Yesterday we woke up to a 60 degree (F) house. While we generally keep the temperature lower in the night, we do not keep it that low. When our heat has died in the past there were generally two causes. Either the pilot light had gone out for some reason or the power switch (pressed down by one of the covers) was not fully pressed down preventing the coils from igniting. Alas, this was not the case yesterday morning.
A quick check of the yellow pages identified a handful of furnace repair companies that worked 24/7. We called one of the companies whose name started with A, ARS specifically. About 3 hours later a repair person was at my door. He was not certain why my furnace was not igniting properly but he identified several other concerns. 
First of all, that box with the knobs you see in the middle was leaking gas, setting off an alarm on a wand he was testing the furnace with. There was also a leak on the gas line coming into the furnace. Second, do you see how the paper on the right hand side is burnt and crispy? This is because the flames were jumping out from where they should normally be burning. Finally, the gas coils themselves had hairline cracks. None of these are good things.
The cost to replace the controller box was about $500. Repairing the other leaks could add another $100 or so. None of these would address why the furnace was not igniting like it should; they would simply make the furnace safer in the short term.
Given that this furnace was original with the house (>20 years old) we started to talk about new furnaces. This company only installs TRANE furnaces. Also, while our central air until sits outside, there is apparently a refrigerant coil inside the furnace. Our old one was very rusty and they recommended replacement of that as well. I had not priced furnaces in over a decade and had serious sticker shock. But, it was cold, and it is winter in Colorado. There was the added bonus that an installation team could be there by noon. I signed on the dotted line.
I now have a beautiful, shiny, new furnace with all new
gas and electrical connections. More importantly, my house is warm again.
It seemed I lucked out. I did some on-line research on furnaces after the fact and learned that TRANE is considered a high end furnace. I further learned that the company asked the correct questions (i.e. square footage of home, areas of difficult heating or cooling) to determine the size of furnace needed. Finally, the price I paid seemed to be in line with or below what others around the country have paid for similar equipment when their installations did not have that MUST HAVE TODAY factor.
