When your furnace motor stops working, your home suddenly doesn't feel like a home anymore. Instead of enjoying warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer, your house slowly assumes the temperature of its exterior and you start bundling up or plugging in floor fans. Unlike other furnace problems that present a variety of symptoms and may or may not be easy and inexpensive to fix, a dead furnace motor at least lets you know what your looking at from the very beginning: replacing your furnace-motor. If you have a non-functioning furnace motor, you'll be faced with a few decisions that relate to the price of solving the problem, beginning with whether your replace your furnace motor or simply repair it.
Repair or Replace?
In most cases, you can trust an air conditioning service technician's assessment of whether you should repair or replace your furnace-motor. But if you would rather repair the motor despite the technician's recommendation to replace it or vice verse, most furnace-motor replacement specialists will accommodate your wishes. But it's important to realize that repairing a furnace motor is sometimes more expensive than replacing it. In addition to the higher labor costs that come with repairing a decrepit furnace motor, your motor could be in such a state that repairing it would essentially amount to rebuilding it. However, by the same token, repairing a motor that needs a simple fix might not be worthwhile either, depending on the its past repair history.
A History of Problems
If you bought your furnace, you probably did some brand research and decided on a brand that had a great consumer reputation. But just because you bought a great brand doesn't mean that all of its parts will live up to its logo. Similar to automobile makers, furnace makers often get their parts for specialized parts makers, and sometimes those parts turn out to be lemons, which can make your whole furnace seem like a lemon if their lack of quality keeps resulting in a non-functioning motor. If your furnace-motor has had a history of major and minor repairs even when your furnace was still under warranty, it might be worthwhile to simply buy a new motor instead of letting the repair costs keep adding up.
Should you do the Job Yourself?
If you're handy with HVAC equipment, you might feel tempted to replace your own furnace motor in order to cut costs. But when it comes to dealing with the inner workings of a furnace, your HVAC skill level should be top rate for two reasons: you could accidentally damage your furnace and necessitate other repairs or you could seriously injure yourself. Replacing a furnace motor might not seem like a dangerous job, but there have been more than a few instances of lost fingers, electrocutions and severe burns that resulted from amateurs attempting a job that should ideally be delegated to a furnace motor replacement specialist.
Repair or Replace?
In most cases, you can trust an air conditioning service technician's assessment of whether you should repair or replace your furnace-motor. But if you would rather repair the motor despite the technician's recommendation to replace it or vice verse, most furnace-motor replacement specialists will accommodate your wishes. But it's important to realize that repairing a furnace motor is sometimes more expensive than replacing it. In addition to the higher labor costs that come with repairing a decrepit furnace motor, your motor could be in such a state that repairing it would essentially amount to rebuilding it. However, by the same token, repairing a motor that needs a simple fix might not be worthwhile either, depending on the its past repair history.
A History of Problems
If you bought your furnace, you probably did some brand research and decided on a brand that had a great consumer reputation. But just because you bought a great brand doesn't mean that all of its parts will live up to its logo. Similar to automobile makers, furnace makers often get their parts for specialized parts makers, and sometimes those parts turn out to be lemons, which can make your whole furnace seem like a lemon if their lack of quality keeps resulting in a non-functioning motor. If your furnace-motor has had a history of major and minor repairs even when your furnace was still under warranty, it might be worthwhile to simply buy a new motor instead of letting the repair costs keep adding up.
Should you do the Job Yourself?
If you're handy with HVAC equipment, you might feel tempted to replace your own furnace motor in order to cut costs. But when it comes to dealing with the inner workings of a furnace, your HVAC skill level should be top rate for two reasons: you could accidentally damage your furnace and necessitate other repairs or you could seriously injure yourself. Replacing a furnace motor might not seem like a dangerous job, but there have been more than a few instances of lost fingers, electrocutions and severe burns that resulted from amateurs attempting a job that should ideally be delegated to a furnace motor replacement specialist.
