WEBSTER, Mass. — As temperatures near freezing across New England this week, plenty of HVAC companies are gearing up for heating failures after their customers’ systems have lied dormant for months.
Victor Waskiewiczs, president of JV Mechanical in Webster, said his busy season is fully up and running.
“When Mother Nature comes and winter is here in New England, the phone goes off the hook,” he told Boston 25 Tuesday. “We’re seeing a lot of failures as people are turning them on for the first time.”
He claimed a lot of technicians across the region are sure to run into issues from customers stemming from rodents, nesting, chimney debris, and more.
Waskiewiczs added, “A lot of things can happen over the summer to make them not start.”
He advised New Englanders to clean their systems filters, and check their pipes for leaks.
It’s also important, he said, to make sure the system looks clean before firing it up.
“Listen to it,” he said. “Smell, listen, look for anything that’s out of sorts. These systems will tend to tell you they’re hurting and have a problem.”
A rule of thumb, he said, is to keep your heat on even when you leave. By turning the system on and off, it makes it work harder to get back to the desired temperature.
Waskiewiczs explained, “I relate it to getting on the highway with a car and just flooring it, versus cruising down the highway at the speed limit where you get better gas mileage. It’s the same with using a system in that manner. You get better consumption of fuel, more efficient, and more comfortable.”
A huge deterrent to any seasonal failures, the company said, was regular maintenance of both heating and cooling machines in your household.
If there’s an issue you spot, it’s important to let an expert handle it before you take action, Waskiewiczs said.
He finished, “There’s a lot of safety features in this equipment that prevent problems from happening with carbon monixide poisoning or premature failures.”
Near freezing temperatures are expected the rest of this week in New England.
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