Before you call us, go through the troubleshooting steps below to make sure a service call is really needed. It will save you the cost and inconvenience of an unnecessary service visit, and will ensure our technicians are working where they are most needed.
If at this point you still don’t get heat, call P. Gagnon & Son immediately.
When a service technician arrives, let him know everything you did to the system before he begins working on it. You should also let him know if anything out of the ordinary happened, like an unusual noise, a strange smell or smoke.
In many cases, this will help the technician find the problem—and get your heat back on again—faster.
Heat is generated by burning oil or propane inside the furnace. This happens in the combustion chamber, which gets very hot. Air absorbs this heat in the furnace’s heat exchanger. Next, the blower sends the heated air through a system of ducts, and warm air circulates through the home.
The basic heating principle is the same. The difference is that a furnace heats air and a boiler heats water. With a boiler, a circulator pumps the hot water through a system of pipes, distributing the water to radiators, baseboards or air handlers throughout the home. Some boilers are designed to create steam, which circulates by means of a system of pipes. The pipes are connected to steam radiators throughout the home.
The heat exchanger is the main component of your furnace. If the heat exchanger has a crack or a rust hole, combustion fumes (including carbon monoxide) can contaminate the air in your home. This is a potentially deadly situation and should be addressed IMMEDIATELY. A cracked heat exchanger usually requires replacing the entire furnace. If you suspect that you might have a cracked heat exchanger, or a carbon monoxide problem caused by your furnace, turn the system off immediately. Then call us right away for service.
There are two indicators of efficiency.
As long as your heating system is working properly, you should not smell oil in your home. If you do, it means something is WRONG! An oil smell could come from a leak, combustion or burner troubles, heat exchanger failure or exhaust system problems. Call us and we’ll come over to correct the problem. If you have a leak, we’ll remove the oil and help get the smell out of your home. If you ever smell oil coming from your vents, call us immediately. That’s an indication of a faulty furnace that may be releasing dangerous gases in your home.
Different people feel comfortable at different temperatures. Pay less attention to the number on the thermostat display (or the position of the temperature indicator on a nondigital display) and more to how comfortable the room feels to you. When you feel comfortable, check the setting. That’s the right temperature for you.
Absolutely! Programmable thermostats are especially useful for people who are away from home at regular intervals. They allow for customized comfort settings around-the-clock, and they can cut heating and cooling costs by as much as 10%!
In an indirect-fired water heating system, the domestic water is heated by hot water from the boiler. A typical design is a water tank with coiled pipes inside. These coiled pipes connect to your boiler. Hot water from the boiler passes through the coil, which heats up the domestic water surrounding it.
Heating oil produces the hottest flame of any home heating fuel. This means an oil-fired water heater heats water fast. How fast? On average, oil-fired units heat water three times faster than gas heaters and five times faster than electric units.
Every three months, drain a gallon of water from the tank. Do it every month if you have hard water. This reduces the amount of sediment collecting in the bottom of the tank, which can make the burner or heating coils work harder.
Every year have your water heater inspected by a service technician to keep it in peak operating condition.
If you’re like many people, the frustration of an equipment breakdown can make it tempting to solve the problem with a quick-fix repair that doesn’t cost you a lot of money. That way you can get on with your busy life in relative comfort. BUT, while a quick fix may be the least expensive solution in the short run, it may not give you the most value in the long run.
It’s a fact of life: Older systems are more likely to break down. That means a bigger chance of emergency service calls and repairs—and paying for them. Worse, a breakdown could mean extensive damage to your home (no heat on a cold winter day can allow your pipes to freeze).
There’s also an ongoing cost factor. Repairing an old system can only restore it to something less than its original level of efficiency. After you’ve recovered from the repair bill and the frustration of a system breakdown, you’ll still be battling high energy bills. What’s more, even if a system doesn’t break down, it loses efficiency as it ages. A 15-year-old system doesn’t operate anywhere near the efficiency it had when it was new!
Plus, when compared with modern, technologically advanced equipment, 15-year-old heating and cooling systems are considered inefficient by today’s standards. The average homeowner can save up to 40% on heating and cooling costs with new high-efficiency equipment.
Here are some rules of thumb to help you decide whether to replace or repair.
Replace your system if:
Repair your system if: