A neighbor told Alan, a safety inspector for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, about rumors that attic furnaces in the complex might be fire hazards.

"We said what' s the big deal; you can have SDG&E come out and check to see if it' s OK," Dorothy recalled.

SDG&E dutifully came out to check on the Moores' 50,000-Btu gas furnace, located in the attic above a hallway leading to the master bedroom. This is something the company does at no charge for about 75,000 area households annually.

"They came out and immediately said, ' Oh, oh, you have one of the Consolidated heaters, model such-and-such,' " Dorothy said. "They unplugged it and left."

After about a month of chilly nights, arguments with homeowner association managers and numerous calls to heating contractors, the Moores have bought a new $1,475 heater.

They' ve also joined a class-action lawsuit against Consolidated Industries, the Indiana-based manufacturer of their faulty furnace.

"We were very upset," said Dorothy, a bookkeeper. "This is not a good way to hear about things."

The Moores are not the only ones replacing their faulty furnace. As many as 150,000 Californians, including 15,000 San Diegans, face the same choice. It' s an unplanned expense with few options for a quick solution other than to pay out of your pocket for a replacement.

Government warning

Attic furnaces are like plumbing. You know they' re there and you don' t worry about them until something goes wrong.

Something went terribly wrong in at least 50 homes in California in recent years, when safety features in certain Consolidated furnaces failed and fires broke out. No injuries have been reported so far.

The problem -- which has been found only in horizontally installed, gas-fired furnaces manufactured by Consolidated -- first showed up about eight years ago, heating contractors and fire officials say. The units are believed to have been sold in the state between 1983 and 1994. They generally are located in the attic or a crawl space.

However, nothing official was done until the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning Sept. 27.

Samuel Oates, assistant San Diego city fire marshal, said his department only became aware of the furnace problem in recent weeks.

"I' m just amazed that, if these things have been installed since then, why haven' t we had any incidents?" Oates said.

Elsewhere in the state, fire departments have moved to alert homeowners to the peril.

For example, the Torrance Fire Department issued news releases and safety bulletins several weeks ago and posted a warning on its Web site that includes photographs of roof supports charred by the overheated furnaces.

"We have fielded well over 500 to 600 calls related to furnaces," said Torrance Fire Capt. Paul Hunter.

Some home builders, heating contractors and real estate agents jumped into action, issuing their own warnings to consumers. Others, knowing about the problem, have done nothing.

Ed Van Herik, spokesman for SDG&E, said as soon as the list of suspect furnaces became available, the company decided to limit its response to customers who had requested service checks. He said the company has no plans to alert customers to the problem through its monthly newsletter included with utility bills.

"When the warning came out, we were looking for a unique contribution," Van Herik said. That has amounted to free visits to customers' homes to light furnaces and place red tags on the questionable ones.

At first, 740 furnaces were tagged by SDG&E inspectors as having potential problems and were not relit. Customers were instructed to seek advice from licensed heating contractors.

Then late last month, the company learned that some of the furnaces may not be dangerous and offered to recheck the units at no cost to individual residents.

Extent unclear

Although it is confined to California, the extent of the problem within the state is not clear. Investigators believe at least 150,000 of Consolidated' s problem heaters were sold in California, with as many as 15,000 installed in San Diego County, both in new construction and as replacement models.

The units were marketed by at least 18 companies under 34 brand names, according to one list. Amana, Coleman, Premier, Sears and Trane are among the most recognizable names involved. But they all contained a design flaw that causes the furnaces to overheat and sometimes trigger fires.

Consolidated was in negotiations with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to arrange a recall until it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and then chose to go out of business altogether. The agency was unable to arrange the recall and issued the warning instead.

"What we' re seeing now," said agency spokesman Ken Giles, "is a great deal of alarm that has been created because people don' t know what to do. That, unfortunately, is what happens when you don' t have the whole story of the hazard and the remedy ready to go in one announcement."

Experts say the problem arose from Consolidated' s efforts to find a quick way to meet Los Angeles County air-

pollution control standards that became effective in January 1984.

San Diego County pollution officials did not adopt the same standards until 1998, effective Jan. 1, 1999. But the heaters were sold locally before that date because Consolidated' s prices were more competitive than others, contractors said.

Instead of redesigning the furnace to the meet the standards, Consolidated simply added stainless-steel rods above the flame unit. They were meant to absorb excess heat that otherwise would generate oxides of nitrogen, a source of air pollution.

But these "NOx rods" deflect the flames, gradually widening the holes through which the flames pass. As the temperature rises, cracks develop in the various metal elements of the furnace.

If the situation goes on long enough -- the time varies according to usage -- flames can escape from the furnace itself, begin to char the wood frame on which the heater sits and eventually cause a fire to break out in the attic.

Vasu Vasudevan, a heating expert for Sidhi Consultants of Fullerton, has investigated many Consolidated heaters. He said there was no requirement for any government or consumer group to approve the altered Consolidated design before it went on the market.

"Different parts of the unit were approved by different people," he said. "They didn' t check whether the addition of the rod would do any good or bad."

