Is it a dragon, or is it a home appliance? This is what one unlucky person may have been asking themselves when they shared a video of their fire-breathing furnace.
"Why is our furnace blasting loud bangs and flames randomly like that????" the Reddit user posted on the r/HowTo subreddit along with a video that showed their heater spitting flames.
The post called attention to just one of the problems homeowners face with these standard heating devices. Some of the commenters suspected issues like flame rollout and corroded heat exchangers — problems that could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fix.
If your furnace has reached the end of its life or you're just sick of costly repairs like this, it may be time to switch to a heat pump. According to Bloc Power, heat pumps are generally cheaper and easier to maintain over their lifetime. For one thing, you'll only need one technician for heating and cooling, because a heat pump does both.
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A heat pump can save you thousands of dollars in heating and cooling costs — but first you have to find the right installer at the right price.
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Plus, they can save you big bucks on your monthly bills — according to the U.S. Department of Energy, a heat pump can slash your electricity use for heating by up to 75%.
That's not all. Heat pumps also run without the use of dirty fuels, which helps us in the fight against an overheating planet. That also means no actual fire is involved in the heating process, as is the case with the conventional furnace this Redditor posted about.
If you're interested in purchasing a heat pump, EnergySage has a nifty Heat Pump Marketplace that can help you review all of your options.
Don't forget — the federal government will give you up to $8,000 in rebates when you purchase a new heat pump thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act's Home Energy Rebates program. And there's no better time than the present to take advantage of this free money, as President-elect Trump has said he wants to eliminate these types of subsidies. Any major changes to the IRA would ultimately require an act of Congress, however.
As for the homeowner with the fire-breathing furnace, it looks like they purchased a new one, potentially saving themselves from a life-threatening situation.
🗣️ When was the last time you changed your smoke alarm's batteries?
🔘 In the last year 😎
🔘 In the last 1-5 years 😬
🔘 In the last 5-10 years 🤦
🔘 Never 🙅
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"Definitely don't run it!" one commenter said. "Get a furnace pro. This is important for your safety, both from CO and burning your house down."
A professional agreed.
"DO NOT run this furnace," they commented. "I've worked HVAC for a while. There are several things that can cause this. Some are easy fixes, some are not, but they all require a professional."
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