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Old 01-13-2017, 04:06 PM
 
29 posts, read 55,596 times
Reputation: 11

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Thank you to all who responded. The plumber came in today and found out that the pilot light was off. From what I learned from him, this light should never go off. My LL has been very cut throat with us from the beginning and I was concerned he will tell me it was my negligence though I kept insisting that I had set the thermostat to 66. Apparently the furnace is more than 30 years old and has some rusting in it and there is a coil that relates to the pilot light that needs replacement.The plumber said any of these things could have caused the pilot light to go off. Even in the beginning of the winter, when the house wouldn't heat up I called the handy man that the owner uses usually for this house.He came and just lighted the pilot light with a match stick and said we are good to go.
To me it clearly looks like the furnace went off and that triggered the water pipes to break. The plumber still has not looked at the water pipes to determine the cause for breaking up. The plumber lighted the pilot today and still the temperature is not moving beyond 60 though I set the thermostat at 70.

Though I am not a handy man, can I say that pilot light went off on its own and there was no way the water in the basement would have caused it since the top of the pedestal where the furnace is placed is still dry. I am dealing with a very tough owner here and I dont want to be taken advantage of.

Thanks for all your help.
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Old 01-13-2017, 05:21 PM
 
10,221 posts, read 19,154,272 times
Reputation: 10886
If you left the heat at 66, it's pretty clearly not your fault. Maintaining the equipment is his responsibility. If he gets too cut-throat, you'll have to hire a lawyer.
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Old 01-13-2017, 11:00 PM
 
10,181 posts, read 10,231,246 times
Reputation: 9252
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthnry View Post
The OP never said that the heat started working again. In fact, he said the house was cold when he came home.
True.

The OP didn't mention that the furnace wasn't working at all.

Went with that.
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Old 01-13-2017, 11:27 PM
 
10,181 posts, read 10,231,246 times
Reputation: 9252
Quote:
Originally Posted by Campfires View Post
The newer furnaces have auto ignition. My understanding is that if there is a power outage, they shut off and then reignite after power is restored. You can't even light the pilot light with a match. I was quite perplexed when trying to test out a furnace on a property I bought last summer. Who would have thunk to read the instructions on the door panel? I'm glad I'm not the only one who had never heard of these new tangled Star Trek furnaces
LOL!

Ya know?

Sheesh.
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Old 01-13-2017, 11:49 PM
 
10,181 posts, read 10,231,246 times
Reputation: 9252
Quote:
Originally Posted by sahm1 View Post
Thank you to all who responded. The plumber came in today and found out that the pilot light was off. From what I learned from him, this light should never go off. My LL has been very cut throat with us from the beginning and I was concerned he will tell me it was my negligence though I kept insisting that I had set the thermostat to 66. Apparently the furnace is more than 30 years old and has some rusting in it and there is a coil that relates to the pilot light that needs replacement.The plumber said any of these things could have caused the pilot light to go off. Even in the beginning of the winter, when the house wouldn't heat up I called the handy man that the owner uses usually for this house.He came and just lighted the pilot light with a match stick and said we are good to go.
To me it clearly looks like the furnace went off and that triggered the water pipes to break. The plumber still has not looked at the water pipes to determine the cause for breaking up. The plumber lighted the pilot today and still the temperature is not moving beyond 60 though I set the thermostat at 70.

Though I am not a handy man, can I say that pilot light went off on its own and there was no way the water in the basement would have caused it since the top of the pedestal where the furnace is placed is still dry. I am dealing with a very tough owner here and I dont want to be taken advantage of.

Thanks for all your help.
I don't know too much about the details of furnaces.

What I do know, however, is that when we had a flood in our personal residence? It started on the 2nd floor of the house and ran down walls, leaked through ceilings, found it's way in to vents & all the way in to the basement. Water was sitting IN the basement furnace. The house was freezing cold on the first floor (we have 2 zone heat/air) as we were in the middle of a long stretch of sub-zero temps.

My husband shop-vac'd the water out of the furnace not too long after we woke up to the crazy.

Took the thing about 12-18 hours to dry out and start working again.

I don't remember the details (I had 10 people in my house ripping out walls/ceilings, pulling up carpet, and the noise level from the industrial fans & heaters....ugh) how/why that furnace started working again.

I'll ask the person (my DH) who knows, in the morning, and fill you in.
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Old 01-14-2017, 10:03 AM
 
903 posts, read 859,179 times
Reputation: 2501
Quote:
Originally Posted by sahm1 View Post
Thank you to all who responded. The plumber came in today and found out that the pilot light was off. From what I learned from him, this light should never go off. My LL has been very cut throat with us from the beginning and I was concerned he will tell me it was my negligence though I kept insisting that I had set the thermostat to 66. Apparently the furnace is more than 30 years old and has some rusting in it and there is a coil that relates to the pilot light that needs replacement.The plumber said any of these things could have caused the pilot light to go off. Even in the beginning of the winter, when the house wouldn't heat up I called the handy man that the owner uses usually for this house.He came and just lighted the pilot light with a match stick and said we are good to go.
To me it clearly looks like the furnace went off and that triggered the water pipes to break. The plumber still has not looked at the water pipes to determine the cause for breaking up. The plumber lighted the pilot today and still the temperature is not moving beyond 60 though I set the thermostat at 70.

Though I am not a handy man, can I say that pilot light went off on its own and there was no way the water in the basement would have caused it since the top of the pedestal where the furnace is placed is still dry. I am dealing with a very tough owner here and I dont want to be taken advantage of.

Thanks for all your help.

Sahm,

You clearly do not have an auto ignition furnace. If the pilot light extinguishes, there is no heat. Is there a history of anymosity between the landlord and yourself? Are you having a financial crisis that would cause you to shut the gas off to the furnace? It's quite obvious that you are not well versed in home mechanicals. Most folks aren't so that's not a slam on you. Is the thermostat one of those that connect to wifi?

How do you know how old the furnace is? Who or what gave you the idea it is 30 years old?

Right now, you just need to zip your lips. Your job is not to explain how or why anything happened. You came home to a cold house with a major water leak. You, hopefully, immediately informed the property owner. There's your court case.
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