Cold giving furnaces a run for their money

Heating and cooling businesses stay busy

By TERESA RESSEL
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Furnaces are running and running this week, which means heating and cooling businesses are keeping pretty busy with the ones that can’t keep up with the weather.

On Thursday, Jim Yount was called to the Farmington Press, Steak N Shake and Crossroads restaurant, where all were having heating problems.

Yount said the front office of the Farmington Press was without heat and the kitchen at Crossroads was without heat.

Chip Peterson, owner of Steak N Shake, said one of the restaurant’s units went down Thursday. He doesn’t believe the temperature got below 60 degrees, though, and the problem was correctly quickly.

With a lot of large appliances in the restaurant that put out heat, the restaurant doesn’t run the heat in the winter like they run the air conditioning in the summer. Peterson said it’s in cold weather like this that you find out if things are working right.

Crystal Heating and Cooling and Koppeis Heating and Cooling were also busy with service calls.

Mike Kuhlenberg, vice president/service for Crystal Heating, said all it takes for motors or parts to go out in older or marginal furnaces is a workout like they are getting this week.

Until recently, the winter has been relatively slow for business because the weather has not been really cold until now.

He said this week’s zero-degree weather has definitely caused their phones to ring. But he added they have been able to take care of people in the same day.

Chuck Koppeis, owner of Koppeis Heating, said they have also been very busy this month. They’ve had a lot of service calls on a lot of older units that couldn’t keep up with the weather. He said if you have a problem with your unit, it is going to show up in this kind of weather when the furnace is working harder.

With the economy, he said people are letting their units run a lot longer rather than buying a new unit. The average life span of a furnace is about 15 years. He said people will save money with a high efficiency unit if they have the money to purchase a new unit.

Kuhlenberg and Koppeis both stressed that the most important thing people can do is keep their air filters clean. Koppeis said it will make the unit last longer. Kuhlenberg recommends that gas furnaces, especially, should be maintained yearly. Koppeis recommends doing preventative maintenance/cleaning in the fall and spring.

The National Fire Protection Association suggests that heating equipment and chimneys be cleaned and inspected annually by a qualified professional.

According to the association, heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires during the period from December to February. In 2005, heating equipment was involved in an estimated 62,200 reported U.S. home structure fires, with associated losses of 670 deaths, 1,550 injuries, and $909 million in direct property damage.

Farmington Fire Chief Todd Mecey said extension cords should not be used for portable heaters. Heaters should be plugged into an appropriate outlet. Portable heaters or space heaters should be turned off when leaving a room or going to bed.

Anything flammable such as curtains or blankets or clothing should be kept at least three feet away from heating equipment such as the furnace, fireplace, wood stove or a portable heater.

A fireplace should have a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from flying into the room. Only dry, seasoned wood should be burned.

All fuel-burning equipment should be vented to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. People should not attempt to light an appliance if they smell gas in the gas heater. Instead, the controls should be turned off and the windows and doors should be opened.

For more energy-saving or safe heating tips, visit here.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.

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