ELM GROVE, Wis. — An Oconomowoc heating company is already fielding emergency calls as frigid temperatures grip southeastern Wisconsin, with technicians warning the worst may be yet to come. Pat's Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical typically handles about 30 service calls per day, but expects that number to triple to nearly 100 calls daily as the polar plunge continues through the weekend.
"First call, the ignitors had rusted out, and his house was down to 52 degrees this morning," said Mike Mularski, an HVAC technician who was already on his second boiler call of the day.
After fixing that system, Mularski moved to an Elm Grove home where he and fellow technician Brandon Leader did some routine maintenance for a boiler and found a common problem – a dying thermostat battery.
"This one is actually flashing a low battery right now," Leader said.
The technicians say many middle-of-the-night emergency calls during cold snaps can be resolved by walking customers through basic troubleshooting steps over the phone.
"Having customers checking the switch that powers your equipment is on, thermostat batteries, your filters are new. Stuff like that, making sure no one turns the temp down," Leader said.
Watch: How the cold is impacting the community — from first responders to maintenance techs
However, the company is preparing for an influx of more serious equipment failures. General Manager Robert Kannegiesser has ordered extra space heaters and common repair parts for technicians, and tripled the number of staff on-call.
"When this stuff rolls in it is normally 24 to 48 hours when stuff has been running a long time and starts breaking," Kannegiesser said.
The technicians offer advice for homeowners during the extreme cold: resist the urge to lower your thermostat at night.
"Even at our house, we set it to 62, 60 degrees at night. Don't do that because the furnaces, the boilers, when it gets that cold, are running at 100 percent just trying to maintain the temperature of the house. It is going to have a hard time raising the temperature of the house," Mularski said.
If your heating system fails, technicians recommend finding the main power switch, turning it off for 30 seconds, then switching it back on. This simple reset might restore function, but if it doesn't work, that's when professional help is needed.
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