Winter Blast Means Furnace Repair Companies Get Busy

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A cold blast of weather Sunday night into Monday morning meant furnace repair businesses in the Twin Cities saw a spike in business.

Several repair companies told WCCO-TV they saw two to three times more calls for repairs than on an average day.

Minneapolis resident Amanda Craig added a second furnace to her home when she built onto it a few years ago, but Monday morning she discovered the heat was out in the older part the house where her children sleep.

"It was just freezing in their room, one furnace stayed on and had tried to overcompensate for other side of house," Craig said.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Plumbing, Heating & Air technicians said the company gets about 100 calls a day, but got twice the number of calls on Monday. Service Expert Thomas Erronis found out Craig's furnace problems could have been avoided by changing the filter more often.

In fact, he said some people could be looking at changing out filters as often as once every two weeks.

"Unfortunately when you get into filters that control for higher allergens they are worse for furnaces and cause more issues like this," Erronis said.

Erronis said a maintenance check once or twice per year can run around $200, but they can help narrow down how often to change a filter based on the quality of the filter and age of the furnace.

Most companies WCCO-TV contacted said they charge around $100 just to visit a home and diagnose a problem. Most companies had maintenance plans involving multiple visits that cost around $200.

The companies also said they would check AC and water as well under those maintenance plans.

Another tip from the professionals is to change out thermostat batteries once or twice per year, because batteries can cause corrosion inside the thermostat. Erronis said people who have changing temperatures inside their homes throughout the day should stay within a six degree range.