Hi all! I'm a new homeowner in NC and it's just getting cold enough to use our furnace. It passed inspection when we moved in in May. It seems to respond to the thermostat - when I turn the temp up I can hear the fan/air start blowing in the unit. Then the ignitor clicks and clicks and eventually everything stops and nothing else happens. I checked the gas line, and the valve is turned on. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something really simple before I drop $60 on a diagnostic call. :( Thanks a lot!!

Hello. This is my first post. I appreciate this forum and the opportunity to comment within it. The reason I've come here is to get advice on replacing one or both of our 36-year-old Lennox G8 series natural gas furnaces which, amazingly, are still functioning well. (We also have a 36 year old John Wood natural gas water heater which, at least in part as a result of my replacing its anode every few years, is also still functioning well.) [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/plenumducts_zps0db7c0d9.jpg[/IMG] First some background information. We moved into our 1950-ft2, well-insulated, nearly-square bungalow (with 1950 ft2 mostly-finished basement) 14 years ago. Most significantly, in order to conserve natural gas (lower our bill) during a period of unprecedented high natural gas prices, 7 years ago we bought, and I personally installed, in our fairly large main-level TV room, a Rinnai 1004F, 38,400 BTU/hr, 80% AFUE, direct-vent natural gas heater. It vents to the outside environment via an amazingly small concentric intake/exhast. Neither the heater or its vent have ever caused us any trouble whatsoever. [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/Rinnai1_zps632005f4.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/Rinnaiexhastintake_zps9f0b4f40.jpg[/IMG] I have never regretted purchasing the Rinnai. We set the theromstat on the Rinnai to heat our 9'-ceiling TV room to a very comfortable 76 F. There is an overhead paddle fan in the middle of the ceiling which circulates the air in the room to a uniform temperature. This sunken TV room has slightly above it our fairly large kitchen. The kitchen and TV room have no wall between them, so they are essentially one large room on two slightly different levels, so the Rinnai also keeps the kitchen nice and warm. On the main level, off the kitchen, there is a dining room which leads to a pretty large living room, which has a large, floor-to-ceiling double-pane bay window that is probably ten feet wide. Also on the main level there is a master bedroom+en suite bath, a main bathroom and two spare bedrooms. Amazingly, even when the outside temp is -20 F, the Rinnai keeps these “peripheral” rooms at between 62 and 65 F while we sit bathed in 76 watching TV or eating in the kitchen. Of course the bedrooms and bathroom have their entry doors open at all times during the winter. Normally, even during the coldest cold, the furnace for the main level never runs. Only when we have guests and we want the whole main level warm do we run the main-level furnace. For peace of mind, however, we keep that furnace's thermostat set at 60F just in case the Rinnai should fail which, again, it never has. Again, 80% of our basement is finished with drywalled ceilings and walls and carpeted floors. The walls against the foundation have 3.5” fiberglass insulation. The furnace room has unfinished ceiling and about 13 feet of exposed concrete foundation wall. Two small storage rooms have about the same state of finish. The basement furnace specifications are as follows: [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/BaseF1_zps60165504.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/BaseF2_zpsc928819d.jpg[/IMG] The main level furnace specifications are as follows: [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/MainF1_zps2b957849.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/MainF2_zps93f435e8.jpg[/IMG] There are a total of four, 30”x9”, main-level return “grates” in walls near the floor. Two are in the living and TV rooms and two are in the hallway adjacent to the bedrooms and bathroom. The wall cavity, combined with sheet-metal-covered spaces between floor joists, route the return air back to the main-floor furnace. [IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/Tony1M/returns_zps80e67dec.jpg[/IMG] There are a total of 12 in-floor, hot-air vents on the main level that are fed hot air by 5” diameter round metal ducts. There are a total of 10 in-ceiling hot-air vents in the basement. These are fed by 5" round metal ducts. All of the basement's return air comes back to the centrally-located basement furnace through one large opening in the finished hallway wall, directly in front of the large return-air vent on the furnace itself. There are so called “basket” style filters on both furnaces, which, depending on how much each furnace runs, about every two months – sometime much less frequently on the main-level furnace. To make what I'm about to ask a bit easier, first of all, we don't have or need AC. Second, the coldest month here in Edmonton, Alberta is typically January. Last January our home consumed just under 20 gigajoules of natural gas energy in order to maintain indoor temperatures as I mentioned previously and, in the basement, as I describe below. If my calculations are correct, this gives an average consumption of 25,500 BTU per hour. (If I'm way off on that, please let me know.) Third, we keep the thermostat for the basement furnace set at 54 F during the very coldest months of the winter, just to have peace of mind that the pipes in the basement will not freeze. Fourth, there is a 5 or 6” insulated, fresh-air duct that runs from an exterior wall to the return-air plenum of the main-floor furnace. I believe that this fresh-air supply could be used for new HE furnace(s). Fifth, I have already determined that it would be quite easy for me to install one or two plastic vent lines either out the side of the house or even up and out the present 7” metal flue line to the roof, but this would require the replacement of our present water heater with somethng whose vent would not go up that same flue. Finally to why I'm posting. At some point, almost certainly sooner rather than later, it will be necessary for us to replace one or both of our Lennox furnaces, as well as the John Wood water heater. I'm thinking that this coming summer would be a good time to do that. I'm waffling back and forth between a do-it-all tankless hot water system with so-called hydronic air handler that would heat the house via the existing duct work, or going completely with “separates”, just as we have things now – two funaces and a hot water heater. Part of my attraction to the do-it-all is one intake and one exhaust, but it “puts all our eggs on one basket”, if you will. Over the years I've replaced the belts, cleaned the burners, pilots and thermocouples on our Lennox units, as well as done all the maintenance, including timing belt changes on our vehicles, so I'd like to do as absolutely much as I can in the installation and ongoing maintenance of whatever heating device(s) we choose. (Again, I installed the Rinnai heater, which required the installation of a new nat gas line to it. The inspector said I had done a good job on everything.) I've studied the Goodman natural gas furnace installation manual and I figure that I could do much, if not all, of it myself, although I'd probably pay someone to create the transition between a new furnace and the existing plenum(s). I also think that I could do most of the installation of a tankless water heater with hydronic unit. Of course in either case I'd need building permits and, after installation, pre-operational inspections to determine that everything I've done is correct and up to code. One thing I'd like some advice on is whether to go with two furnaces or one and, in the latter case, just have a zone damper between the main and basement systems. Considering our relatively low consumption of gas even durng the coldest months, I think replacing both furnaces with one should be given careful consideration, especially with the Rinnai still in service. I believe that our present furnaces are both wildly oversized for our home. I think one or two far smaller units could heat our home very well, even without the Rinnai in service. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice on our situation. While I'm at it I have one final question. Do you think that Goodman top-of-the-line HE furnaces that are presently coming out of their manufacturing faciltiy are well-designed, reliable units? Thanks very much for the opportunity.