Don't get left out in the cold this winter, with all the snow we got with this latest storm it may cause some problems like never before.

Yesterday I got the dreaded call when I was at work that the furnace was not kicking in. I felt pretty confident that the furnace was fine since it is only 3 years old, but was honestly baffled on how it would suddenly stop working. We have a gas furnace so I called Comfort Systems and they told me to check two things.

1.) If you have outside vents for the furnace make sure they are cleared of all snow. This can be very dangerous since Carbon Monoxide can back up into the house. I knew they were clear because I looked just the other day for that exact reason.

2.) Make sure your gas meter is completely cleared of all snow, especially the round piece on the top of it. With all the snow we had gotten our meter was buried, which caused it to freeze and it shut off the gas to the furnace. Once we cleared it out it just took a few minutes for it to kick on and the house was toasty warm.

In the 8 years we have lived in our house, I had never cleared the meter off, so now  I know to keep an eye on it after a storm! Thankfully this happened in the afternoon, so I did not have to go outside in the middle of the night, and also grateful for our son who initially trudged through the snow to clear it off in the first place. You gotta love living in Minnesota in the winter, but I just keep thinking about the warm summer nights out on our deck, and it makes these bitter cold snowy days seem more tolerable! :)

 

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