What a crazy day – no winter for months then it hits all at once! The snow isn’t just a problem on the road – it is also a HUGE problem for your heating!
The blowing snow piles up against the outside of the house blocking air vents for furnaces, water heaters, and other gas, oil & propane fired appliances causing them to fail. We have already talked to many homeowners today who thought their furnaces were broken when it was just snow blocking the vents.
If you have a fairly new furnace your system will simply shut off if the vent is blocked with snow (you will know because your house will get very cold fast). If you have an old furnace it could keep running flooding your house with deadly carbon monoxide.
Both problems can be easily fixed by clearing the snow from your external vent pipes (all you need is a shovel see image below). You just need to make sure that the air can flow freely around the vents otherwise they will suck up snow like a vacuum blocking your furnace which will cause your furnace, boiler or hot water tank to fail.
If you can’t get your furnace or boiler running again just give us a call 613-224-0041 we are here to help.
Oh, and I almost forgot, you may want to check your batteries in your thermostat, smoke detector & carbon monoxide detector too just to be on the safe side.
Sincerely,
Kay Francis
Francis Plumbing Heating & Cooling
613-224-0041
