What To During A Home Heating Emergency

Few things are more frustrating as a homeowner than having your heating system break down during the freezing winter. Unfortunately, even if you take wonderful care of your household heater, you could still deal with a home heating emergency at an inconvenient time. However, if you know how to handle this kind of situation, you can prevent it from being too miserable of an experience.

Here, we’ll cover a handful of tips for keeping your home comfortable and safe and restoring your heat quickly in the case of a heating emergency.

 

What We’ll Cover:

• Turn your heating system off
• Contact your local HVAC professionals
• Utilize a space heater
• Close all of your curtains
• Use your oven
• Exercise
• Make some coffee
• Bundle up or add layers of clothing
• Key takeaways

 

1) Turn Your Heating System Off

When your heating appliance stops working unexpectedly, you should shut off its power. Whether you have forced air heating, a heat pump, or any other heating unit, this is an important step. You should shut off the gas supply lines if the appliance is a gas-powered furnace. This will help keep your household safe and prevent the appliance from wasting energy while breaking down.

 

2) Contact Your Local HVAC Professionals

When you realize your heater has stopped working, you should schedule an appointment with reputable local HVAC professionals. The sooner you schedule an appointment, the sooner your heating system will run smoothly again. Many HVAC companies offer emergency heating repair, so they should be able to get out to your property very quickly. Expert technicians will visit your home, inspect your system, and determine the appropriate heating system repair.

 

3) Utilize a Space Heater

If your heating system breaks down during the winter, your primary concern will probably be staying warm. A space heater is one of the simplest ways to warm yourself and anyone else in the house. Space heaters are portable, affordable, and in many cases, powerful enough to keep an entire room warm. Ideally, during a heating emergency, you and your family should choose one room to spend most of your time in. That way, you can set the space heater up in that area and close the doors to keep yourselves warm while waiting for professionals to repair your heating system.

 

4) Close All of Your Curtains

Many homeowners don’t realize how much impact their curtains can have on the climate of their household. If you encounter a heating emergency, closing all the blinds and curtains around the house should be one of your first things. Curtains can be very effective for keeping warmth trapped inside the home, and when your heating system isn’t working, the last thing you want to do is let heat escape. With all the blinds and curtains closed it should be much easier to remain comfortable until the heating repair is completed.

5) Use Your Oven

If you’ve ever cooked something in the oven, you’ve probably noticed that it tends to raise the temperature in the house. During a home heating emergency, using your oven can be an effective way to keep warm while you wait for the emergency heating technicians to arrive. If it happens to be dinner time, consider taking the opportunity to prepare a meal for everyone in the household. You could even make something spicy, raising everyone’s body temperature when they eat it!

 

6) Exercise

During a heating emergency, you and anyone in your home should avoid sitting still for too long. When we aren’t moving, we feel the coldest in these situations. However, if you can find a way to get your blood flowing, it will be much easier to forget that the house is chilly. One great way to do this is to get some exercise. After all, exercising regularly offers numerous health benefits, and you can do plenty of workouts without any special equipment. Even spending 10 or 15 minutes doing jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups may keep you warm for an hour or so.

 

7) Make Some Coffee

Making coffee is an excellent option when you’re looking for ways to stay warm without using your heating system. For one, it’s a hot drink that will help soothe you and provide comfort while your house is cold. Secondly, drinking coffee will raise your body temperature because coffee contains a lot of caffeine. Although coffee is probably the ideal option, any hot beverage will be a good choice while waiting for a heating emergency.

 

8) Bundle Up or Add Layers of Clothing

Sometimes, the simplest option can be very effective when dealing with a broken-down heating system. As your household gets chilly, an easy way to stay comfortable is to wear warm clothing under a heavy blanket. With enough blankets, you and the whole family could bundle up for a movie night to kill time until the emergency heating professionals arrive.

 

Key Takeaways

You can do only so much to remedy the situation during a home heating emergency. If you aren’t experienced with troubleshooting HVAC systems, you’ll probably need emergency heating repair services. So, once you’ve contacted your local HVAC professionals, you should focus on finding ways to keep yourself and everyone else in the household warm and comfortable. Give a few of the tips listed here a try, and you should be alright until the professionals arrive.

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