Emergency Heating Repair

Real winter weather is uncommon in North Texas, but when it comes it does not do anything halfway. A hard freeze or an ice storm can keep temperatures below freezing for days, and most homes here were built mainly to stay cool, with water lines in exterior walls and heating equipment in unconditioned attics. The February 2021 winter storm was a reminder of how fast a house here cools once the heat stops, and how many households end up needing help on the same night.

W3 Electric Heating & A/C answers emergency calls 24 hours a day for homeowners in Rowlett, Rockwall, McKinney, Garland, Wylie, Forney, and nearby communities across the Dallas area. Our technicians handle gas furnaces, heat pumps, and electric heat, and because we are licensed on the electrical side too, an emergency that turns out to be a burned wire, a failed breaker, or a damaged circuit does not need a second company.

A heating emergency is defined less by what broke than by what could happen next. A furnace that quits on a 55-degree evening is an inconvenience. The same failure the night before a hard freeze, or in a home with a newborn, an elderly parent, or someone whose health depends on staying warm, is urgent. Some problems are emergencies in any weather because they are about safety: a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, a burning electrical smell or a breaker that keeps tripping, and water pouring from a furnace or air handler.

Most heating problems are not emergencies, and if your home is holding a safe temperature, a standard heating repair visit is usually the better fit. Our furnace repair and heat pump repair pages explain the common failures for each system. For urgent electrical problems elsewhere in the house, see our emergency electrical services.

Before you think about the cold, rule out the hazards. If any of these apply, deal with them first and call us once everyone is safe. None of these steps involve touching gas lines, burners, or wiring, and none of them should.

Natural gas has an odor added, often described as rotten eggs, so that a leak can be noticed. If you smell it, get everyone out of the house right away. Leave lights and appliances exactly as they are, do not touch the thermostat, and do not start a car in an attached garage. Wait until you are outside and well away from the house before using your phone, and call 911 or your gas utility from there. Do not go back in until they tell you it is safe, and then call us about the furnace.

Carbon monoxide has no color or smell, so treat every alarm as real. Get everyone, pets included, out of the house, then call 911. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, or flu-like symptoms that ease once you leave the house are warning signs, so mention them to the responders. Do not go back inside until the fire department says it is safe, and do not run the furnace again until a technician has inspected it, because the source is often a heating problem such as a blocked flue or a damaged heat exchanger.

A burning electrical smell, as opposed to the brief dusty smell of the first heating cycle, means something is overheating. Turn the system off at the thermostat, and if you see smoke or the smell grows stronger, leave and call 911. If the heating breaker trips again after one reset, leave it off. If water is pouring from a furnace or air handler, turn the system off at the thermostat as well, keep clear of the unit if water is near its wiring, and keep people out from under any ceiling that is sagging below an attic unit.

A closed-up house loses heat gradually, and a few simple steps slow it further. Close blinds and curtains at night, and open them on sunny windows during the day. Shut the doors to rooms you are not using and gather the family in one or two rooms. Roll a towel along the bottom of drafty exterior doors. If a heat pump with backup heat has stopped heating but the indoor fan still runs, switching the thermostat to emergency heat runs the backup on its own. It costs more to run, but it can hold the house until we arrive.

Many homes here have water lines in exterior walls, and some have them in the attic, so pipes can freeze surprisingly quickly once a house loses heat in hard cold. Let the faucets on exterior walls drip slowly, hot and cold, so water keeps moving. Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks so room air can reach the plumbing. Find your main water shutoff now, before you need it, so you can close it quickly if a pipe bursts. If a pipe does freeze, never try to thaw it with an open flame.

A portable electric heater can keep one room comfortable if it is used carefully. Give it at least three feet of clearance from furniture, bedding, curtains, and anything else that can burn. Plug it straight into a wall outlet, never an extension cord or power strip, and turn it off when you leave the room or go to sleep. Several heaters on one circuit can trip the breaker. Never use a gas oven, stovetop, grill, or generator inside the house or garage for heat, because each of them can produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.