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I have a Hearth Store. Have been in fireplaces for 17 years, never worked on furnaces don't do a/c. I make a pretty good living selling installing and repairing fireplaces. Very few parts I can't track down. Specific parts like logs or burners are out.

good to see you enjoying the challenge. Also good job on the post, much easier to read.

I love cleaning which is a major aspect of gas inserts, free standing wood stoves, pellet stoves, open fireplaces, etc..

Over the last couple weeks I have been let loose, what my boss does is cleans then will service/ trouble shoot if there is a problem.

Majority of the calls are related to lack of maintenance, things just get dirty and blowers/motors/heatexchangers just get packed up with dust,dirt, pet fur, and soot.

Over the last week replace a combustion fan, serveral gaskets for them, a module, couple blowers, snap disc, thermopile, and put some caps on nothing too major.

Today was a gas leak and red flags kinda clouded my mind so checked all the lines tightened up and did the soap bubble thing, smell of gas went away and check operation of a kozy heat and it ran o.k.

Still learning but don't want to make any mistakes with gas lines, talked to my boss about other ways to trouble shoot etc... but figured out the line in the wall had a leak, very obivious for an experienced tech but slow for someone who hasn't had season under the belt

Its a good job and I still love doing it, again its alot of janitorial stuff but its going to keep me on my toes not doing the same thing everyday and giving me the service/technical experience I have craved for. You guys have a nice one.

I have done a few here in NJ, just thernocouple one actually had a thermopyle.. Usually the HO calls out a specality store rather than paying a licensed guy...

I used to work on fireplaces a lot. My second job was with a company that their primary business was fireplaces. They made good money on service alone. When you can clean 6 or more fireplaces in a day and have another 2 guys installing them you are making pretty good coin!

In Florida, I see some doing pool heat pumps or heating. Some get into some sort of solar or geo-thermal product offering. Appliance repair, electrical, plumbing, home energy audits, insulation....

Originally Posted by hearthman

Welcome to the wonderful world of fireplace service. My first piece of advice: use paragraphs. This was a brutal read. Thx.

Agreed, I died somewhere in the middle

Welcome to the wonderful world of fireplace service. My first piece of advice: use paragraphs. This was a brutal read. Thx.

Just going through old posts trying to pick up some great info, appreciate this thread and agree with some. Just got done with my first 2 weeks at a gas, wood, pellet, spa, chimney sweep outfit. Been learning the service side a bit trying to grasp all the components, ways to clean, and time management. Most of what the techs put up is spot on. We service by going in asking if its been running fine any problems etc.. some get serviced on a regular basis other 3-7 years because they fail to recognize the mandates. Its a dirty job no bones about it and in some way technical. I graduated from hvac trade as well as some industrial education so i thought I was pretty prepared but its a whole different world. Yes it does have same similarities interms of components thermocouple, thermopile, combustion blower, vaccum switch/pressure switch,auger motors, low/high limits, modulating fan/variable fan speeds, fan/blowers, small capacitors, sparkers/ignitors, remote boxes, heat exchangers, DFC, modules, gas line etc.. yesterday was learning how to install snap discs, then a spark ignitor assembly, today a small blower that had a 2uf capacitor. The owner is the lead tech/installer but is training me to move up and on to doing service/troubleshooting etc... its alot to grasp but time is moving pretty fast and enjoying it. One thing that is starting to catch my eye is why not more hvac companies offer this service, most of the time were out on the roof already installing flashings or chimney sweeping or installing a cap. I stand only a stone throws away from package units alot with an itch to perform a pm or something else that my education was geared for(: but happy where I am at maybe a couple months down the line will talk my boss into letting me do some a/c service as well. The pay is there we don't gouge and yes we bust are butts for the money. My boss on the first day showed me right away how tough you have to be and fast you have to work to make it work for you, which I thought was great, how many times do you have a boss that will work super hard and will sweat along side you exemplifying a goodwork ethic. I agree with not sooting peoples living rooms up, I walk into these beautiful homes on a daily basis and man these living rooms are spotless and here I am with a drop cloth, vac, air compressor, brush/tool bag, small trash bag vaccing up lbs of dust, soot, pellets, woods pieces etc... all of which could quickly ruin someones carpet/couch etc... the drop cloths and various rags do the trick and its a challenge more janitorial in that aspect but I love this business and what its doing for me professionally. Now when they ask me in an interview many years from now "am I mechanically inclined?" I can answer yes pretty proudly, these gas inserts are a son of a gun to take apart all hand tools little clearance, knuckle bustings, metal cuts etc... but its worth it, college was cool and sitting on the bench was fine but now in the game and its fun. sorry for the long post and appreciate all the info you guys gave a long while ago.

