About a month into my first helper job (residential electrical, Irvington and around). My lead mentioned that once it gets cold we'll get calls from people whose boiler or furnace "has no power," and that half the time it's something electrical.
I assumed no-heat was an HVAC or plumbing call. What are electricians usually finding on these? And where's the line between our job and the heating guy's? I don't want to be the new guy poking at a burner.
Electrical Contractor · 22 years · Monmouth County, NJ
Mentor✓ Accepted answer
Honestly most of them are simple: a service switch somebody turned off, a tripped breaker, a thermostat wire that got chewed or cut during a remodel, a bad transformer feeding the controls. The electrician's job is to prove power is getting where it's supposed to, and stop there if it's the heating side. Test, don't guess, and don't start replacing HVAC parts you weren't called for.
got called in once behind an electrician who swapped a whole thermostat when the problem was a blown fuse on the control board lol. know what you're looking at or don't touch it
Vo-tech instructor, plumbing & HVAC · 28 years · Passaic County, NJ
Mentor
From the HVAC side, first: tell the homeowner you're there for the electrical, not the boiler. Second, if your side checks out, say so and let them call the heating company. Electricians who start adjusting burner controls make my life harder.
New to electrical (career switch) · Essex County, NJ
That helps. So the line is: confirm power to the equipment and the controls, then hand it off. Marcus already has me testing everything before I touch it, so at least that part's a habit.