"I'm sorry ma'am; you have a cracked heat exchanger."

Unfortunately, this quote is becoming a sales tool, whether or not it's true! At Bonney, we don't sell on fear.

In my weekly training meetings, my techs are telling me that they are frequently following other Sacramento heating and air contractors that are telling home owners that their heat exchangers have failed, and they are not offering any proof.

The heat exchanger is the heart of a furnace and its failure can allow carbon monoxide to enter your home. Carbon monoxide exposure causes health problems and, at high levels, can be deadly. A failed heat exchanger is a serious diagnosis and proof should be offered to the home owner.

The cost to replace a failed heat exchanger is substantial and usually is enough to justify the replacement of the furnace. So, you can see why a heating and air technician would be motivated to wrongly tell a home owner that the heat exchanger is bad, when it may not be. It creates fear in the customer and manipulates them to make a wrong choice. New equipment sales are much more lucrative than a simple furnace repair. This kind of fear mongering takes advantage of home owners and makes every contractor in the industry look bad.

I am so concerned about this issue, that I have instructed my technicians to offer free heat exchanger evaluations whenever a home owner has been told by another company that their heat exchanger has failed. And, Bonney technicians offer proof.

There are several ways to check for a cracked heat exchanger. But, here are two tools that we use to offer proof. First, we use a video inspection camera. If you can see a crack on the camera, it's cracked. However, the camera can not reach into every area of the heat exchanger, it still may miss failures. So, our second apporach is to use an exhaust gas analyzer. Most heating and air companies don't own this expensive tool. It uses a probe and a small computer to analyze your furnaces exhaust gas. This tool provides definitive proof as to whether or not the heat exchanger has failed. No guessing involved.

At Bonney, we don't use fear to sell. We don't take advantage of home owners. And, we offer proof.

If someone has told you that your furnace has a cracked heat exchanger, let us provide you with proof. Our free diagnosis will give you peace of mind and allow you to make a furnace replacement decision based on knowledge, not fear.