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OT: Cold House This Morning

We woke up to find it was 61 degrees in the house this morning. The thermostat is set to be a little cooler overnight, but not this cold! We checked the breaker and other switches, but the furnace was dead as could be. We called for service, and after the very nice gentleman asked us about the breaker, etc., he asked if we checked the batteries in our thermostat. I was sure that wasn't the answer; after all, the display on the thermostat was working fine, and if the batteries weren't working, wouldn't that be gone too?

So, we checked the batteries - we needed AA, and guess what's on our grocery list for today? We had only one AA in the "battery drawer," and we needed two. I was starting toward one of the TV remotes to get a second one, but DH wouldn't hear of that! Instead, he went to the bathroom scale, as he had just replaced the batteries in it (he moved really fast so I would leave his beloved remote controls alone!). We put in the new batteries, and voila! The furnace kicked in and is now nicely warming the house. I guess just because you can see the read out on the thermostat, it doesn't mean the batteries are good. Who knew?

Reply to
Louise in Iowa
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Thank you, Louise. I read your post to DH. He doesn't know if our thermostat has batteries and declares that checking into it will be the 1st order of the day. He also wonders if your sweetheart is a Nascar fan. This would be a very bad day not to have batteries in the remote; nevermind if you freeze to death or can't weigh. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Oh, yes, DH is a NASCAR fan too. And believe me, we have today's Nationwide race on our "must watch" list. I would have been nice to him and made a special run to the store to pick up more batteries before he went into withdrawal!

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

I had no idea! Musicmaer

Reply to
Musicmaker

It still seems strange to me! When I was working and responsible for building maintenance, the display on the thermostat went blank when the batteries died. That sure didn't happen here! Just as I was snapping in the second one this morning, though, the words "Low Batt" flashed on the display!

I sure am glad that's all it was - I wasn't looking forward to a huge repair bill (let alone how embarrassed I would have been if a repairman had come out and had to replace the batteries for me).

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

Glad you have an easy fix. There seem to be lots of things around the house with batteries that we don't even realize until they die. I have to laugh at the 'cold house'. We keep our thermostat at 57 or 57 when we go to bed and run it 'all the way up' to 64 in the daytime. Guess everyones idea of cold is different! We have a great down conforter, quilts and cats at night and long underwear when it is cool in the day. Most days warm up here enough to open windows for at least a bit of time. I'm not sure if I would survive Iowa cold though. Taria

Reply to
Taria

Reply to
Roberta

In defense of your DH, a lot of remote batteries are AAA anyway. He saved you having to open up the remote to discover that you wasted your time. He deserves an extra valentine for being so thoughtful. :-)

Rita

Reply to
Rita L in MA

Keep that service person's name in mind for when you really need work done on the furnace - he sounds like the honest sort!

-Irene (whose husband is a heat>We woke up to find it was 61 degrees in the house this morning. The

Reply to
IMS

That's what he told me too! I just thought he didn't want me to get any ideas! But I figured that between the living room, bedroom, and sewing room, we have seven remotes, and I was just sure one of them HAD to use AA!

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

Good point - and I definitely trust this group. They are the ones who installed the unit when we built the house. I used to babysit for one of the owners when I was in high school and he was in elementary school, and both owners went to school with my sisters, so I've known them forever and know they're really good people. I am going to be sure to tell them (the owners) how much we appreciated their guy talking us through our problem on the phone instead of hitting us up for a service call (although he probably wasn't looking all that forward to getting out in the Iowa cold early this morning!)

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

Interesting. Is this a programmable thermostat? We just have the old fashioned little round dial type....I don't think those use batteries?

Reply to
Kathyl

Yes, it's programmable - you're right, that's probably the difference. I didn't think of that!

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

Quick rule of thumb I follow: Change the batteries in the smoke alarms, CO2 alarms, thermostat and remotes (garage one too) each time we reset the clocks forward or back. No matter what... Hasn't failed yet! amy in CNY (whose OCD is kicking in..)

Reply to
amy in CNY

Hmmmm, do you have stock in Energizer or Duracell? :)

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

You are so lucky to have a quick and inexpensive fix...that happened to us a few years ago and we ended up having to buy a new furnace! I'll make sure to tell my DH about this too. I'm happy you are nice and warm again! Donna

Reply to
dealer83

This looks like a good place to suggest another saving of a costly repairman visit. If your stove won't come on, it's very possible that you have bumped the control from manual to clock. This happens when you (gasp) clean the buttons, dials, clocks and gizzmos on the stove. Next time your stove won't heat up, check to see if the wayward rascal is set on 'clock'. I am so short that everytime I polish the backsplash over our range, I have to reset the control panel. No problem. It peeps, whistles, dings and growls when confused by the random bumping. Polly

You are so lucky to have a quick and inexpensive fix...that happened to us a few years ago and we ended up having to buy a new furnace! I'll make sure to tell my DH about this too. I'm happy you are nice and warm again! Donna

Reply to
Polly Esther

I am so short that everytime I polish the backsplash over our range, I have to reset the control panel. No problem. It peeps, whistles, dings and growls when confused by the random bumping. Polly

Reply to
J*

How short am I? Well . . . I've promised our grandchildren that when I grow up I'm going to be 5'10" and blonde. They've all caught on and suspect none of that is going to happen. I can hope. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Reply to
Ginger in CA

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