No heat? Start here

Safety first

A gas smell, a CO alarm, headaches or dizziness that ease when you go outside, or soot around the furnace are all reasons to get out of the house. Do not flip light switches, use the phone inside or try to find the problem. Call 911 or your gas utility's emergency line once you are outside, and wait for them to clear the house. The repair comes after that.

Safe things to check before you call

These checks do not involve opening the furnace or touching gas, oil or wiring. If none of them brings the heat back, stop there and send a request.

• The thermostat is set to heat and the set temperature is above the room temperature
• The thermostat has power (replace its batteries if it uses them)
• The furnace power switch, which often looks like a light switch near the unit, is on
• The circuit breaker for the furnace has not tripped
• The air filter is not clogged
• On oil heat, the tank gauge does not read empty

How no-heat requests work

Harrison Furnace Repair is a referral service. We do not send technicians ourselves and we cannot promise how fast someone will arrive. When you mark your request as no heat, we pass it to an independent contractor with that label, so they can see it is urgent and fit it into their schedule. The contractor contacts you directly to confirm timing and cost. After-hours visits often cost more, so ask about that when they call.

Include your town, your fuel type, what the system is doing and whether anyone in the home is especially vulnerable to the cold. If someone is at risk, contact 911.

Keeping the house safe while you wait

Westchester winters bring hard freezes, and pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages are the first to suffer. Opening cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls lets warmer room air reach the pipes. If you use a portable electric heater, keep it well away from curtains and bedding and plug it straight into the wall. Never use a gas oven, grill or generator indoors to heat the house. They can produce carbon monoxide.

After the heat is back

Once the contractor has the system running, ask what failed and whether it is likely to happen again. If the furnace or boiler is old, ask them to price both a repair and a replacement so you can plan before the next cold snap. Yearly maintenance catches a lot of the problems that cause no-heat calls in the middle of winter.

Questions homeowners ask