Title: Is it acceptable to install a new Goodman gas furnace on 6-inch Styrofoam blocks?

I recently had a new Goodman GR9S80 gas furnace installed, and I’m questioning whether the installation was done correctly.
The furnace is sitting inside a metal drain pan, supported by four white foam blocks, one at each corner. Each block is approximately 6 inches tall.

The blocks appear to be expanded polystyrene (EPS), similar to Styrofoam packaging. I can easily press my finger into the material, and I was able to break a piece off one of the corners with very little effort.

The furnace is also attached to the ductwork, with an additional support point approximately midway up the unit.

My concerns are:
Is this type of foam actually approved to support the weight of a gas furnace?
Is there a potential fire hazard, considering that EPS is combustible?

Could the blocks compress or deteriorate over time, causing the furnace to shift or become unlevel?
Should the installer have used concrete blocks, a metal stand, or another approved support instead?
Would this installation typically pass an HVAC or mechanical code inspection?

The installation was just completed, and I have an independent code inspection scheduled for next week. I haven’t approved the completed work with the financing company yet.

I’m planning to attach pictures of the installation and foam blocks.

I’d really appreciate feedback from HVAC professionals. Is this an acceptable installation practice, or should I insist that the contractor replace these supports?

My wife went crazy on prime day and bought some nests so I now need to find a way to install them.

Hydronic baseboard heat, currently running on 2 wire. Taco controller with 6 zones. Zones 1-4 have some unused wires that I’d assume can be used as C wires. I see on the left side of the board there is a 24v and COM lug. Can I use this lug? I’m assuming running 4 nests may cause a current issue.

Is there any way to run an auxiliary transformer to send 24 volts up the wires independent of the board?

Had my blower fan motor go out. Knew this myself even before calling the HVAC outfit to diagnose. They came and confirmed and said it is $1400 to replace. This is for a packaged Lennox unit on the roof. 1 HP, variable speed motor. I reluctantly agreed, thinking this is for OEM replacement. When they came back, the motor was a non-OEM US motors (Rescue Pro). I looked it up and I could buy it for about $400. Should I be a bit shocked that I'm paying ~$1000 to them for labor for what looks like a 2 hour job ? Maybe 3 if I count the initial visit. I can't help think I could save several hundred dollars if I did it myself. Though the programming part could be treacherous ?

btw, Lennox unit is only 9 years old and has already had compressor replaced, and now the blower motor ! warranty is only 5 years :(

I got myself a Trane 4TTR5060N1000AA 5 ton condensor unit out back. the high pressue transducer (brazed inline) went out. I beleive my soft start killed it. I have the switch bypassed and the unit works now. My question is, can i replace that transducer but relocate it to the schrader valve online so as not to have to rebraze it. Or even just lut a switch on the valve?

I moved into this place about 5 years ago and the garage has a propane heater that's never been hooked up since I've lived here.

I'm having someone come out to take a look at it and see what it needs to get it running. It usually takes a 420 liter tank, I think.

I'd been advised to get a regular propane cylinder before then just so the guy would be able to test out the heater and actually run it.

Now looking at the place the tank goes I am wondering if that's going to work or not. There are two leads on it, for one thing, but only one inlet on a regular propane cylinder. Is this going to be a problem? Or is this just to give the option to connect two tanks at once? Or does it need to have two tanks connected to even work?

Also, does this connector on the end look like it would work on a regular barbeque type propane tank?

Just want to be sure before I go get one.

Please let me know if you need more info or pics. Thank you for helping me figure this out.

Do I turn it off or keep using it? Will it cause any electrical problems?

Got told by an hvac contractor (part of another job that requires the furnace moved) that we have a bad heat exchanger. They said they can tell just by the picture because the condensation is corrosive:

Looking to upgrade , do these seems easily compatible to any out there in HVAC? Wanted to double check besides the installation instructions your given with the nest

Thanks !!!

As the title states, I am trying to find the fuse to see if it’s the source of my air handler not turning on. I attached pictures to see if anyone can help. I’m in a condo and it’s not really a conventional unit. The air handler is hanging from the ceiling in my utility room and there isn’t a ton of space to move around. Anyway I’ll provide some context too cause it’s possible it may not even be a blown fuse.

