How to Stay Warm If Your Furnace Fails
You just finished enjoying some much-needed recreation sledding and playing in the snow. Now, you are ready to enjoy the warmth of your home. However, when you walk inside your home, you realize that it is oddly cold. Your first move in this scenario is to call your furnace repair technician to get things up and going again. However, what should you do to stay warm since the heat has gone out?
Pick a Place to Stay Warm
If the heat has just gone out, it is likely that your house is retaining some heat. With time, that heat will dissipate. You need to pick a small room that you can use as a shelter to stay warm.
Use curtains, blankets, towels, or sheets to seal the room off. You will do better if you choose a room that has a low ceiling and that is in the center of your home. Family members and pets who are gathered with you in the room will generate a lot of body heat and keep the space warm.
Cook Something
Bake cookies, cook a soup, or stick a cake in the oven. Your oven and stovetop produce a lot of heat. You may not realize it when your heating system is working, but you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your oven and stove can heat up your house. As an added bonus, you get to enjoy the delicious smell of warm food.
However, don’t use your oven as a heater without cooking something in it. This could potentially be dangerous.
Bundle Up
Putting on additional layers of clothing, like extra socks, thermal underwear, leggings, and an overcoat, will keep you warm. Put on a hat to prevent heat from escaping from your head. Use slippers to prevent the cold of the floor from stealing your heat.
If you have a favorite pet or someone close to you, make them your snuggle buddy. Nothing is warmer than two people huddling each other.
Use Your Fireplace
Fireplaces are one of the oldest forms of indoor heating. You will be amazed at the amount of heat that a fireplace can put out when your primary heat source fails. Wood fires offer the added benefit of having a pleasing aroma, flickering lights, and a crackling sound that can be soothing.
Use a Portable Heater
Portable space heaters do a great job at warming your home. Space heaters used to pose a significant safety risk, but the technology behind them has improved. You still need to watch them, and you don’t want to leave a space heater unattended or running for an extended period. However, they have been designed to be user friendly and much safer than older models.
Troubleshoot
You want to leave furnace and HVAC repairs to the professionals. However, there are some basic troubleshooting things you can do to see if you can get your heat working quickly.
First, check the thermostat. Maybe you accidentally flipped the thermostat to cool or lowered the temperature dramatically. Turn it up a few degrees. Wait to see if the heat starts to kick in.
Visually ensure that nothing is blocking the free flow of warm air. This includes checking heat registers and vents to make sure they are open. Cleaning or replacing your furnace filter is another great way to improve your heater’s performance and efficiency.
Look at the pilot light to make sure that it is still lit. If you are not seeing a flame, you may have a problem with your thermocouple, which needs to be evaluated and repaired by trained technicians. There could also be an issue with the safety valve.
If you have an electric ignition, you may need to reset the unit. This requires you to turn off the thermostat or to flip off the main power switch. Then, you can reset the ignition control and turn your furnace back on.
Plan for Comfort
Your HVAC system is a key part of maintaining your comfort. While you cannot prevent unforeseen furnace failures 100% of the time, you can plan to keep your home as comfortable as possible by scheduling regular maintenance and repairs of your HVAC system.
BELOMAN has years of experience specializing in heating and cooling services. We offer a wide variety of products and are a factory authorized Carrier dealer. In addition to heating and cooling services, we offer indoor air quality solutions, plumbing services, duct cleaning, and commercial HVAC services in Belleville and the surrounding area. Contact us today for more information!
