It’s an awful feeling when you go to turn on the heat in your home on a cold winter’s day (or night) and nothing happens.
You’re getting uncomfortably cold. You may worry about pipes freezing and bursting.
The normal reaction would be to contact Wesco Oil to deal with this no-heat emergency. We provide 24/7 emergency no-heat service.
By the way, if you do have a no-heat emergency, DO NOT email us or use our online contact form. If you live in Rhode Island, call us at 401-231-3681. If you live in Massachusetts, call us at 508-883-9100.
But before you pick up the phone, do a few troubleshooting tasks. You may be able to get the heat back on yourself without the wait, worry, and expense of a service call.
Here’s what to do.
Check your thermostat. Is it set to at least 5˚ higher than your current room temperature? Is the thermostat set to “heat?” Are the batteries still good (install new batteries to check)? If the answer to all of those is “yes,” move on to the next step.
Check your heating system switch. Is it set to “ON?” It should be. If it is, do the next troubleshoot.
Check your oil tank. Is your tank at least 1/8 full? If it isn’t, call us immediately for an emergency heating oil delivery. If it is, on to the next step.
Check the circuit breaker. It may have tripped. Turn the switch for the heating system back on if it was tripped. If it wasn’t tripped, move on to the next troubleshoot.
Check the air filter. If you have a furnace, the air filter may be clogged, which causes the heating system to shut down. Change it if needed. If not, go on to the final step.
Check the boiler. If you have a steam boiler, check the water level in the gauge glass. It should be at least half-full. If it isn’t, call us. If it is, move on to the final step. If you have a hot water boiler, go to the final step.
Push and hold the reset button for 30 seconds. Only do this ONCE. If you do it more than once, too much heating will get pumped into the combustion chamber, causing it to flood. Then you’re definitely calling us because that’s a big (and costly) repair.
None of these worked? Call us right away.
Contact us any time if you have a no-heat emergency!
