Please take the time to familiarize yourself with your heating system and where key components are located; these are things that every adult and even a young adult in the home should know:

1. Where the circuit panel is and what circuit breaker the system is on.
2. Where is the switched power located and what the on position is.
3. What the reset button looks like and where on your system it is located.
4. Where the dip stick for the tank is and what size the tank you have.
5. What a zone valve is and what it looks like when it's open and closed.
6. Where the heat circulation pump is and how to tell if it's running or off.
7. Where the furnace temp gage is and how to read it.

If you have any questions about these items please ask a service tech at your next scheduled maintained and they should have no problem pointing them out to you.

Before you call us or the repair man there are several steps that you can take that will produce the result that you want; heat now, in the shortest amount of time.

1. Ensure that the system is receiving power; check that the circuit breaker has not been tripped or that the wall switch is in the 'ON' position.
   Fix: If you found that the power was cut to the unit, restore power and hit the RESET button on the system, which should bring the unit back on-line. If the unit trips the circuit breaker immediately or after operating for a while, call for a service technician.


2. Try hitting the RESET button: Does the unit come to life and try firing before shutting back down or is it completely lifeless?
   Fix: If you hear the unit trying to come to life and sputtering and spitting when the system fires, its time to stick the tank. If the unit is lifeless and doesn't respond, its time to stick the tank but in all likelihood you will need to call the service technician.


3. Sticking the tank. It is always a good idea to have the proper stick available for your tank size and have tried using it so that you have a good idea of what you are looking at when you stick the tank. Keep the stick in a place close to the tank or in the garage so that you can locate it easy when you need it.
   Fix: When you stick the tank make sure that you touch the bottom of the tank and never just drop the stick into the tank. When you extract the stick you should have a reading that will tell you how many gals are in the tank. Anything less than ten gallons should be an automatic call to us for a refill.


4. If you have fuel in the tank but the unit isn't coming to life when pushing the RESET button its time to call a service technician.


5. If you are not receiving heat in the structure or a particular zone isn't receiving heat, but you have a hot boiler, the problem probably lies in the zone valves or circulating pump. While you can open stuck zone valves manually, you will need a service technician for a long term fix.

If you follow these steps you are more likely to call the right person the first time, thus reducing call out fees and speeding you towards restoring heat to your structure.

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