Browse our heating and cooling services.
Short answer
In this climate a heating failure has a second clock behind it: the plumbing. Once indoor temperature nears freezing, the cost stops being the repair and becomes the pipes. Report the indoor temperature first. Note that oil and propane systems need electricity for controls: an outage stops them with a full tank. That combination is what should set urgency, instead of discomfort.
A house at fifteen degrees with somebody in it is a different call from an unoccupied property already at four, and the second is the one where damage is accumulating. Before calling, note the indoor temperature, the fuel, whether there is power, and whether the property is occupied. Those four facts decide the response, and none of them is obvious from the words 'no heat'.
Jobs this covers
- Boiler no-heat service
- Furnace no-heat service
- Heat pump failure
- Partial heat and cold-zone problems
- Thermostat and control diagnosis
- Frozen-pipe risk coordination
Common problems and warning signs
- The equipment will not start
- It starts and shuts down
- One zone is cold
- The thermostat calls for heat but nothing happens
- The home is losing temperature
- Heat works but hot water does not, or the reverse
What service may include
Check the emergency switch before calling. A heating professional may check controls, fuel or power, safeties, pumps or blowers, ignition, distribution and equipment condition before making a repair or explaining replacement needs.
What affects the recommendation and price
Parts for older boilers can take days. System type, fuel, fault, parts availability, number of zones, outdoor temperature, access and whether plumbing is at risk affect timing and cost.
What is different around Burlington
At a property that is unoccupied or seasonal, nobody is watching the temperature fall, which is why remote monitoring is worth more here than almost anywhere else.
What a written quote should tell you
- What actually failed, distinguished from what was reset
- Whether the cause was addressed or the system merely restarted
- For delivered fuel, whether a run-out was involved and whether the line was bled
- What to do if it fails again before a part arrives, and whether temporary heat is available
- Whether the diagnosis suggests the system is near the end of its life, said plainly
| Fact | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Indoor temperature | Sets the clock on when it becomes a plumbing problem, not just a comfort one |
| Fuel and power status | Oil and propane systems still need electricity: a common misdiagnosis |
| Occupied or not | An unoccupied property accumulates damage with nobody watching |
How to check a heating system before calling for no heat
These six checks resolve a meaningful share of no-heat calls, and they cost nothing.
Before you start: Press an oil burner reset button once and only once. Repeatedly resetting pumps unburned fuel into the combustion chamber, which is genuinely dangerous. If you smell gas, leave the building and call the utility from outside.
- Check the thermostat. Confirm it is set to heat, set above the current room temperature, and actually calling. Replace the batteries: a thermostat with weak batteries can display normally and do nothing.
- Find the system's own switch. Most Vermont boilers and furnaces have a service switch on the wall nearby that looks exactly like a light switch, often at the top of the basement stairs. It gets switched off by mistake constantly.
- Check the breaker. Look at the panel. A tripped breaker may not look obviously different: switch it fully off and then back on.
- Check the fuel. For oil or propane, check the tank gauge. A system that has run out will not restart on its own even after a delivery, and it usually needs bleeding.
- Check the filter. On forced air, a filter clogged enough to restrict airflow will trip the furnace's high limit repeatedly. If it is grey and matted, change it and try again.
- Press the reset once. On an oil burner, press the reset button a single time. If it fires and runs, good. If it fires and stops again, stop and call: do not press it a second time.
- If there is no heat overnight and it is below freezing, protect the plumbing. If heat cannot be restored, shut the water off at the main and open all fixtures to drain the system. A drained house is a much better outcome than burst pipes in every exterior wall.
Safety comes first
For gas odor, a carbon-monoxide alarm, smoke, fire or unsafe electrical conditions, leave the building when appropriate and call 911 or the relevant utility. Do not wait for normal service.
Common questions
Is one cold room a no-heat emergency?
Usually it is a distribution or zone problem rather than complete heat loss, but freezing pipes or vulnerable occupants can make it more urgent.
Can a heat pump still run when it is very cold?
Cold-climate equipment can operate at low temperatures, but capacity, setup, maintenance and backup design determine whether it keeps up.
How do I protect pipes during heat loss?
Tell the heating professional about vulnerable plumbing, close windows, use only safe approved backup heat and arrange a warmer location for occupants if temperatures continue falling.
What is a high limit switch and why does it shut my furnace down?
It is a safety that shuts off the burner when the heat exchanger gets hotter than it should, and it is doing its job rather than failing. The usual cause is insufficient airflow, a clogged filter, closed or blocked registers, a failing blower, or undersized ductwork, so heat builds up in the exchanger instead of being carried away. A furnace that fires, runs briefly, shuts off, and repeats is the classic pattern, and it is called short cycling. Changing the filter is the first thing to try, because a restricted filter causes this more often than anything else and it is the cheapest possible fix.
How do I know if it is the thermostat or the system?
Take the thermostat out of the equation. If it has a fan-only setting and the fan runs, the thermostat has power and the wiring to the equipment is intact, which points at the heating side. If nothing happens at all, suspect power, the switch or the thermostat itself. A useful test for a conventional low-voltage system is to turn the power off, remove the thermostat and briefly connect the R and W wires together, if the system fires, the thermostat is the fault. If you are not comfortable doing that, note it as the question to ask, because it changes the price a great deal.
What should I check myself before calling about no heat?
Six things, and they resolve a meaningful share of no-heat calls. Is the thermostat set to heat and calling, with fresh batteries? Is the system's own switch on: many Vermont boilers and furnaces have a switch on the wall that looks exactly like a light switch, and it gets turned off by mistake? Is the breaker on? For oil, is there fuel in the tank, and has the reset button on the burner been pressed once and only once? For gas, is the pilot lit? And is the filter so clogged that the furnace is tripping on high limit? Press a burner reset once. Repeatedly resetting an oil burner floods the chamber with unburned fuel and is genuinely dangerous.
What happens to a Vermont house with no heat?
The plumbing is the clock. Depending on outdoor temperature, insulation and how much thermal mass the building has, an unheated house can reach freezing inside within roughly 12 to 48 hours in a Vermont winter, and pipes on exterior walls freeze before the middle of the house does. If heat cannot be restored the same day and temperatures are below freezing, the protective step is to drain the system: water off at the main, all fixtures opened, toilets and traps handled, and a hydronic heating system drained or protected too. That is a much better outcome than a burst supply line in every exterior wall.
How quickly can a no-heat call be answered?
That is set by the independent contractor and by how many other no-heat calls are ahead of yours, and this site does not promise a time on anyone's behalf. What is predictable is the pattern: the first cold snap of the season and the coldest night of the year produce the heaviest call volume of the winter, because that is when marginal equipment fails. The practical implication is that a system serviced in October is being looked at on a normal day, and a system that failed in January is queueing.
If I rent and the heat fails, what are my rights in Vermont?
Heat is squarely within Vermont's warranty of habitability at 9 V.S.A. § 4457, and a landlord must maintain the heating facilities in good working order. This is not a discretionary amenity. Notify the landlord immediately and in writing, keep the timestamp, and document indoor temperatures. Vermont law provides remedies where a landlord fails to act on an essential service, but they have procedures attached, so contact Vermont Legal Aid or a tenants' rights service, not improvising a rent withholding. If the unit becomes unsafe, the town health officer is also a route.
Is a no-heat repair warrantied?
The repair that restores heat carries the contractor's standard labor warranty, typically 90 days to a year, but if the failure was a symptom of a larger problem, an aging heat exchanger, a boiler near end of life, that underlying issue is not covered by fixing the immediate fault.