Furnace Cerfications: Useless?

I don't think I'll be recommending any more furnace certifications.  Heresy you say?  No, I have good reason not to.  I started out meaning to write a blog about what's involved in furnace certifications and who does them, so I contacted 40 local HVAC contractors.   

I was shocked at most of the responses I received. 

An Easy Call

Cracked Heat Exchanger

When I inspect a furnace and I find a serious
problem, such as a cracked heat exchanger, it's easy for me to tell my clients
what to do: replace the furnace.   The photo above shows a cracked heat exchanger on a furnace, looking at it from the back – this GE furnace had a removable back panel that gave me a good look at the back of the heat exchanger, and made finding cracks very easy.

The Grey
Area

Cracked Heat Exchanger Unfortunately, diagnosing a cracked heat
exchanger is almost always a difficult if not impossible task.  Home Inspectors are usually only able to
see the burner side of the heat exchanger, and this area is often dirty and
rusty, making cracks very difficult to find.  The photo at right shows a crack as seen from the inside of a heat exchanger, and it's one of the most obvious heat exchanger cracks I've ever seen – yet it's still tough to see.  Home inspection standards disclaim
the inspection of the heat exchanger just for this reason, but I still do my best
to look for problems.  When I suspect a crack,
all I can do is recommend an HVAC contractor come out to confirm or deny
the presence of a crack.

What Excellent HVAC Contractors Do

Many years ago, I attended a seminar put on by a
very reputable HVAC firm, where the speaker talked about what was involved with
a furnace 'certification', which was the type of inspection they would do when a
Home Inspector suspected a problem.  The guy leading the class talked about
using mirrors, borescopes, smoke bombs, leak seek tests, and basically
dismantling a furnace to get a good look at the heat exchanger to check for
cracks.  He assured us that if there was a crack to be found, they were happy to
go out of their way to find it, and that's what a furnace certification was all
about. 

What Other HVAC Contractors Do

To gather information for this blog, I contacted
40 different HVAC contractors (23 responded).  The price for a furnace
certification varied between $135 and $219, and almost every contractor said
that a furnace certification consists of an Orsat test.  That's it.  An Orsat
test measures CO² and 0² in order to determine the efficiency of an appliance,
and that's about it.  It won't have anything to do with a crack.  After making
all of these phone calls and sending all of these emails, I don't think I'll
ever recommend another furnace certification.  The efficiency of a furnace
doesn't have anything to do with a cracked heat exchanger.

Saint Louis Park
has it right

I guess the City of Saint Louis Park has had it
right for a long time; when they do their Point-Of-Sale Evaluations, they
automatically require a certification on furnaces over 20 years old, and they
also require a smoke bomb or leak seek test, which is specifically designed to
test for a cracked heat exchanger.  I think I'll be recommending a lot of leak seek tests.

Don't Call
CenterPoint

The local gas company, Centerpoint Energy,
offers safety inspections of furnaces for $89.  Can you guess why the price is
so low?  Because it's not a certification!  They won't do certifications on
furnaces, much less smoke bomb or leak seek tests.  Almost half the time I
recommend a furnace certification, someone ends up calling the gas company
instead, and to no surprise, the gas company says everything is fine.  I called
CenterPoint to see how it was so easy for people to confuse a certification with
a basic safety check, and I was quite surprised. Here's how the conversation
went:

Me:  Hi, can I have my furnace inspected?

Centerpoint:  Why, did an inspector suspect a
problem with it, or are you selling your house?

Me:  Yes,
the people buying my house want to make sure it's safe.

Centerpoint:  I'm sorry, we don't offer that
type of service. You'll need to contact a private HVAC contractor.

The gas company was very clear about not
offering certifications or anything close to that.  So how does the local gas company show
up at the majority of houses that I'm recommending certifications on?  It's
probably a communication problem.  I tell the buyer to get a certification, they
tell their agent, that agent tells the seller's agent, and the seller's agent
tells the seller.  The seller eventually hears "Get your furnace checked out". 

 

From now on, I'll be recommending leak seek
tests when I suspect a cracked heat exchanger.  One of the better companies that I contacted does certifications for $135, and they always do smoke bomb tests or leak seek tests when they suspect a problem.  

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Saint Louis Park Home Inspections 

Written By

Reuben is a second-generation home inspector with a passion for his work. He grew up remodeling homes and learning about carpentry since he was old enough to hold a hammer. Reuben grew up thinking he was going to be a school teacher because he enjoyed teaching others so much. In a sense, that’s a lot of what home inspections are about, so Reuben truly does what he loves. Sharlene has worked with Structure Tech since 2000 and Reuben has been contributing to her blog since 2008.

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