Some heating and cooling failures can wait for a booked visit, and a few cannot. In Hayward, the calls that cannot wait are about safety (a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, a burning smell from the furnace or air handler) or about people at risk: no heat on a night in the 40s with a baby, an older person or someone ill at home, or no cooling in a heat wave. Our emergency line is open 24/7, in English and Spanish. Here is what to do first, and how to tell an emergency from a problem that can wait until morning.
If you smell gas: leave first
A rotten-egg smell near the furnace, water heater or a gas line can mean a leak. Safety comes before the repair:
- Get everyone out of the house now.
- Do not switch lights, appliances or the thermostat on or off, and do not use a phone, lighter or anything that can spark while you are inside.
- From outside, call the gas utility or 911.
- Do not go back in until they tell you it is safe. If the gas was shut off at the meter, do not turn it back on yourself; let the gas utility restore it.
- Then call us to repair the furnace or the connection.
If the carbon monoxide alarm sounds
Carbon monoxide has no smell, so treat every alarm as real. Get everyone, pets included, into fresh air outside and call 911, especially if anyone has a headache, dizziness, nausea or confusion. Do not go back in until the fire department or the utility has cleared the house, and do not restart the furnace until it has been inspected. On the furnace side, the usual causes are a cracked heat exchanger and a blocked or disconnected vent; our heating repair visit checks both.
A burning or electrical smell
A dusty smell for the first few minutes after the furnace starts for the season is normal: dust on the burners is burning off. A smell of hot plastic or wiring, smoke, sparks or a smell that keeps getting stronger is different. Turn the system off at the thermostat and at the breaker if you can do it safely, then call. If you see smoke or flame, leave and call 911.
Emergency, urgent or can wait?
| Situation | How urgent | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Gas smell | Emergency | Leave, then call the gas utility or 911 from outside |
| CO alarm, or CO symptoms at home | Emergency | Get outside, call 911, keep the furnace off |
| Electrical burning smell, smoke or sparks | Emergency | System off at the breaker; 911 if there is smoke or flame |
| Water pouring from the furnace, AC or air handler | Emergency | System off, contain the water, call the line |
| No heat on a cold night with a baby, older adult or someone ill at home | Emergency | Call the line; keep everyone in one warm room |
| No cooling in a heat wave with vulnerable people at home | Urgent, same day | Call; move to the coolest room, run fans, drink water |
| Grinding, screeching or loud banging that is getting worse | Urgent, same day | Turn the system off and call |
| Breaker trips every time the system starts | Urgent | Reset it once; if it trips again, leave it off and call |
| System works but not as well, a minor new noise, a degree or two off | Can wait | Book a regular visit |
| A tune-up, or planning a replacement | Can wait | Book maintenance or an inspection |
A breaker that trips under the AC has its own guide: AC tripping the breaker.
While you wait for the technician
- Gather everyone in one room with the door closed, with extra layers and blankets.
- If you use a space heater, plug it straight into a wall outlet, not an extension cord, and keep it at least three feet from bedding, curtains and furniture.
- Never heat the house with a gas oven, stovetop, grill or generator. All of them can produce carbon monoxide indoors.
- In a heat wave, close the blinds on the sunny side, run fans, drink water and stay in the coolest room.
Hill homes lose heat faster on cold, windy nights than homes in the flats, so if the heat is out up there, call early in the evening rather than waiting to see how cold it gets.
How the emergency line works
Call (650) 540-7205 at any hour. Tell us what you smell, see or hear, and whether anyone at home is at higher risk; that is how we judge how fast the visit has to be. The technician diagnoses first, and you get a flat price before any work starts, with no hidden fees, whatever the hour. Our technicians carry common parts, so many failures are fixed on the first visit. For problems that are not emergencies, same-day service is available for urgent repairs, and most other visits are booked within 24 hours.
Be ready before it happens
- Know where your gas shutoff is, so you can point the gas utility or the fire department to it.
- Test your carbon monoxide detectors monthly and replace the batteries when they chirp.
- Keep our number and the gas utility’s emergency number where everyone in the house can find them.
- Book a yearly tune-up. Most failing parts give warning signs that a technician catches before they become a night-time call.