LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — With single-digit temperatures in the forecast, plumbers are working overtime this week, and likely, so is your heating system.
Bill Keating Jr. with Keating Brothers Plumbing and Heating says when it gets this cold, your system will not respond as quickly as it does when it's in the 30s or 40s, and that is okay.
"Because of how old some of the houses are, they're not insulated to the correct values, like you have in a brand new building, and the boiler just works a lot more," he explained.
Plumbers in Lackawanna County say that is what most of the calls are about this time of year. But if you have a bigger problem, like a unit that is just beyond repair, there are pandemic-related production delays right now.
"The biggest issue is product; we don't have a lot of product. There are no boilers available, unfortunately, or very few of them," said Wayne Pisanchyn, Wayne J. Pisanchyn Inc. Plumbing & Heating
Wayne Pisanchyn spent Monday morning checking on a boiler he installed just last week; he says this homeowner was lucky to get one, especially since it is about to get frigid. He does not expect to see any real problems with pipes freezing this week because typically, you will need three nights in a row of really cold.
"So we only see two days here, two nights of cold weather. If you have an area that's prone to freezing and has frozen in the past, you need to drip a faucet or pay attention," he said.
And of course, the type of water line you have in the house is important, too. Copper pipes are more susceptible to freezing.
"A lot of this new PEX stuff, some of it will expand to about 30 times its original size. So it will freeze, it will blow up a little bit, but typically they won't break. It's just keeping an eye on everything. You have to be vigilant and just make sure everything in your house is tuned up just like you do in your car," Keating said.
After two nights of single digits, it will not be anywhere near as cold by the end of the week.