MONROE - A call for help last week took heating and air conditioning service man Mike Roeschli out into the worst snowstorm of the season. A customer's furnace had stopped working.
Roeschli suspected a blocked vent pipe was the problem, but told his customer he may not even be able to make it into town because of the blowing and drifting snow. She said she couldn't get outside to check her furnace vent because of a broken hip.
But he did finally get a break, when a snowplow came by and opened the road enough for him to get through.
Roeschli, part owner of Grossen Heating and Air Conditioning Service, Monroe, said record snowfalls this year are covering up furnace vent pipes, which then suck in the snow causing the furnaces to quit.
Figuring for normal snowfall amounts, furnace installers have not placed air intake pipes and exchange vents high enough to accommodate record snowfalls like this year, Roeschli said.
But sub-zero weather is not a major problem for furnaces.
Neither Rufer Refrigeration and Heating nor Erickson Plumbing and Heating, both in Monroe, has had an increase of calls for furnace problems this past week.
"Furnaces have been working overtime for the last three weeks," Roeschli said. "But they seem to run better when it's cold. They get into a rhythm (of shutting on and off).
"Actually it seems like when it gets cold, warm and then cold, they start acting funny."
When furnaces do go down, Roeschli said it could be an number of things that have broken or malfunctioned. Of course, older furnaces are prone to more breakdowns, "because things wear out," he said.
But homeowners could prevent a lot of emergency calls if they took some time for maintenance, he said. And furnace maintenance which includes monitoring and making adjustments can save homeowners money on fuel oil bills.
With the cost of fuel oil going up, "and you know it's not going to be getting any cheaper," he said, Roeschli doesn't understand why more people don't have their furnaces checked.
"Nobody really does maintenance, especially on oil furnaces," he said. "I can tell you that customers who have yearly scheduled maintenance don't have breakdowns. People who neglect them totally, do."
Denise Pinnow of Connors Plumbing and Heating, Inc. of Monroe said their business has not had many calls for furnaces either.
"It's up and down; it comes in bunches," she said. And when they do get "no heat" calls, Jim Connors "has the whole load on his back."
But Connors has had several calls for frozen pipes.
"It's exposed pipes or someone forgot a basement window was open," she said.
With six calls this past weekend, Pinnow said "they couldn't get to them all."
Roeschli suspected a blocked vent pipe was the problem, but told his customer he may not even be able to make it into town because of the blowing and drifting snow. She said she couldn't get outside to check her furnace vent because of a broken hip.
But he did finally get a break, when a snowplow came by and opened the road enough for him to get through.
Roeschli, part owner of Grossen Heating and Air Conditioning Service, Monroe, said record snowfalls this year are covering up furnace vent pipes, which then suck in the snow causing the furnaces to quit.
Figuring for normal snowfall amounts, furnace installers have not placed air intake pipes and exchange vents high enough to accommodate record snowfalls like this year, Roeschli said.
But sub-zero weather is not a major problem for furnaces.
Neither Rufer Refrigeration and Heating nor Erickson Plumbing and Heating, both in Monroe, has had an increase of calls for furnace problems this past week.
"Furnaces have been working overtime for the last three weeks," Roeschli said. "But they seem to run better when it's cold. They get into a rhythm (of shutting on and off).
"Actually it seems like when it gets cold, warm and then cold, they start acting funny."
When furnaces do go down, Roeschli said it could be an number of things that have broken or malfunctioned. Of course, older furnaces are prone to more breakdowns, "because things wear out," he said.
But homeowners could prevent a lot of emergency calls if they took some time for maintenance, he said. And furnace maintenance which includes monitoring and making adjustments can save homeowners money on fuel oil bills.
With the cost of fuel oil going up, "and you know it's not going to be getting any cheaper," he said, Roeschli doesn't understand why more people don't have their furnaces checked.
"Nobody really does maintenance, especially on oil furnaces," he said. "I can tell you that customers who have yearly scheduled maintenance don't have breakdowns. People who neglect them totally, do."
Denise Pinnow of Connors Plumbing and Heating, Inc. of Monroe said their business has not had many calls for furnaces either.
"It's up and down; it comes in bunches," she said. And when they do get "no heat" calls, Jim Connors "has the whole load on his back."
But Connors has had several calls for frozen pipes.
"It's exposed pipes or someone forgot a basement window was open," she said.
With six calls this past weekend, Pinnow said "they couldn't get to them all."