GREENFIELD — The past couple of weeks of wicked cold weather have put a strain on first responders and a strain on some local professionals.
For Sandri’s Heating Service Manager of about 40 years, Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III, the weather has led to a host of problems in the community.
“I’ve been in the heating industry for 40 years and it’s very seldom we have a cold snap for this long, for this duration,” Dunnell said.
Dunnell, who is also Northfield’s fire chief, said during this brutal cold stretch, Sandri has seen a roughly 200 percent increase in replacement of heating components from what there would be in a normal winter.
There have been a few freeze ups of heating systems as well, Dunnell said. Last week, temperatures broke above 20 degrees for a day, after a six-day stretch below that marker, which hadn’t happened since 1961, according to National Weather Service data from Amherst.
He explained a major reason why people have experienced issues with their heating systems is because with extreme cold temperatures, systems have essentially been doing overtime to keep homes warm. This leads to a strain on the parts and can eventually cause something to break down, Dunnell said.
Part of the strain can be explained by the temperatures dropping, and consistently staying below 5 degrees, Dunnell said. The heating systems are set to work in temperatures above about 5 degrees, but when the cold dips below for a while, heating systems can get out of whack.
Dunnell’s suggestion is to keep your thermostats on a manual setting, instead of potentially changing the temperature of the home at night. When the thermostat is programmed to fluctuate, it can cause an issue with these temperatures falling below 5 degrees.
You can reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264