Vasudevan said he had one of the furnaces in his own home and he monitored it annually until it was about to fail two years ago.

Consumer action

What' s a consumer to do?

The first step is to find out what kind of heater you own. If it is installed vertically in a closet, the garage or another location, it is not at risk.

However, consumer safety officials, as well as fire prevention officers, say homeowners and landlords should have any furnace checked annually by a licensed contractor. A visit by an SDG&E service agent does not constitute an inspection by a licensed contractor, the utility company said.

If the unit has been installed horizontally, determine what brand or trade name it carries and note the serial number. If the number includes an "X" in the last four digits, it almost certainly contains one of the faulty NOx rods.

The unit may be faulty, but it doesn' t mean you will awaken tomorrow with fire in the attic. There may be no evidence of failure and the unit may operate safely for another few years.

Even if there is no "X" or the unit is not from Consolidated, heating contractors and home inspectors say your furnace still may pose a hazard. It may be old, its components may be damaged or it may have been installed incorrectly.

A professional inspection is still recommended, they say, and adding a smoke detector in the attic may prove a wise precaution.

The next step is to call a licensed heating contractor and ask for a diagnostic inspection. Consumer advocates always recommend seeking at least three competitive bids from licensed contractors and to check references.

An inspection costs about $50 and should last about one hour. You should be present and ask questions to make sure you get what you' re paying for.

After many calls and meetings, the Moore family in University Towne Square hired Aairco Air Conditioning of San Diego to replace the attic furnace.

Aairco President Bob Zabierek said he became aware of the Consolidated problem eight years ago and advised many homeowners to replace the units immediately. Even units without the NOx rods seem to fail more often than other furnaces, he said.

"It' s a disaster waiting to happen," Zabierek said.

The final step is to buy a new heating unit and have it installed. The cost depends on the size and features. A home of 1,500 square feet or less needs a unit that produces about 50,000 Btu of energy or less. The cost can range from about $1,300 to $2,500, depending on size. Installation takes about one day.

You do not have to buy a unit from the company that inspects your home, and you should ask contractors to give you a free estimate after they have visited your property.

Seller responsibility

The problem extends to home sales, as well.

Homeowners face the additional responsibility of disclosing to potential buyers whether they own a Consolidated-built furnace.

Kathy Stech, a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker' s Escondido office, said she learned of the furnace problem when SDG&E refused to relight another agent' s furnace. She discovered she owns one of the suspect furnaces.

"From now on, I' m telling everybody I know," Stech said, adding that she plans to replace her own furnace.

Buyers who hire home inspection companies to check out the property at the opening of escrow cannot depend on those inspectors to pinpoint the problem furnaces. Inspectors themselves are not necessarily licensed contractors and often recommend hiring a professional to look at the furnace independently.

"Whenever I see a Consolidated furnace," said Steve John, owner of All-Pro Home Inspections, "I give them (the owners) a very strongly worded statement that they need to have it evaluated .

.I very specifically tell them they need to find a heating contractor familiar with the problem."

A homeowner' s insurance policy does not usually cover appliance failure -- only the damage a faulty appliance causes and perhaps the unit itself.

Buyers can protect themselves against faulty furnaces by purchasing a home-warranty insurance policy for about $250 annually to cover repairs and replacements, real estate agents say. Details of what is covered should be determined prior to purchase of the policy.

For some homeowners, the original builders have offered to replace Consolidated furnaces.

Shea Homes estimates about 1,000 of its homes in San Diego County might be affected and has sent letters to current owners advising them of the furnace problem and outlining the steps to take.

Letters also have gone out to residents of UDC Homes and other homes for which Shea has become responsible through mergers and acquisitions.

Life safety

"This is a life-safety matter, and we take that very seriously," said Max Johnson, Shea' s general counsel.

Two other major home builders, Pardee Homes and Kaufman & Broad, plan similar replacement programs. Their spokesmen said they do not know how many homes are affected but recommended that current owners call customer service lines for information.

Gary Arnold, president of McMillin Construction, said most McMillin homes were built with vertically installed heaters and any horizontally installed heaters in McMillin homes were not built by Consolidated.

However, six McMillin homes have been found to contain the suspect horizontal units -- including Arnold' s own home -- and McMillin is replacing them.

Nick Cammarota, general counsel for the California Building Industry Association, said many builders of homes in the 1980s and early ' 90s are no longer in business. Present owners of such homes likely must cover any replacement costs.

"I don' t know if there is any legal liability," Cammarota said. "I think the industry is reacting to some moral liability because this is clearly a situation in which homeowner safety is an issue."

On the legal front, San Jose attorney Rob MacDonald filed a class-action lawsuit in 1994 against Consolidated and the companies that marketed the furnaces under their own trade names.

A trial is expected early next year, he said, and $375 million is being sought from Consolidated' s former insurance carrier. All Consolidated furnace owners are potential recipients of any settlement unless they opt out of the suit.

But as in any lawsuit, there is no assurance they will receive any funds to cover furnace replacements.

Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.