HEATING SYSTEM BASICS

Every house heats differently based on its construction and the type of boiler it has. Since heat rises, keeping hot air inside and cold air out often starts in the attic with insulation. Weatherizing your house—caulking windows, putting in door seals, insolating eves—improves your heating system. It’s important to understand this symbiotic relationship between your house and your heat in order to prevent freezing pipes and other temperature-related mishaps. But the heart of your heating system is your boiler, which creates heat and pumps it into your home through your baseboard, or radiators, or air ducts
Troubleshooting

Sometimes when your heat goes out, the fix is as simple as fiddling with your thermostat—making sure the batteries aren’t dead, checking the temperature settings, ensuring that the thermostat switch (if present) says “heat on”. If everything on your thermostat is set correctly, it’s time to take a trip to the basement.

Emergency shutoff switches, located on your boiler and sometimes at the top of your basement stairs or hallway, can accidently get switched off. If they are off, you’ll have to relight your pilot. Give us a call and we can talk you through the steps for relighting your pilot based on the kind of boiler you have, or send out one of our representatives.

At this point you need to know what kind of fuel your heating system uses—generally oil or gas—and how to find your main shutoff switch and fuel valve on your boiler. Usually there’s a manual taped to the top of your boiler with this information. If everything seems in order with the valves on the boiler (look for leaks, but don’t turn anything that you’re not sure about), check your circuit breakers and fuses.

If you have a hot air furnace, don’t forget to check your air filter. And on a seam boiler check the water level in the little tube on the front. If the water level is low, schedule an appointment with us, and we’ll service the boiler.