Furnace & Emergency Heating Repair Help in Murrysville, PA

How Murrysville homes stay warm

The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey counts 8,367 occupied homes in Murrysville. Of those, 6,736 (about 80%) heat with utility gas, 1,075 (about 13%) with electricity, 384 (under 5%) with fuel oil or kerosene and 111 with bottled or tank propane. The median home was built in 1979, so a large share of houses are on their second or third furnace, and many of the replacements are high-efficiency units that vent through plastic pipes instead of a chimney.

Each system fails differently. A gas furnace may light and then shut down, a heat pump may run without warming the house, an oil burner may lock out and a propane system may simply run out of fuel. Say which one you have, or describe it: a metal cabinet with a filter slot, an outdoor unit that runs in winter, a tank in the basement or a tank in the yard.

Gas smell or carbon monoxide alarm: leave first

If you smell rotten eggs or a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, get everyone outside before doing anything else. Do not touch light switches or the thermostat, and do not try to restart the furnace. Call 911 from outside; in Westmoreland County, 911 is answered by the county's Department of Public Safety.

Next, call the gas company. Murrysville's list of utility providers names Peoples Natural Gas and also still lists Equitable Gas, a company Peoples took over in 2013; the emergency number is on your bill and on the utility's website. A heating contractor's job starts after the utility or fire department says the house is safe. Our carbon monoxide guide explains the difference between an alarm and a low-battery chirp.

What a Murrysville winter asks of a furnace

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for the Murrysville 2 SW station show about 5,490 heating degree days a year, a normal January low of 21.5°F, about 25 days when the high stays at or below freezing and close to five nights below zero. In those stretches a furnace runs nearly nonstop, and the parts that wear with every cycle, such as hot-surface igniters, flame sensors, inducer motors and blower capacitors, tend to fail when the load peaks.

Snow adds its own lockouts. The station averages about 25 inches a season, and drifts against a side wall can cover the intake and exhaust pipes of a high-efficiency furnace. When that happens the furnace's pressure switch stops it on purpose. If you can reach the pipes safely from the ground, clear them by hand, then try the thermostat once. If it locks out again, call.

When the power goes out, so does the heat

Murrysville's electric utility is West Penn Power, part of FirstEnergy. A gas furnace still needs electricity for its igniter, controls and blower, so a neighborhood outage means no heat even though the gas is fine. Report the outage to the utility rather than calling for furnace service, and call a heating provider only if the furnace stays off after power returns.

If you run a portable generator, keep it outdoors and well away from doors, windows and vents, never in a garage, even with the door open. Ready.gov's power outage guidance repeats the same warning because generator exhaust is a leading cause of carbon monoxide poisoning during outages.

Heat pumps, oil burners and propane

A heat pump in a deep cold snap leans on backup electric heat, so a house that feels cool while the outdoor unit runs is not always a breakdown. Light frost that melts during defrost cycles is normal. A coil buried in ice that never clears, an outdoor unit that has stopped completely or an emergency heat light that stays on are reasons to call.

For an oil furnace or boiler, check the tank gauge first. If the burner has locked out, press the reset button once at most; pressing it repeatedly can pump unburned oil into the combustion chamber. For propane, look at the tank gauge, and if you smell gas, leave the house and call the propane supplier's emergency line from outside.

Questions to settle before you approve work

Ask what the diagnostic or trip fee is, whether nights and weekends cost more and whether common parts are carried on the truck. Get the diagnosis in writing with the failed part named. If the furnace is more than about 15 years old and the repair is large, ask for a repair-versus-replace comparison; our guide on that decision lists what to weigh.

A full replacement or a change of fuel can involve permits under the Uniform Construction Code, which Murrysville enforces through its Community Development office on Sardis Road. Ask the provider who handles any permit and confirm with that office if you are unsure.

Staying warm until the technician arrives

Never use a gas oven or a fuel-burning heater meant for outdoor use to heat the house. Close off unused rooms, gather everyone in one space, add layers and keep faucets on outside walls dripping so pipes do not freeze while the heat is off. If anyone in the house is elderly, very young or medically fragile and the house is getting cold fast, treat that as an emergency and seek a warm place.

Write down when the heat stopped, the indoor temperature now and anything you noticed beforehand, such as repeated clicking, a loud blower, a burning-dust smell or a light code. Then call the number on this page. Referral service. Calls may be recorded and may be routed to an independent local service provider.

Sources for Murrysville facts on this page

• U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, B25040 House Heating Fuel (Murrysville)
• U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, B25035 Median Year Structure Built (Murrysville)
• NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, Murrysville 2 SW, PA station (USC00366111)
• Municipality of Murrysville: Important Phone Numbers (utility providers)
• Peoples Gas: Emergency
• Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety: 9-1-1 FAQs
• Ready.gov: Power Outages
• Municipality of Murrysville: Community Development FAQs (permits and adopted codes)