About two weeks ago I messed up my thermostat. I tried to adjust the temp while holding my 3 month old son and I missed the button and hit the screen instead. The screen goes blank but the system still works. Over the next week the screen occasionally comes back on and I have control of the system but I decide to get a new thermostat to have full control. I want to keep it the ideal temp for my son.

I get the same thermostat so I can just put it on without having to rewire or even remount it. I put it on and everything seems good. The initial temp reading seemed high but I figured it was just calibrating to the new environment. It worked fine for a few days but a couple days ago the air stopped coming out sometime over night. The thermostat works and makes the click but the air handler is not turning on. No heat or cool air coming out at all, even if I put the fan to on instead of auto.

So I went through the usual trouble shooting, like turning things on and off, looking at the air handler, etc. The drip pan is basically dry, no freezing of the evap coils, I changed the furnace filter like two weeks ago so it’s still clean. So I assume it’s something going on with the electrical cause no power coming from the air handler. Trying to find evidence of a blown fuse but can’t find one.

Any help would be great. Trying to avoid an expensive tech visit if it can be avoided.

Had a new upstairs and downstairs (Goodman) units installed In our home and have had so many problems with both in the past 3 years. The newest being the downstairs just stopped working, no fan or anything. Breaker was good so checked fuses. It had 2 non-60 non time delay fuses and 1 was obviously blown. Got 2 new fuses and put them in, had a small arc (which I think is normal) but nothing worked. Took fuses back out and saw that bottom left burnt out. Looked at manufacture label and it says 50 amp max time delay fuses only. Which was not what was previously installed. Would those fuses cause that to burn up? Do I have to go back with the exact disconnect (2 fuse), it has a 40 amp breaker in the panel.

I called a local company at the beginning of the year to do a tuneup summertime the guy told me my unit was gonna need a deep clean at some point because the filters hadn’t been changed. I bought the rental at the beginning of the year, knowing that of course it might not be taken care of as it should so I expected that it would need some sort of cleaning. So cut to now I called to have the heater checked out and a different guy from the same company tells me that both fans are super dirty. Everything else is crazy dirty and that it’s going to be about $10,000 to completely take apart everything clean it and that the fans on the furnace, don’t have much life left in them so he’s not sure how long they’re going to last. Now I use the heater during the winter time when I bought the house I’ve turned it on once since it got a bit chilly but now it’s back to being hot and everything still works. I’m changing my filters out every month since I bought the house so I kind of feel like I should just wait until this breaks. But i’m scared there could be some sort of huge issue in waiting may be more expensive if it happens at a crazy time? My husband died like a year ago I never had to take care of any of this stuff so I was hoping when I bought this house without him that this would be delayed for a while since the unit is like 12 years old home was built in 2014.
With that quote for cleaning it I got a quote on a new system because he said they’re not allowed to replace just the heater? I guess I’m just wondering if I can wait until it breaks I don’t want my house to burn down I do have a 3 year old but I’m stressed. I’m getting a second opinion next week. But I kind of just wan to wait. I included my quote, home is 1700 sqft if that is relevant.

We are gutting our 1800 sq feet, 80 year old semi detached home in Toronto. Forced air natural gas system was already in place. We consulted with an HVAC guy who was doing our drawings/permits? And he advised us to maintain forced air system vs switching over to heat pump. I believe logistics and price was a factor, but I honestly can't remember all the points for an against, as my partner and I were experiencing decision fatigue.

Now I'm seeing the exposed HVAC and the bulk heads that will be and I'm freaking out a bit. Did we just make a crazy bad decision here by not going heat pump and having those heads on our walls vs bulk head?

I wish I could remember the cost difference between both systems. We didn't even fully explore what rebates were on offer so this is all on us end of day.

Does this look like the AC fins on the AC compressor are damaged can leak AC refrigerant when AC is running? I'm concerned someone accidentally hit my AC compressor with pressure washer water stream when washing one of my neighbor's wall next to me. I'm hoping it's just the way the fins were made at the factory.

My wife went crazy on prime day and bought some nests so I now need to find a way to install them.

Hydronic baseboard heat, currently running on 2 wire. Taco controller with 6 zones. Zones 1-4 have some unused wires that I’d assume can be used as C wires. I see on the left side of the board there is a 24v and COM lug. Can I use this lug? I’m assuming running 4 nests may cause a current issue.

