If the utility company has announced a natural gas outage in your area, and you have an older furnace or hot water tank, you may need to relight your pilot light once the gas service is restored. Often the utility company will go door to door and offer to relight them for you. The outage can cause an air lock in the gas line when your furnace is trying to light during the outage, which can make relighting a bit tricky. Newer furnaces use hot surface ignitors rather than pilot lights. For these furnaces, our techs recommend that you turn the power switch to your furnace off during the outage. When you know the service has been restored, turn the switch back on and that should help minimize the lock-out.

Electrical outages can cause power surges when the lines power up which can damage circuitry in newer furnaces. To help prevent these issues, turn the furnace power switch off during the outage. Once the power has been restored and stabilized, turn the switch back on. An electrician can install a full home surge protector for you which can protect your furnace and other electrical appliances.

If you need help after an outage, give us a call 780-532-4418 (M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm), or after hours, weekends and holidays call 780-532-5210.

 In Grande Prairie, we can have humidity issues in our homes (summer vs winter).

In the summer we have higher humidity and the higher it gets, the hotter it feels. When sized correctly, air conditioning will remove the moisture as it cools the home, resulting in a more comfortable cool.

In the winter we usually have the opposite problem. As our furnaces run, the ductwork brings in fresh air and when that air is heated, the relative humidity can be very low. Adding a humidifier for the winter months will increase the humidity which will make the home feel a bit warmer and more comfortable.

Give LSM a call at 780-532-4418 or email for more information.