What to Do When Your Heat Goes Out in Winter

Losing heat during a Maine cold snap is more than uncomfortable — it can quickly turn into burst pipes and serious water damage. If your furnace, boiler, or heat pump has stopped working, here is exactly what to do.

First, check the simple things. Make sure your thermostat is set to heat and a few degrees above the current room temperature. Replace the batteries if the screen is blank. Then check your electrical panel for a tripped breaker — a furnace or boiler that lost power often just needs its breaker reset once.

Next, check the system itself. For a gas furnace or boiler, confirm the gas supply is on. For an oil system, check that you have not run out of fuel — it happens more often than people expect during a long cold stretch. Many furnaces also have a switch that looks like a light switch nearby; make sure it has not been flipped off accidentally.

If you have a heat pump, look at the outdoor unit. If it is encased in ice or buried in snow, the system may have gone into a fault. Clear snow away from the unit, but never chip at ice with a tool — you can damage the coils.

While you wait for service, protect your home. Keep cabinet doors under sinks open so warm air reaches the pipes, let faucets drip slightly to keep water moving, and close off rooms you are not using to concentrate heat. If the house is getting dangerously cold, use safe space heaters and never an oven or grill.

If the heat does not come back after these basic checks, do not wait — the longer your home stays cold, the higher the risk of frozen and burst pipes. Aces Highlands prioritizes no-heat emergencies across Greater Portland and Southern Maine, and we answer the phone, including after hours. Call us and we will get your home warm again as fast as we can.