Our team here Upper Arlington Heating & Cooling takes a lot of pride in offering our fellow members the best home heating equipment and local HVAC services in the market at prices our competitors can’t beat.

Having been in the furnace and AC industry for so many years, we are very familiar with how easily a big winter storm can knock out the power here in Ohio and leave us without heat. 

And while we might not be able to do much about the loss of electricity, we can suggest some steps you can take to stay as safe and as warm as possible until help arrives.

The following is our list of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” during a winter power outage.

Steps We Suggest Taking When the Heat Goes Out

Things You Should Do:

• Give your electric provider a call immediately to report the outage, even if someone else has already called. For one, you might not know for certain whether the person actually called the right number, and for two a lot of power companies respond first to the place from which they’re getting the most calls. This falls in line with the old adage that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It does not imply, however, we are suggesting you call them more than once.
• If you own a generator, use it wisely. It’s best to only restore the more basic and essential appliances. This could very well mean space heaters and anything else you deem important. In the meantime, strictly follow the generator’s safety guidelines. This includes never running it inside or near any open windows where exhaust or fumes would be able to get inside. If you don’t own a backup generator, an emergency situation like this might make you reconsider investing in one.
• Be careful and strategic as to where you place your space heaters. You need to make sure they’re firmly planted on level flooring with a safe distance surrounding them. This also means keeping things away that might be flammable like boxes, fuel, trash, clothes, debris, curtains and drapes. Whenever you leave the room, make sure you always turn off your space heaters if you don’t expect to be needing it. 
• If you have children in the home, make sure they know they should never touch space heaters or play around them.
• Grab some extra clothing layers in the home. Bundle up! If you have kids, bundle them up! Gather your hats, scarves and gloves.
• If your home has a gas or wood fireplace, make sure the flue is open and the chimney is open before lighting a fire. Additionally, only use the fire when you’re home.
• Give us a call right away if the reason for your loss of heat is not related to a power loss.

Things You Should Not Do

• Faced with the cold, it might be tempting to improvise when the heat goes out and it’s cold outside, you should never use anything to heat your home that wasn’t made specifically to do just that and has been verified by a professional as being safe and effective. This includes trying to use household appliances like grills or turning up your oven and leaving it open. Not only is this a fire hazard, but it can also create dangerous fumes.
• While you wait for power to come back on, avoid opening your freezer and refrigerator as much as possible to keep the last bit of cold air inside, instead letting it out into your home. It’s a good idea to keep the insides of these cold for as long as possible to prevent your food from spoiling.
• Although our last one might seem obvious, nevertheless, it’s good to remind people. If your heat is out, you should avoid getting wet. If you get wet, it’s going to complicate things and take longer to get warm. Plus who knows how long you’re going to go until you can use your washer and dryer.

Lose your heat? Call us right away!

If your heat went out and you still have power, or if you want a trusted, trained professional to look at your heating equipment when the power is restored, give Upper Arlington Heating & Cooling a call today at (614) 490-7507, or schedule an appointment now by clicking here!