The big shiver
By Steve Herring and Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on February 18, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Mike Thompson, Jackson & Sons heating technician, works to repair a frozen heat pump in the back yard of a home running on emergency heat on Cashwell Drive this morning. Thompson says if the freon in the heating unit is low it will freeze and cause the heating capacity to drop.
The truck drivers who deliver fuel to homes and the technicians who bring frozen heating units back to life have been perhaps the most popular people in Wayne County over the past few days.
And they can expect that popularity to last for the rest of the week as the brutal Arctic air mass that brought up to a half inch of ice to Wayne County is in no hurry to leave.
Central North Carolina, including Wayne County, was under a winter weather advisory for black ice this morning.
It is under a wind chill advisory for tonight into Friday morning as the combination of brisk winds and frigid temperatures will result in dangerously cold sub-zero wind chills.
Today's high will be around 40, but will only reach 21 on Thursday and 23 on Friday.
There is even a slight chance of rain or snow today into tonight.
"Herring Heating and Air Conditioning has been pretty popular today (Tuesday)," said Mary Kay Smith. "People are stuck in their house, can't get out and are cold."
The Mount Olive business fielded 35 calls between 3 a.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. that afternoon.
"It has just been a mess," she said.
People who use heat pumps were told to flip the switch to emergency heat until the unit can be inspected and repaired.
That setting utilizes the heat strips which consume much more electricity than the normal setting, she said.
The customers also were told to pour hot water on the unit to help thaw it out before the technician arrives in order to speed up the troubleshooting and repairs.
"I can't even begin to think what it will be like Friday. It won't warm up enough to thaw out," she said.
Jerry Jackson of Jackson and Sons Heating and Air Conditioning in Dudley said the company prepared for the worst.
"Honestly, today has not been as bad as we thought it was going to be," he said, adding, "It could be a different story Thursday and Friday."
The company received 30 calls Tuesday, about double for an average day. However, plans had been made ahead of time, and the company had enough technicians on call to handle the load.
Scheduling made a difference as well.
"I had scheduled to be open and would not do any minor repairs, but we called and let people know it might take a day or two," he said. "But we made sure they had heat first."
Calls Tuesday varied from units making noise to some blowing cold air.
The noise complaints can be a simple fix, normally it is the unit's fan striking ice that has gotten into it.
There were three of those calls and in one case, the ice actually kept the fan from turning, Jackson said.
Some of the problems tackled could have been avoided had routine maintenance been performed on the units since the extreme cold weather can make those kind of problems worse, he said.
Ms. Smith, Jackson and Tom Ferrell of E.T. Ferrell and Son Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning of Mount Olive, all said that the icy roads had been a problem as well -- getting to work and answering calls.
Ferrell said his company ran a skeleton crew, but tried to respond to as many calls as possible.
The company probably had 100 calls, he said.
"We always try to get them knocked down as quickly as we can," he said. "A lot of people we were able to get fixed over the phone by telling people what to do."
Like Jackson, Ferrell said some of the problems had been caused by ice buildup.
In one case, a commercial customer told Ferrell that a rooftop unit sounded like a helicopter was on top of the building.
While regular customers are a top priority, special attention is given to the elderly who are less able to cope with the cold, he said
In some case people had simply forgotten to check their gas tanks and had run out of gas.
One caller told Ferrell the gauge on the tank was broken and that was why they did not know their gas tank was so low.
Gas companies in the area saw an influx of service and delivery calls on Monday this week as homeowners prepared for the wintery weather.
Judy Caveness of Mt. Olive Gas said people were unsure about what would happen.
"Everyone knew the weather was coming," she said. "They wanted to make sure they had plenty of gas on hand."
She said the company helped its patrons clean out heaters and light gas logs before the wintery weather hit. She estimated service calls quadrupled on Monday.
Donna Hunter at Sandhill Gas inn the Mar-Mac community said it experienced a similar increase in business, especially for delivery calls.
In the future, she said she recommends homeowners check their optional heating appliances more than 48 hours before the cold hits.
"Go ahead and check it early," she said. "If drivers can't get there because of road conditions, we still know the customer is okay."
Plumbing companies have not experienced an influx in repair calls yet.
Kevin Speight of Precision Plumbing Inc.. said he is waiting until Sunday's warmer weather before people start calling.
"Once we get a big thaw, then we'll see the pipes burst or leaking," he said.
Pipes can freeze when the weather dips into the teens or below for an extended period of time. Speight said it has to be colder than average to worry about them.
He recommends running a little water through the pipes and opening cupboards to let heat get under the sinks.
"That way the water moving will not freeze," he said. "But when it gets this cold, there's not a lot you can do about it."
He said if the pipes are leaking after Sunday's thaw, cut the water off at the meter and call for a repair.
"They'll come and find where the leak is, hopefully the pipes don't bust," he said.