Tell us what it sounds like
Beacon Hill works on heating, cooling and ventilation for houses and businesses across Erie County. Most of what people ring us about starts as a noise, and half of those calls can be shortened to five minutes on the phone if you can describe it.
Eight noises, and what each one usually is
A bang when the heat starts is not the same as a rattle that goes when you touch the ductwork. One of them means switch it off now; the other can wait until spring.
The page tells you which is which, what it usually turns out to be, and whether to shut the system down before anybody arrives. Two of the eight say stop now. One of them says it is not a fault at all.
Heating, cooling, ducts, ventilation
Four things, for houses and for premises, with the same instruments used on both.
Heating
Gas furnaces and boilers, serviced with a combustion analyser and a written result. Diagnosed from the cheap end, replaced only when the readings say so. Oil where it is still in place.
Cooling
Central air, heat pumps and ductless. Charge measured against the conditions and the plate rather than topped up on sight, and sized from a calculation rather than from what came out.
Ducts
Static pressure, register-by-register airflow, leakage into unconditioned space, and returns that were never large enough. Most comfort complaints live here.
Ventilation
Bathroom and kitchen extract that actually terminates outside, commercial extract, and the make-up air that has to replace whatever is being thrown out.
Maintenance
Annual on houses, twice a year on premises, with readings recorded so the file shows a trend rather than a stack of invoices.
Second opinions
If somebody has quoted you a replacement and you want the numbers behind it checked, that is a visit we will do and we will tell you if they were right.
If it bangs on ignition, switch it off
A bang or a boom when a gas appliance lights is delayed ignition — gas building up before it catches. It is the one noise on this site we ask people to act on immediately, and it is the one most often described as “it’s always done that”.
Turn the appliance off at the thermostat and at the service switch, and ring somebody. It is usually an ordinary repair. It is not usually an emergency. But it is never something to live with, and it tends to get worse rather than better.
Houses and premises, both properly
Homes
Post-war ranches, capes and two-storeys across Cheektowaga, Depew and Lancaster, plus the finished basements and additions that were never properly served. Gas almost everywhere, oil on some streets.
Businesses
Plaza units, restaurants, salons, professional suites, clinics and light industrial. Planned maintenance with a record per unit, extract with make-up air, and fit-out work commissioned rather than switched on and left.
What is not on this website
Each one would be a number we invented.
| Not stated | Why |
|---|---|
| A price | A flame sensor and a boiler replacement are not the same visit. You get a fixed figure on the phone once we know what is installed. |
| A response time | We will not promise an hour on the first cold night of the year when half of Erie County has lost heat. |
| A saving | “Cut your bills by a third” depends on your house, your habits and your tariff. Nobody can know it from a web page. |
| How long it will last | Two identical furnaces on the same street last very different lengths of time. |
Asked often enough to answer here
My furnace bangs when the heat comes on. Is that normal?
No, and it is the one noise on this site we ask people to act on. A bang or a boom on ignition is gas building up before it catches — dirty or misaligned burners, a weak igniter, a partly blocked flue, or gas pressure that is not right. It tends to get worse rather than better and the force of it can damage the heat exchanger. Switch the heating off at the thermostat and at the service switch, and book it. It is not usually an emergency, but it should not keep running.
The outdoor unit hums but nothing happens. What is it?
In summer that is very often a failed run capacitor — the compressor is trying to start and cannot. It is one of the cheapest parts on the system. Switch the cooling off at the thermostat rather than leaving it humming, because a motor drawing current and not turning gets hot, and a capacitor job can become a compressor job. Do not open the outdoor unit: a capacitor holds a charge after the power is off.
There is a rattle from the ducts. Is it worth a call-out?
Usually not on its own. If pressing on the duct or the cabinet changes the noise, it is a loose panel, a missing screw or a hanger that has worked free, and it takes ten minutes at the next service. We would rather say that than sell you a visit. The exception is a rattle inside the blower compartment that does not change when you press on anything — that one is worth looking at sooner.
The vents whistle. Does that matter?
It is worth a measurement. A whistle is air moving too fast through too small an opening, and it is the audible symptom of high static pressure — which shortens the life of the blower, worsens every comfort complaint in the house, and stops any replacement equipment from performing. Check the filter first, because that is free. If it persists with a clean filter, have the static pressure measured rather than living with it.
Will you check a quote somebody else has given me?
Yes. If you have been quoted a replacement and want the numbers behind it checked, that is a visit we will do, and we will tell you if they were right. Most of the time the equipment choice is reasonable and the question is whether the ductwork was ever measured.
Which areas do you cover?
Cheektowaga, Depew, Lancaster, West Seneca, Sloan, Williamsville, Amherst and the east side of Buffalo.
Where we are
3637 Union Rd, Cheektowaga, NY 14225. Monday to Friday, 8am to 4.30pm.
Cheektowaga, Depew, Lancaster, West Seneca, Sloan, Williamsville, Amherst and the east side of Buffalo.