The weather has been gorgeous! Why can I not stop thinking about heating? We are experiencing one of the "warmest" Octobers on record since they started recording the weather more than a hundred years ago. "Warm" for October translates into beautiful sunny days. The only thing that would make it better would be if we could get some rain.

Only a guy in the heating business would be think about heat right now, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I know that your heating system has been lying dormant all summer and this means that the electrical components of your system will have to turn on from a dead stop and that all types of gunk and grime has been building up on the latent moving parts of your heating system.

This is why most heating system failures occur the first or second time your system comes on. When you first notice it getting chilly in the house and switch that thermostat over to heat, those grime covered parts are going to have to grind into action. That's a really great way to kill your heat. It's kind of like playing football without properly warming up first. You set yourself up for all kinds of unnecessary injuries.

Why do I worry about things like this? Because I'm in the heating business. I want you to let me send one of my technicians to your house now, before you need heat, to make sure that everything will work. This will make me happy in two ways. I'll get the opportunity to take care of you and I won't have to try to take care of you during the first cold snap when everybody and their brother who didn't plan ahead for the heating season turns that old system on and realizes they are in trouble.