No heat in a Quincy nor'easter, a lockout that will not clear, or an outdoor tank gone waxy — call any time. The emergency telephone line is available 24/7 and true Explain urgent symptoms first.
General inquiries: 7 AM–7 PM · Emergency calls: 24/7 · (888) 766-1474
The decision framework.
Call now: no heat with temperatures below freezing, any fuel or water leak, soot/smoke, CO alarm, or a multi-unit outage. Can wait until morning: heat working but noisy, one cold room, pressure slightly low but stable, or a fault that reset once and is holding.
The gray zone — heat working but the boiler locked out once — deserves a next-morning call at minimum. Intermittent lockouts are progressive; they do not self-heal. When in doubt, call: you can call to describe the problem, and a 2 AM worry is worse than a 2 AM call.
Nor'easter rules.
What helps.
Note the error code (gas) or lockout pattern (oil). Oil households: check whether the tank is outdoor and note the temperature — waxing is the prime suspect below ~15°F. Protect pipes: open sink cabinets, let taps drip. Do not keep resetting a locked-out burner.
Quincy's signature emergency.
Quincy has more outdoor oil tanks than most of our markets — and they are the cold-snap failure point. Below about 15°F, standard heating oil thickens and waxes, starving the burner while the gauge reads half full. Prevention: winter-blend fuel or anti-gel additive (asked for at delivery, not after), and keeping the tank full (full tanks wax slower). If it happens: the line needs warming and the filter likely needs changing — call, do not improvise with torches.
Five minutes before you call.
Bring those findings to the call and triage starts thirty seconds ahead. If the fault code points to ignition, gas boiler repair in Quincy explains what the tech tests first; if the tank is the story, see oil boiler repair in Quincy.
When the power goes.
No power means no heat, full stop: the burner, circulators, and zone valves all need electricity. During a nor'easter outage, conserve what the house holds — keep doors closed, avoid opening exterior doors — and protect pipes on exterior walls by dripping taps and opening sink cabinets. Know your main water shutoff before January; it is the one valve that matters in a burst-pipe scenario.
When power returns, watch the restart. Burners that tripped or starved during the outage often lock out instead of firing cleanly — one reset attempt is reasonable, then call. Outdoor oil tanks that sat through the cold snap may have waxed; tell the triage if the outage overlapped with sub-15°F weather, because it changes the diagnosis.
Straight answers before you call.
Check the thermostat, the red emergency switch, and the breaker — then call (888) 766-1474. Do not keep resetting a locked-out burner during a storm; repeated resets without a fix flood the chamber with unburned fuel. True emergencies are triaged first, 24/7, even in the worst weather.
If water is reaching the burner or electrical controls, yes — shut the boiler down and call the 24/7 line. Coastal storm flooding plus a boiler is a bad combination. Note whether the water is coming from the boiler itself or from outside; it changes the response.
Do not flip switches or touch the boiler — leave the building and call the gas utility's emergency line from outside, then call us at (888) 766-1474. Gas odor skips triage and goes straight to emergency protocol. The utility makes it safe; we handle the boiler side after.
Very — a multi going cold in a nor'easter moves to the front of the queue, because several households and freeze risk are both in play. Call the 24/7 line and say how many units are affected. While waiting, keep faucets dripping slightly where pipes run along outside walls.
Call (888) 766-1474 and say both things — the empty outdoor tank and the dead burner. Runouts pull air and sludge into the line, so the restart needs a professional prime and bleed after delivery. Do not keep hitting reset; describe what the burner is doing instead.
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