WHAT TO DO IF YOUR HEAT FAILS

1.  Where do you live?

        A.  Single Family Home or Townhouse

1.  Determine what type of heat is in your home.

a.  The first clue is your utility bills. If you do not get a gas bill, you do not have gas heat. You have electric heat or a heat pump.

b.  If you do get a gas bill, but it's never over about $30.00, you have electric heat or a heat pump.

c.  If you get an oil delivery, you have oil heat (you can stop right there--your lease requires you to get a service contract with the oil company. Only your oil company will service your oil burner. We cannot get service from anyone else.)

d.  If you get a gas bill and sometimes get a pretty large bill, you have gas heat.

e.  Other clues:  Look at your heating system. Gas comes in through a pipe about 1 or 1-1/2 inches in diameter (a bit larger than a garden hose). Gas pipes screw together; they are not soldered. Gas pipes are usually silver or black and enter the heating system about knee height. If you don't see a gas pipe, you have electric heat or a heat pump.

B. Multi-family building (apartment or condo)

1.  If you have your own heating system inside, the above steps also apply to you.

2. Some condos and apartment buildings have a central heating system or boiler. You will need to contact the community manager. If you don't know who that is, the best person to talk to at MMI is your property manager. He or she will help locate the building manager or maintenance department. If you are reading this before your heat fails (we salute you!) now would be a good time to find-out what to do in the event of heat loss.

2.  All heating systems use electric. If the power is out in your neighborhood, you will not have heat even if you have gas heat. All the controls and the blowers use electric.

3.  Electric Heat and Heat Pumps

A.  Both electric heat and a heat pump operate solely on electricity. You have only one step to follow before calling for service.

1.  Check your fuses or breakers. Identify which one or ones are for your heating system. In a heat pump, it may be marked "air conditioning."  Turn off the breaker. Wait about 3-5 minutes. Turn-it back on. This is like rebooting a computer. You may reset the electronics and all will be well. If you don't have heat within 5-10 minutes, call for service.

4.  Gas Heat

A.  Gas heat, as we said, has electric controls. You should first check your breakers or fuses. You do not need to wait. Simply be sure they are on.

B.  Now you need to determine whether you have a pilot light or electronic ignition. This is a bit more complicated.

1.  Remove the cover to your furnace. Follow the gas pipe from outside the furnace to inside. Does it enter a box with a dial (usually red)?

a.  No - Then you have an electronic ignition. You will see a switch on the side of the furnace that looks like a light switch. Turn it off.  on. Replace the cover to the furnace. Wait 3-5 minutes. Turn it back on. In about a minute or two, you may hear the furnace fire-up. If you don't have heat within 10 minutes, call for service.

b.  Yes - Is the pilot lit?

i.  Yes - call for service now.

ii.  No - You will need to light the pilot light. There should be procedures printed inside the furnace. If not, here is your guide... don't worry, it's not dangerous. Just follow these steps exactly.

a. There are two sections to your furnace that can be opened. Usually, the lower half is where you have the furnace filter and blower. The top is generally where the gas burner and pilot are housed. some furnaces have one door; some have separate doors for each section. Open the upper section.

b. Turn the dial to the off position. This will stop all gas flow. Wait 5 minutes for the gas to disburse. The pilot light gas was the only gas feeding into the furnace and very little gas escapes. You have now turned that gas off, too. After 5 minutes, do the sniff test. Gas smells terrible. Get right down into the furnace and take a whiff--if you don't smell a strong odor of rotten eggs or sulfur, all is clear. Proceed to the next step.

c. Try to find some long stem matches or a lighter with a long reach. Regular matches will do, but are a bit awkward.

d.  Look at that box with the dial. You will see a small silver or copper pipe, about the size of a pencil, coming out of the box and going into a small box about the size of a matchbox. That is the pilot assembly where the pilot resides (if you are reading this before your heat fails, now would be a good time to open your furnace and look for the pilot. It's a flame a bit larger than the size of a match flame.)

e. Before you light a match, let's be familiar with the steps. A pilot light is a flame that stays on all year round. It burns any gas that escapes so there will not be an accumulation of gas. As a safety measure, there is a thermocouple. This is a device that operates like a thermometer. It sticks right into the flame and senses whether the flame is burning or not. If the thermocouple does not sense a flame, it will not allow any gas into the furnace. You will need to trick it for a minute after the pilot is lit--long enough for it to sense the flame and report back to the gas valve. You will see, on that box we talked about earlier, that the dial has three positions. Right now, it is in the off position. The "trick" position is the "pilot" position. To get it to the pilot position, you may have to push a button down or push the dial down. It should say what to do right on the dial. Holding the button or dial down is what tricks the thermocouple. While you are holding the button, gas will escape. You will want a flame during that time. You will hold the button down for a full minute after you light the flame. During that minute, the thermocouple will report back to the gas valve that the flame is on so that when you release the button, gas will continue to feed the pilot. Let's do it.

1.  Find the pilot assembly at the end of the pencil-sized pipe.

2.  Have match or lighter ready.

3.  Push down the button or dial and turn the dial to the pilot position.

4.  Hold the lit match or lighter right near the pilot assembly. A flame should light immediately. If the pilot lights, hold the button or dial down for about a minute before going to the next step. If it does not light, confirm that you have followed all these steps correctly. If you have followed the steps correctly and the flame does not light, turn the gas off and call for service. There is something wrong with the gas valve. Remember, you must attempt to light the pilot. All leases place this burden on the tenant and, if we call a contractor who says all that was wrong was that the pilot was not lit, we will send you the bill--generally about $125.00. 

5.  After a minute, you should be able to release the button or dial and the pilot should stay lit. If it goes out, you have a bad thermocouple and must now call for service. If it remains lit, proceed to the next step.

6.  Turn the dial to the "on" position. The main gas burner will light almost immediately. Keep your face away in case of a flash.  You may now replace the cover of your furnace and go relax in your warm home. Congratulations. You have heat and you saved yourself the cost of an unnecessary service call.