Safety comes before repair
If you smell gas, hear hissing near the furnace or water heater, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, go outside first. From outside, call 911 or your gas utility's emergency line, which is printed on your bill. Do not switch lights on or off, and do not try to relight anything.
Never heat the house with a gas oven, a grill or a generator running indoors or in the garage. If you use a portable electric heater, plug it directly into a wall outlet and keep it at least three feet from curtains, bedding and furniture. If anyone at home is an infant, an older adult or unwell, move them somewhere warm rather than waiting for the repair.
Two-minute checks before you call
Thermostat: confirm it is set to Heat, with the set point a few degrees above the room temperature. A blank display usually means dead batteries or a tripped switch.
Power: a furnace has its own switch, often on or near the unit and shaped like a light switch, and its own breaker. Make sure the switch is on, the breaker has not tripped and the blower door panel is closed fully.
Filter: a badly clogged filter can make a furnace shut itself off to protect the equipment. If the filter is gray and packed, replace it.
High-efficiency gas furnaces vent through white plastic pipes. After snow or ice, look outside to see whether the intake or exhaust pipe is blocked, and clear it by hand only. A frozen or blocked condensate drain can also stop the furnace.
Heat pumps: light frost on the outdoor unit that clears during a defrost cycle is normal. Thick ice that stays, or air that blows cool, is worth noting. Do not chip ice with tools. Many thermostats have an Emergency Heat setting that runs the backup heat, and it is meant for short use.
Protect the house while you wait
When the heat is off in freezing weather, pipes become the next worry. Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, let a faucet drip, and keep interior doors open so warmer air moves through the house. Know where your main water shutoff is.
Write down what you did and what you saw, including any blinking light code visible through the furnace window. It saves time on the phone and helps the provider decide what to bring.
What to tell the provider when you call
Say what kind of system you have if you know it: gas furnace, heat pump, boiler or electric. Describe the symptom in plain words: no heat at all, heat that stops after a few minutes, or air that blows cool. Say when it started, what the thermostat shows, and whether you changed anything beforehand.
Give the street address and ZIP code, and mention where the equipment is, such as a basement, attic or closet, and whether access is easy. Ask the provider what the visit includes and to agree on the work with you before anything starts.
The Columbus forecast, from the National Weather Service
The table below reads the official forecast for Columbus when you open the page. It shows the coldest forecast temperature in the next 72 hours and the heating degree-hours the forecast adds up to. It is a forecast, not a diagnosis of your equipment.
| City | Heating degree-hours (°F) | Coldest forecast | Forecast covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus, OH | Reading forecast | - | - |
Reading the National Weather Service forecast.
Columbus winters
Columbus has freezing nights through much of the winter, so a heating failure matters quickly. Whether a home runs on a gas furnace, a heat pump or electric heat changes which of the checks above apply, so tell the provider which one you have.