That Stinkin' Furnace!

Yes, literally, the furnace stinks. Remember I mentioned the CO detector? We put it in the lower level bathroom/laundry room, which is adjacent to the boiler room. As I sat here at my computer last night, I noticed a distinct reek of partially burned diesel fuel (heating oil, diesel, same thing) and then the detector started beeping. Well, now we're conditioned to FREAK when alarms like this go off, right? Whether there is a fire, or an output of deadly carbon monoxide, something has to be done in a hurry! Fortunately the problem was mostly confined to the laundry room, though I think I had begun to feel a little lightheaded.



We shut the furnace off, stuffed the wood stove full, and were thankful it wasn't a particularly cold night.

The repairmen (two, this time - we usually just get one guy) came around noon and have been here ALL DAY. They say it needed cleaning. They say the oil pump, which was replaced two months ago, is bad. Goodness knows what else is wrong with the stupid thing.

Meanwhile, we're sort of getting ready to go out for the evening to a friend's party. I baked banana bread, yum yum! But what if they're not done by seven-ish? Will one of us have to stay home? Will we have another cold night and hope they'll come out tomorrow? On a Sunday?

And most importantly, just how much is this going to cost me? Enough that we could just have bought a new furnace in the first place?

I'd love to get a different heating system. But these hot water baseboard heaters are all over the house. There's got to be a way to do this more efficiently.