NEW ORLEANS - Wayne Kramer was more than happy Wednesday when two heating and cooling workers came by his home. With the freezing temperatures, he had to make sure that his heater was functioning properly.
"When I got up this morning, it was extremely cold," Kramer said.
But before he reached for his thermostat last night, he decided to keep everything off.
"Because I don't want nothing starting a fire. You're supposed to do it, I think in the middle of the year just to check the heater part. But, I didn't do that so I'm nervous about it," Kramer said.
It's the reason why technician Scott Berthelot and helper Jarrod Rivas are brought the ladder and opened the attic, to inspect Wayne's furnace. Berthelot also checked the switches and the wires.
"I look at the gas line to make sure no oil or any leaks or whatever," Berthelot said.
He also checked the outside of the container.
"You want to make sure your vent pipes are not touching wood," Berthelot said.
Once everything looked okay, Berthelot checked the flames.
"It looks good. The other thing you look for is if you have a lot of yellow flame. And you're getting oxygen from the chambers in. So, you want a nice, blue flame," Berthelot said.
With the flip of the switch, Wayne finally felt the heat.
"The biggest thing I tell everybody, stay on top of your filters. Once a month. That's the best thing you can do for your air conditioning, or your heater," Berthelot said.
It's been a pretty busy night for the entire crew of National Temperature Control in Metairie.
The company covers heating and cooling repairs throughout the New Orleans area.
"We've probably had over 20 plus service calls today. Some of them range from people just wanting their heaters checked, others are calling 'cause they just don't have any heat," NTC Owner Frank Massicot said.
Massicot also says residents need to get a carbon monoxide detector.
"You should install it somewhere near your return air vent, somewhere near where the gas furnace is stored in the home," Massicot said.
Caresse Jackman can be reached at cjackman@wwltv.com.