I got a call from an elderly man the other day who told me he was afraid to use his gas furnace because the exhaust pipe was broken.
He didn’t want the fumes from the furnace to get back into the house.
I asked him how the exhaust pipe got broke and he told me that a spaceship broke the chimney. I could the do-do-do tune running through my head as I made an appointment to go and inspect the exhaust pipe and the furnace. I looked at the chimney as I pulled my van up into his driveway and sure enough it was broken. I could still see the exhaust pipe coming up from the broken chimney and it appeared to be fine, but I had to do an inspection. I checked the airflow of the furnace and I did a test to make sure there wasn’t any fumes getting into the house. As a local HVAC technician, I also offered them a free carbon monoxide detector for in their house. If there is a problem with a gas furnace, one of the by-products is carbon monoxide. Normally the by-products are contained, but these people were so concerned that I thought a carbon monoxide would help to put their minds at ease. I told them everything looked fine and I couldn’t find any reason for the furnace to malfunction. Just as I went outside, I saw a drone flying by and it was quite low. A little boy ran when he saw me. Apparently, it was his drone that had hit the chimney.