Wisconsin bitter cold; furnaces, boilers being pushed to limit
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. - With temperatures plummeting below zero, Friday, Dec. 23 was a busy day for HVAC companies in southeast Wisconsin.
After spending time out in the cold and wind, some people came back inside wondering if the heat was even on. With furnaces on the fritz or boilers that won't budge the mercury, calls for service go up.
"We had it completely cleared for ‘no heat’ and now we’re full," said Sam Erzberger with Burkhardt Heating & Cooling.
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Burkhardt's Shawn Reed was busy, too. A call in Menomonee Falls was his sixth of the day with at least two more to go.
"You can kind of tell the condition of some of this stuff," Reed said. "Do what you can to get ‘em going."
Furnance maintenance at Menomonee Falls home
Thankfully, Reed said that fix was easy enough to get the heat back on – but it's not permanent, and the house will need a new furnace.
The biggest culprits for what he sees:
- Lack of a maintenance plan
- Furnaces/boilers not getting tuned up
- People not listening to the professionals
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"We’re not saying this stuff to scare people, or get a bunch of money. It’s about making sure these customers' furnaces make it through the season," said Reed.
Keep in mind, you should never use an oven to heat your home or use gas or propane heaters. If you are without heat, you can use a space heater – but make sure edit has an automatic shutoff switch.