You can have em SP

Some of the worst calls I have had have been with Fireplaces. See the Thread I made, some designs just plain suck. Then you get to redesign them on your own.


Then again I'd take them over a 1955 Waterbury Oil Burner!


[Edited by Chad711 on 05-01-2004 at 10:47 PM]

It's worth summoning up this thread again for people to look at, I think.



Seattle Pioneer

But is it worth it. If I were in the service end only, I would recommend repair every time. Besides, that's what they called you for. When they call us, many times they are looking for a good excuse to get something new and improved that looks better.

<<. Like I said, we do service fireplaces, but we typically find people don't repair fireplaces in our area. They replace. The service call is more of a sales call.
__________________
Tom Calhoun, Jr.>>



It's rare that I can't fix equipment or that I recommend replacement over repair. Of course, my business is repairing equipment, and I don't sell or install new equipment.

And even a $400 bill for replacing a major part like a milivolt gas valve is cheap compared to buying and installing a new fireplace.


Seattle Pioneer

We have serviced several different brands of these appliances via referrals from a local dealer.

I think they have some good points... mainly asthetics and as a back-up heat source.

My biggest heartache revolves unscrupulous sales.

I've gone to calls to 1500+ sq ft homes where a 34,000 BTU (input of course) is the sole source of heat. The converstaion with the homeowner usually goes something like, "They said it would heat my house just fine."

Which it does (kinda)... at 70% efficiency. Not to mention expensive service fees (earlier posts as evidence) and an unreasonable life expectancy as compared to other heating appliances.

Something that really 'chaps my a$$' is the cost of some repair parts. A thermocouple is a thermocouple. I recently had to charge a client $34 for a Lopi thermocouple because Travis Industries' design requires their 'special' part. The Honeywell universal thermocouple that seems to fit most furnaces and wall units go for $2.98 from my supplier (we don't play the mark-up game).

What a racket.

The big question is probably a question of what you consider good money. There are a lot of people in the air conditioning service business that think working for $35/hour is good money. It's not. The national average for HVAC service is around $110/hour. Like I said, we do service fireplaces, but we typically find people don't repair fireplaces in our area. They replace. The service call is more of a sales call.

<<Seattle,you may find that your distributor connections will assist you as many distributors can't or won't afford someone to do warranty work for them on staff.When I was in that end (distribution) we relied heavily on independents to assist our lessor trained contractors.This is also a way of endearing yourself to the trade and receiving quality referrals.
>>


Thanks for the note. I do get quite a few referreals from a fireplace shop right in the geographic area I like to serve, which is mostly just the city of Seattle.

My supposition has been that if I solicited distributors for referrals, they would probably be all over creation.



Seattle Pioneer

Seattle,you may find that your distributor connections will assist you as many distributors can't or won't afford someone to do warranty work for them on staff.When I was in that end (distribution) we relied heavily on independents to assist our lessor trained contractors.This is also a way of endearing yourself to the trade and receiving quality referrals.

<<Originally posted by tomjr
We are primarily an HVAC company. The problem we run into is that there is a phenominal amount of cheap crap out there that is not worth repair or parts are no longer available because the company chooses not to carry parts for it anymore or they have gone out of business.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Same sentiments here although we are a mechanical contracting company. There isn't enough money chasing down parts that are not readily available for something we didn't sell, but I have a fireplace repair specialist that I recommend for those issues.
>>


I agree that chasing down parts is a nuisance, but I don't have to chase down all that many. Shucks, the spare parts I carry just for fireplaces fit in one good sized box.

But perhaps that explains why I do 90% of my work on fireplaces and 10% on furnaces these days. Having that box full of parts is critical, and if you don't have it it may well make sense to turn down fireplace jobs.

I started my repair service working on furnace repairs, and then picked up on fireplaces because people were shopping like hell for someone to do the work.



Seattle Pioneer

Originally posted by tomjr
We are primarily an HVAC company. The problem we run into is that there is a phenominal amount of cheap crap out there that is not worth repair or parts are no longer available because the company chooses not to carry parts for it anymore or they have gone out of business.

Same sentiments here although we are a mechanical contracting company. There isn't enough money chasing down parts that are not readily available for something we didn't sell, but I have a fireplace repair specialist that I recommend for those issues.
We service what we sell, and we sell some pretty nice stuff. The Home Despot is around the corner from us so we have dropped electric fireplaces but I have recently sold 5 fireplaces that are around 5 grand installed each.
The Home Despot can't touch me on those.

I agree on the money. Our average set of gas logs is over $700 plus installation. We have 3 sets of vented gas logs that sell for well over $1000 in 30". The cheapest wood insert is $3500.