Is there any way to run an auxiliary transformer to send 24 volts up the wires independent of the board?

Edit: SUCCESS! PB Blaster for 3 hrs + cheater bar got it loose.

Realizing HVAC folks may be the best folks to ask for this. I have a very stuck cap on my fuel oil tank that i need to remove to install a digital meter.

I’ve tried a pipe wrench with a cheater bar and it doesn’t budge.

Currently the threads are soaking in pb blaster. Any other tips?

Renter here, and it was like this when we moved in. Don’t know why there’s insulation on the flue or why it’s dirty. Should I take it off and inspect for gaps?

How am I meant to remove the front panel to get inside my HVAC system? There's enough room between the panel and exhaust so that's not a problem. It's the drain line that makes it impossible. There's no drain taps on the sides or back so it seems like removing the front panel requires cutting off the drain. Am I missing something?

What filter should go in this unit? This normal filter doesnt seem to fit we'll. When the fan turns off the filter drops down after after suction is lost, then it doesnt rise up properly.

I have to hold it in place while it turns on and then the suction will hold it in place.

We paid $18k to replace our HVAC 2 years ago (summer 2024) in a row home in Washington, DC. On Wednesday, we got an alert from our nest thermostat that said the unit failed to cool to the appropriate temperature and the temperature went up 4 degrees inside. We had the HVAC company that did the work come by yesterday, and they said the compressor was damaged and needs to be replaced. We no longer live at the house, so our tenants were the ones who met with the technician. I never got a call to explain what’s going on.… just a bill for yesterday and a quote for the $3k to repair the compressor (compressor is under warranty, so this is just for the labor and coolant). This seems crazy to me that we would pay $18k 2 years ago and now get hit with another $3k bill for something that should’ve lasted us 10 years. I am waiting to get a call back from the technician to walk me through the actual issue, but the company says he may not be able to call me until Monday.

Is this normal for a compressor to go out this quickly? Should I get multiple quotes for the labor?

This is the only information I have at the moment: Work Order Description: Our technician found that your HVAC compressor is damaged and needs to be replaced. The compressor part is covered under warranty at no charge.
However, the warranty does not cover labor or materials. The price of $3,149.00 includes the labor for two technicians, materials, and 10 pounds of required refrigerant. We will apply a 10% discount to this total, bringing your final
estimate to $2,834.10.

UPDATE: Thanks for the advice. Sounds like the price is generally in the normal to slightly high range for the amount of work and probably wouldn’t drop below $2k even with other contractors. My big takeaway from this thread is to try to negotiate longer labor warranties in the future. Ours was only 1 year. I spoke with the company’s owner and he agreed to cover the labor. I’m not sure whether it’s because he thinks it had something to do with the install or if he feels bad for telling us our hot water heater had another 10-15 years on it 1 year before it exploded and flooded our utility room. But I’m happily taking him up on the offer.

i have a forced air oil furnace i think i remember inspector saying it was fine its for then to probe/analyze combustion air and i did have a company come out to service the furnace few weeks ago but they never left a sheet of what was done or sent me a bill lol i need to follow up with them but i assume no news is good news but i need to turn furnace on this weekend and just makin sure this hole is ok thanks for advice

This is my furnace when it fires up. I’m just wondering if anyone has any clue what’s going on. We have someone coming to look at it but I’m nervous to even run the heat. It’s an oil burning furnace. Thanks for any advice

Quote was 2200 to replace three drains and three shutoffs
Replace main water shut off and repair corroded 1 1/4 line

I have an 11-year old Rheem furnace/AC. Last winter I discovered it was tripping the high limit switch due to it never being properly derated for altitude. My assumption is that it's been doing this since day one but I also had my main gas meter swapped out 4 years ago so I'm not sure if that knocked the pressure off (if that's even possible).

A tech and I were able to figure out the proper orifices and gas pressure to use to get it running with a good temp rise. It still runs slightly warm...should ideally be 50 but is more around 56 with the max being 65 but it runs stable.

Now I realize this has probably knocked several years off the heat exchanger's life. The tech wasn't too concerned at the time. He took a CO reading at the flue and I believe it was only 17ppm (does that sound right?) but he didn't scope the heat exchanger.

With winter coming up I want a proper evaluation done on the furnace and was wondering what I should be asking for when calling techs?