Furnace-safety checkups aid hundreds of households

By JoAnne Viviano

The Columbus Dispatch Saturday September 29, 2012 1:52 PM

Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning senior serviceman Larry Berner checks a carbon monoxide detector during an inspection of Sam Freeman's furnace.

Hundreds of Columbus residents received free furnace inspections and repairs today as technicians volunteered their time to help make sure vulnerable families stay warm and safe this winter.

About 150 volunteers from 50 local heating-and-cooling companies were part of the Heat the Town event to assist senior citizens and low-income or disabled residents throughout the city. Technicians ran tests on heating systems, completed repairs and checked carbon monoxide detectors.

Sam Freeman, 94, said he had a new furnace installed in his Franklinton home free of charge through the program about seven years ago. If not for the help, he said, hed be forced to turn his home over to his children and move into a senior citizens home. Today, technicians who inspected the system said everything checked out OK.

Such service calls would cost about $250 each, and a new furnace can cost as much as $10,000.

Columbus Division of Fire Lt. David Sawyer said many of the homes in low-income neighborhoods are at least a century old and owners cant afford a service contract, let alone a new heating system.

What you guys are doing, you are actually saving lives, he told the crowd of technicians who gathered at Carr Supply Inc. on the North Side before starting the days work. Youre reducing injuries and fatalities.

The project partners the fire department with the central Ohio chapter of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America trade group and the IMPACT Community Action social service agency. Since 2004, members of the trade group have donated more than $250,000 in parts and labor to approximately 1,300 homes.

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Furnace-safety checkups aid hundreds of households