Like homeowners, residential HVAC contractors have to prioritize their assignments in order to get all of the work done. You may find yourself in a similar situation someday soon, where you have to decide if you can wait an entire weekend to have an HVAC repair technician fix your heating or cooling system or pay the extra fees for emergency repair service. Here are some guidelines that will show you when it is and is not a good idea to wait a whole weekend for repairs to be completed.
It Can Wait IF...
The repairs can wait if you are the only person residing in the home. Taking risks with your own well-being when the temperatures soar or plummet is up to you. You cannot do the same if you are responsible for children, or if you have elderly relatives living with you who cannot survive extreme temperatures. If it is just you, you can find ways to keep cool or keep comfortably warm in the home until Monday when your repair technician can arrive.
The repairs can also wait if much milder temperatures and milder weather are predicted for the weekend. For example, if it is ninety degrees on Friday when you discover that your air conditioner has died, but it will be in the seventies all weekend, you can just crack a window or two if it gets a little stuffy indoors. Conversely, if you were experiencing sub-zero temperatures through Friday, and then your furnace died, you can let the repairs go if the weather is going to be sunny and the temperatures predicted will be somewhere in the forties and fifties all weekend. A heating blanket and/or a space heater is all you really need for comfort to make up the difference if your furnace needs the repairs.
It CANNOT Wait If...
If there are other people living in the house with you, especially if they are infants, children, and elderly people, you have to get the furnace or air conditioner fixed right away. The youngest and oldest people are not able to effectively cool themselves through sweating and/or seeking out ways to keep warm. If you have pet birds or guinea pigs as pets, these animals do not do well with cold drafts and cold temperatures, which means that the house has to be warm. Additionally, if the temperatures over the weekend are going to be quite extreme (e.g., above eighty degrees or below zero), you need to protect your pipes and your home against the extreme weather. Repairs will be necessary and immediate, and paying the emergency repair fees will be worth it.
To learn more, contact residential HVAC contractors in your local area.
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