HELPFUL TIPS & INFO
Is your heat down? Look through this list of tips from the crew to identify the type of problem if possible.
1.
CHECK YOUR THERMOSTAT.
The thermostat is the brains of your heating system, it tells it when to come on and when to turn off based on what temperature you desire. What does the thermostat read? Does it need new batteries? Is it calling for heat or is turned down so it is satisfied?
2.
CHECK YOUR FUEL LEVEL.
Oil and propane tanks all have gauges on them so you can tell how much fuel you have. If you have little or no fuel...that's a problem.
3.
CHECK YOUR EMERGENCY SWITCH.
The emergency switch shuts power off to your heating system. An emergency switch can be in a number of different places depending on the installation. Popular places include the top of the stairs to the basement and near the heating unit itself. It looks like a light switch so sometimes it gets flipped or maybe just bumped.
4.
CALL US!
Our 24 hour emergency pager number is 603-248-8888 where you can leave a message or a call back number.
The Devil is in the
Details and Distribution
There are two main components to every heating system, the boiler or furnace, where the heat is produced, and the "distribution system"-ducts, baseboard, radiant tubing, or radiators. The "distribution system" gets the heat that's produced where it needs to go.
Recently I got a call from a family who owned a beautiful 1900's Victorian in the Upper Valley. They were having multiple problems with their system that no one could seem to fix. The home was heated with a steam boiler and radiators. The boiler was new and was the 3rd boiler to be installed in the home since the original coal/wood boiler. The first thing I noticed was that despite the fact that there had been 3 different boilers installed since the original, none of the "distribution system" had been repaired or replaced. So 3 boilers, who knows how much maintenance work done on those boilers over the last 95 years but yet all that had been attended to was the creating of the heat from the boiler and nothing after it left there. The "distribution system" had been neglected at the cost of unbalanced heat, noise, and most importantly, efficiency.
So when your heating/cooling company services your system, do they always pay attention to the "distribution system"? We do!
- Robert Partridge, HVAC Team Leader