Heating Systems

Heating Systems:

What do we have?

Believe it or not but I hear this a lot. A homeowner calls the office and says their furnace is not working. I ask, does it heat water or make hot air? It’s kind of like the word jacuzzi? If we have a tub that moves water around it’s a jacuzzi although jacuzzi is a Brand name?

What we Know:

I remember my first house?

It goes back to our childhood for almost all of us. We found out about heating systems from the house we grew up in. We never really knew how they worked; we just knew when they didn’t work.
If the house you grew up in had a furnace every house going forward meant the heating system was a furnace.

Where do the terms come from:

It’s cold outside!

The older heating systems were boilers, they heated water until the water boiled! Hence Boiler. 80 to 100 years ago the state of the art heating system was steam which used a hot water boiler and turned the water to a gas. Steam. This Boiler tag is used as much as Furnace even though to a Plumbing and Heating contractor they mean two completely different things.

Why does this matter:

I need to know.

It’s all about information. When you are speaking to a person on the phone we need to see what they are saying. We need to picture what they have and try to simulate what the problems are through are years of experience. If we are thinking of a boiler and the system is warm air; we will not be seeing clearly to help the homeowner describe what is going on with their system.

Having what I need:

Information is King.

If I have a sense of what type of heating system the homeowner has prior to showing up I can be prepared on what I might take with me. I can check for stock on the truck or shop. If I don’t have something then I can stop and pick material up before going to see the homeowner. I would like to not have to leave if at all possible to fix this heating system. As part of this visit I will collect all the information pertaining to this piece of equipment. I want the model and serial number as well as manufacturers rep and a tech support number.

The phone call didn’t happen.

What I know and what they know.

Sometimes this all happens at the time of the call. I didn’t get a chance to speak to the homeowner prior to showing up. I get to the house and the heating system is not working. The word game usually starts right away. The homeowner is calling a Hot water boiler a furnace??
I wait patiently for my turn to speak and explain to them that for us going forward when we are talking about their heating system can we call it what it is? This is when I hear the stories of how we always had a furnace growing up and that’s just what I always called any heating system.

How can I help?

Are we clear?

If we are clear we can move forward. Sometimes this little bit of information is contagious. Know that the homeowner has a professional in their mechanical room they are empowered to ask more questions on what they are looking at. A lot of times this can happen when a spouse has passed away and the remaining spouse has not been the one that handled the heating system. I love this time. I get to go over the type of heating system thay have and what they can expect from it? The big question I get is how long will it LAST?

If I had a nickel?

Do I look like merlin?

I am still trying to figure out how I can know how long a piece of mechanical equipment might last? God I wish I had that type of power. I explain to the homeowner that if I knew that I wouldn’t be here to fix the heating system.. I would be wealthy beyond belief. I would like to one day pull out a wizards hat and throw a year and a date at the homeowners to see their reaction.

Heating Systems?

How many are there?

Good question; Hot water heating, baseboard, radiant and hydro air. Condensing hot water boilers. Condensing warm air gas furnaces. We have a Geothermal system that uses the groundwater temperature to offset heating cost. Warm air heating systems or Furnaces. Gas or oil what about LP gas/ How about solar back up room heating systems. Steam heating systems two pipe, single pipe and vapor? Heat pump heating systems with backup electric heat elements. Electric baseboard heat. It can get complicated. It can be a lot to know as a heating professional but more importantly for the Homeowner they just need to know what they have.

What is my rule of thumb?

How can I help?

All of these systems can have a different life of use factor. Not all are the same as well as they all have their own idiom synchrosis. With time comes information. This is usually how a non-lay person gets their information about their heating system. It comes with experience. It comes from the internet or having a heating professional walk through your heating system, Or the dreaded it comes from not having heat and you on short notice have to become efficient in your heating system.

It makes sense to know someone.

It’s all about connections.

When I meet a homeowner for the first time my goal is to make them comfortable right away. My next goal is to get their problem resolved but more importantly than that I want to build a life long relationship with them over their heating system. I want to be their go to guy for all things Heating. If they need answers get them answers if they need results get them results. If they need me on Holidays and weekends be there for them. And if all else fails, sticker their boiler with your company’s information so the next homeowner knows who to call:)

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