No heat in a Taunton winter, a burner that will not stay lit, water where it should not be — 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
Heat is comfort; pipes are money.
A Taunton no-heat call in January is really a pipe-freeze call — worker multis with original piping, upper units that sit empty between tenancies, capes with plumbing in exterior walls. In sustained teens, those pipes can freeze within hours, and a burst does more damage than any boiler repair costs. While waiting: open sink cabinets on exterior walls, let faucets drip (hot and cold), keep interior doors open for circulation. Know your main water shutoff now — not during the emergency. In a multi, tell the tenants on the cold side to drip taps too; the frozen pipe is rarely in the unit that places the call.
The Taunton list.
Useful, not busywork.
Note the lockout pattern — how long the burner fires before locking out, and whether it is getting worse week to week. Oil homes: check the tank gauge and the tank’s age if you know it; “quarter tank, locking out every cycle” is a complete triage report. Gas homes: note any error code on the display. Protect the pipes: cabinets open, taps dripping, interior doors open. Do not keep resetting a locked-out burner — each failed reset dumps unburned oil into the chamber and turns a nozzle job into a flooded mess.
The mill-city pattern.
Taunton’s pattern is the mill-city pattern: systems installed when the housing went up — downtown, Whittenton, Oakland — running 30 to 40 years with service skipped in the good years. A burner that missed five tune-ups does not fail politely; it fails at 2 AM in single digits on the coldest night of the year. The triage question “when was it last serviced” is not small talk — “never” tells us to expect compound wear: nozzle, electrodes, filter, and tank sludge all at once. Say it plainly on the call, and book the fall tune-up next year so January stays boring.
Two minutes before you call.
1) Thermostat — set to heat, setpoint above room temp, fresh batteries if it takes them. 2) Breaker — boiler circuit on, not tripped. 3) Pressure gauge — 12–15 psi cold on a two-story home; near zero means a leak or failed expansion tank, not a boiler that “just needs resetting.” 4) Oil tank — gauge reading and tank age if known. 5) Red reset button — press once, and only once; if it locks out again, stop. Bring those five answers and triage takes minutes. Gas odor, pouring water, or a CO alarm skips the checklist — shut down, get out if needed, and call.
Straight answers before you call.
Check the thermostat, the red emergency switch (usually at the top of the basement stairs), and the breaker — then call (888) 766-1474. A multi going cold means several households, so it jumps the queue. Do not keep hitting reset on a locked-out burner; tell triage what the burner is doing instead.
No heat in freezing weather, active water leaking from the boiler, any gas or strong oil odor, or a burner that will not stay running. A new noise or uneven heat with the system still heating can usually wait for a scheduled visit. When unsure, describe the symptom — triage will sort it in a minute or two, 24/7.
Call the 24/7 line and say both things — the empty tank and the dead burner. Runouts pull air and sludge into the fuel line, so the restart needs a professional prime and bleed after delivery. Do not keep hitting reset while you wait for oil.
Get everyone out and call 911 from outside — do not re-enter until the fire department clears the house. A CO alarm near a boiler means incomplete combustion or a venting failure until proven otherwise. Once cleared, call (888) 766-1474; the boiler does not run again until a tech finds the cause.
Yes — shut it down and call the 24/7 line, especially if water is reaching the burner or electrical parts. Note where the water is coming from if you can see it safely. An active leak that is spreading is an emergency; a slow weep can wait for a scheduled visit.
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