You smell it too, eh? 
Charley knows his sh!t…
I hope you realize your info is a little outdated.
Plus 90 sealed combustion units are increasingly the norm in my area.
A mirror will do you no good whatsoever.
Checking for flame disturbances is about all you can do unless you want to check CO levels in the exhaust stream or air vents and that should include additional charges for services rendered.
YMMV
You are suggesting others follow your lead. You have no SOP to follow I am not one to preach stay within your SOP. The average HI has to protect his business by following a strict SOP as the training is not there to protect above the SOP. I myself do not disclaime heat exchangers or state that I inspected them. I operate them just like any other equipment. In my reports I start throwing the age flag out at 15-20 years 20-25 years I throw two red flags.
Let me ask you this question what if you had a contractor recommend replacement and you denied the claim based on your observation and someone died does not that make you liable
I never thought about charging more for that. That is standard in all my inspections. I thought it was standard for everyone…
What would you charge extra? It only takes a few minutes
Nathan a mirror would not help me in about 75% of the furnaces I inspect. As mike said all the 90+ are sealed.
Oh settle down everyone. It’s just a vendor suggestion most likely based on dealing with the very liability heat exchangers pose.
The problem with the suggestion is that if you label the % of the heat exchanger you could see you are willingly taking on the liability for at least that much of it. You are stating unequivocally that you did inspect that portion and it is now a part of your inspection regardless what your contract or SOP may say. But who determines what 10, 20, 30% is? Answer: A judge when you get sued for missing something outside the percentage you looked at. That’s not a reduction in liability.
It works or it doesn’t, check the flame move on . Service always recommended unless there is proof of service. Seems pretty simple
It’s well beyond the SOP.
I think $50 is reasonable but no one ever asks for it and i don’t try to sell the service aggressively.
I am content with recommending HVAC techs to check the system during normal service.
No I personally think it would increase your liability once in the court room. For the the possibility of increasing the amount of inspections over your competition its not worth it. Find another way
All 80% eff. furnaces get called out for a full evaluation, including exchanger, by a qualified HVAC tech, as they are now 20+ years old and are past their design life expectancy.
I will take NO liability for old, outdated equipment!
I use a similar tool. I check the 10 closest registers to the furnace. I figure if I cant detect any CO there its not going to be at the farther ones. Do you charge more for this?
Juan, find out what your competition is doing and decide then.
AHHH. So true. Thanks.
I was just informed by another inspector that 80% systems are still being made and installed today. I haven’t seen one any newer than about 1992-93. Is anyone else seeing these units? Any particluar manufacturers?
I see new 80% units in bank owned and cheap builder’s new houses.
But they are getting fewer all the time.