You'll recall that I installed a brand-new 96% efficient Lennox furnace at the end of May 2017. July 6, 2021 at 8:57am I received an email from the furnace:
Dear icomfort user, The iComfort system Trees House has generated a new alert.
Below is some more detailed information: Thermostat: WS17B07324 Description: Indoor Blower Motor Problem Time: 7/6/2021 8:57:00 AM Alarm number: 201 Alarm value:
Ballard Natural Gas sent Clinton later that day and he quickly diagnosed the issue as a problem with the circuit board that controls the fan--that is, the main blower ECM (Electronic Control Module). Clinton thinks it will take him 30 minutes to swap out the board. Incidentally, he resets the system and the 201 alert fires again, sending a second email at 3:15pm.
On July 8, I called Ballard and asked what they were doing for me. They called back and quoted $360 for labor. I protested that, based on Clinton's estimate, that amounted to $720 an hour, but they didn't care. They called again July 9 to say the new ECM was in and we set up a date for July 15 around 9am.
This seems like a ripoff. We give you a 10-year parts warranty, but we can charge whatever we want for labor. Following the Lennox warranty's suggestion, I visited Find a Lennox Dealer | HVAC Dealers | HVAC Service to get other bids. Turns out there are only 3 dealers within 10 miles.
I spoke to Mark at Air Pros (425-773-3748). He thought that there were lots of Lennox dealers in the area. He quoted $89 (basic) + $159 (min. hour) or $248, and he explained that many dealers use software called CoolFront that spits out estimates, so the labor costs will be pretty constant.
I had Ballard out for an annual service July 11, 2018, and they charged $149 for just about nothing, so I didn't call them out again. According to the invoice, $149 paid for:
- Checking vent connections
- Checking ignitor ohms
- Sanding the flame sensor
- Cleaning the pilot burner and all burners
- Checking heat exchangers for cracks
- Cleaning the air intake ports on the blower motor
- Checking bearings
- Checking for unusal [sic] noises
- Cleaning the pressure switch and connections
I'll try to get Clinton to check out the entire system when he replaces the ECM. I'll consider Air Pros for the checkup ($139) in the future.
