As the polar vortex continues to blow across the greater Chicagoland area, people are checking to make sure that their furnaces are in good working order. If your heating system is acting up, then it’s important to find a furnace repair expert as soon as possible. At G&R Heating and Air, we’re here to help the people of Elgin enjoy a warm, comfortable home throughout the winter. If your system is having problems, then please contact us right away.
What do you do, however, when your furnace breaks down completely and won’t turn on again? Not only is this extremely frustrating to you, the homeowner, but it can pose a serious risk to you and your family. When your heat goes out, there are a few things that you can do to stay warm.
1. Pick A Room
If your furnace won’t turn on at all and the temperature outside is quickly dropping, then it can be a good idea to pick a room and pile everyone into it. This might be the master bedroom, since there’s likely plenty of room for you, your spouse, and the kids. You can break out all the blankets and pillows to make the room warm, and cozy, and make sure you shut the door to keep the heat inside. You might need to put on some more layers, but the body heat that everyone is producing should help keep the room comfortable.
2. Break Out The Space Heater
Even though the furnace isn’t working, hopefully your electricity still is. If you have a few space heaters, then it can be beneficial to break them out and turn them on in the room you’ve chosen to occupy for the night. If you have two space heaters, then place them on either side of the room so that the space is warmed evenly. If there’s a ceiling fan in the room, then turn it on and make sure it’s rotating clockwise so that the warm air is being pushed back to the walls and down to the floor.
3. Bake Something!
Your oven is also a great source of heat in the house, and baking something can be a great way to warm up the kitchen and any adjacent rooms. Once that pie or bread is done, turn the oven off and leave the door open slightly so that the warm air can escape. Be sure to remind any kids in the house that the oven is dangerous to touch and can still be hot longer after you’re done baking.
4. Call On Friends And Family
If there isn’t a space in your house where you can get warm, or you have very small children or elderly adults living with you, then it might be better to call on friends and family for a warm place to stay. The heat will hopefully be fixed by morning, but if it’s frigid outside and you’re worried that the temperature inside the house will drop to an unsafe level, then finding other accommodations can be the best way to go. While discouraging, a broken heater can be a great excuse to pamper yourself in a local hotel for a night!
5. Contact Your Local HVAC Experts
Hopefully this is the first thing you did once you realized your furnace wasn’t working, and at G&R, we offer 24/7 emergency service so that you don’t have to wait until morning for the heat to start working. We know how dangerous cold temperatures can be, and we’ll be there as soon as we can with the tools and parts to repair your furnace. If the system needs to be replaced, then we’ll get to work right away on finding the appropriate options. You can utilize the other steps in this list to stay warm and comfortable while we work, but our goal is to have your home heated again as quickly as possible.
A broken furnace is never a good thing, and if yours has shut down for good, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. As winter moves on, we want to be sure that you and your family are safe and sound in a warm house. We’re proud to serve the people of Elgin, and we’ll be ready to tackle any issue that’s affecting your heating system.
