers, this is the number one recommendation that we have for them during their heat maintenance is hey, let's replace your flame sensor so that we don't have to have an unplanned outage during, you know, family get-together or during the first like super cold snap. Cuz what's going to happen is like I said is it's setting in the flame, right? It's just sitting there just taking the flame. And the longer that system runs, the more exposure we give to that flame sensor. So, as the colder nights come into deep and deep winter, well, that flame sensor is getting more and more work and it is more and more prone to fail whenever there's more and more work. It's just like your capacitor outside on your condenser unit. Because of the heat, it is likely to fail during the time that you need it most. But, your furnace gives signs that it's going to fail. Your furnace kind of gives those little subtle warning signs. Maybe it's a a delayed heat. Maybe you you hear some like rocking and rolling or maybe, you know, sometimes it heats and sometimes it doesn't or sometimes, you know, the thermostat goes blank. Your furnace is giving signs that hey, something isn't right. And that's whenever you should call in a professional and say, hey, we need to get out here. We need to make sure that this thing is going to keep our family first, safe, and second, that it's going to keep our family comfortable. And if you're curious what it costs any of these repairs cost plus any other heater repairs cost, you can click the link down in the description or you can scan the QR code here to get an instant estimate to see all of our heater repairs all in one place. No gimmicks. We just need your name, your number, and your address, and boom. You can see our entire price list. It'll walk you through a little diagnostic as to what's going on so you can find out what it costs to repair your home's most expensive appliance, your HVAC system. Other than that, guys, do something nice for somebody. You never know, it might change your life. I'm out. >> Yards >> [singing and music] >> and Sons, Yards and Sons, these are the folks you should know. >> [music] >> No need to sweat, no need to fret. Call 485-347-0. [singing] [music]

The cost to replace your limit switch is going to be between $100 and $375. It is just this little bitty relay that we're able to just pop in, pop out. It's going to be a 30-minute job. Wham bam. Thank you, man. I would recommend probably doing this once every 5 to 7 years during your maintenance. Just go ahead, swap out the limit switch. Make sure that you have a fresh limit switch involved. That way, if the furnace ever does decide that it wants to get a little too spicy up in there, uh, somebody's there to shut it off and cut the fun off.

Hot surface igniter is exactly what it sounds like. It is the thing that makes the furnace go It's that thing. And without that thing the furnace can't go And so if it can't go [groaning] it is not going to heat your home. You know what I'm saying? You feel me? We level in. Sometimes I need visual representation, noises, sounds, and extracurricular activities to explain things. But hot surface igniter makes system go and that right there allows your home to get warm during the winter time. And if your hot surface igniter fails nothing is going to happen. Nothing's going to heat. We're not going It ain't got no gas in it. That's what's happening right there.