FRS -- A.K.A. Flame Rollout Switch. As in Carrier downstairs furnace. An interesting, reliable, necessary item. But why do they always go bump in the night in the dead of Winter? I had to view many YouTube videos before I found one about the FRS that wouldn’t alert the FBI to my online viewing habits. Oy!

Anyway. Steam had stopped coming out of the furnace’s burner chamber exhaust pipe indicating that the induced draft blower motor had ceased functioning.

Generally, the cause is blockage of some sort: ice, snow, mice seeking warmth, the odd lost bird. This time it was ice buildup on the screening that keeps pests out of the pipe.

So, after removing the screen and clearing the ice/snow buildup, the furnace still refused to fire. That’s when, at midnight, my eyes glued to the screen, I watched video after video about how to reset the now very familiar FRS. It was a last ditch effort to conserve cash and bolster my "Man-of-the-house" image. But after a while I gave up, placed an extra blanket on the bed, and retired.

In the morning I fed the cats, took my pills, and descended into the cellar armed only with a yellow plastic swizzle stick. (I couldn’t find a more suitable tool with which to reset said resettable Flame Rollout Switch and, hopefully, prevent my early demise from electrocution.)

After locating the FRS I presssed its red button and lo and behold the switch reset. The furnace made a perfunctory practice run making sure its intake/exhaust pipes were indeed clear. And then, it fired!

There was no heavenly music (Hallelujah!--Hallelujah!----Hallelu---uuu---jah), but the additional heat more than made up for it.

Now, it’s on to the rest of the day.