FR Heating & Cooling LLCSouth Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Call (414) 712-8506
A frozen lakeshore at first light: shelf ice, sea smoke over dark water, and the posts of an old wooden pier
Thermostat

Outside

4°

A January cold snap on Lake Michigan

Inside

68°

Your living room

The sixty four degrees between you and the lake.

FR Heating & Cooling LLC · Fabjan Ymetllari · South Milwaukee, Wisconsin · an LLC since 2023

Call (414) 712-8506 Text Fabjan Email Fabjan

HeatingThermostat set to heat

Three kinds of furnace call.

Repair. The furnace quit. Or it runs all night and the house never gets warm. That is the call nobody plans for, and it tends to come in January.

Replacement. The furnace is old, the repair bills keep coming, and you would rather put that money into a new one. Tell me what you have and how old it is, and I will take it from there.

Tune up. Nothing is wrong yet. You want the furnace looked over before the first cold night so it does not turn into a repair call later. That is a fall tune up.

A grey Cape Cod house after a snowfall under a blue sky, smoke rising from the chimney, a car in the plowed drive
A Cape Cod after snow, chimney going

What a fall tune up usually covers

  • Filter checked and changed
  • Burners and ignition
  • Heat exchanger inspection
  • Blower motor and wheel
  • Thermostat operation
  • Venting and flue
  • Carbon monoxide check

General guidance on what a tune up usually includes, not the checklist for a specific visit. Ask what a visit covers when you call.

Cooling

Three kinds of air conditioner call.

Repair. The air conditioner runs, but the air coming out is not cold. Or it will not start at all, on the hottest afternoon of the year. That is a repair call.

Replacement. The central air has limped through one July too many and you are done nursing it. A replacement is worth planning before the heat wave, not during it.

Tune up. Nothing is wrong yet. You want the air conditioner checked before summer so it is ready on the first hot day. That is a spring tune up.

A quiet street of brick bungalows on a hazy July evening, a white rocking chair on a porch under striped awnings
A street of bungalows on a July evening

What a spring tune up usually covers

  • Filter checked and changed
  • Indoor and outdoor coils cleaned
  • Refrigerant charge checked
  • Condensate drain cleared
  • Fan motor and capacitor
  • Thermostat operation

General guidance on what a tune up usually includes, not the checklist for a specific visit. Ask what a visit covers when you call.

If the heat quits

When the furnace quits at night.

Four things to check before you pick up the phone. None of them needs a tool.

  1. The thermostat

    Check that it is set to Heat and the setpoint is above the room temperature. If it runs on batteries, put in fresh ones.

  2. The filter

    A filter packed with dust can make a furnace overheat and shut itself off. Slide it out. If you cannot see light through it, replace it and try again.

  3. The power

    Check the breaker for the furnace, then the switch on or beside the furnace itself. It looks like a light switch, and it gets flipped by mistake.

  4. Then call

    Tell me what the furnace is doing, when it started, and the make and rough age if you know them. A photo of the data plate on the cabinet helps.

A round dial thermostat on a cream plaster wall, its single needle pointing up past the top of the scale
A round dial thermostat on a plaster wall

If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house and call 911 first. Everything else can wait.

Repair or replace

Repair it, or replace it?

Every old furnace asks this question eventually, and every old air conditioner too. There is no formula, but there are patterns worth knowing before anyone quotes you anything.

Tell me what the house is doing and how old the unit is, and I will tell you what I think.

A bright living room with a big window, snow falling past the glass and a neighbouring house beyond, a mug on the coffee table
A living room in winter, snow past the window

Points toward replacing

  • The unit is past 15 to 20 years old, which is a typical life for a gas furnace.
  • It has needed a repair in back to back seasons.
  • The repair estimate comes to about half the cost of a new unit, or more.
  • The utility bill keeps climbing while nothing else about the house has changed.

Points toward repairing

  • The unit is young and this is its first problem.
  • One part failed and everything else is in good shape.
  • It has been reliable, and the estimate is small next to a replacement.
  • The rest of the system, the ductwork and the thermostat, is doing its job.

Based in South Milwaukee

A lake town gets a lake town's weather.

South Milwaukee sits on the Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee County, just south of the city. The lake sets the weather here: January cold snaps that hold the morning near zero, lake effect snow, and humid July afternoons that push the house into the nineties.

Many of the houses on the South Shore date from the 1950s and 60s, which usually means original ductwork, small mechanical rooms and older equipment. That is not a problem, just something worth knowing about a house before the first cold night.

Whatever the lake is doing, the number that matters is the one on your thermostat.

An iced over harbor pier with a small red doored light tower at its end, railings glazed in ice, a grey lake behind
An iced harbor pier and its light, in winter
A snowy street of small houses at blue dusk, windows lit, a shoveled sidewalk running past them
A street of small houses at dusk, windows lit
Based in
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Serving
[SERVICE AREA]
Registered
An LLC since 2023

Two seasons, two checklists

The part of the job you can do yourself.

Twice a year, before the season turns. None of it replaces a tune up, and all of it makes the equipment's life easier.

FallThermostat set to heat

Before the first cold night

  • Put in a fresh filter and write the date on its edge.
  • Set the thermostat to Heat and run the furnace once while the weather is still mild.
  • Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and put in fresh batteries.
  • Clear the space around the furnace: no boxes, paint cans or rags against it.
  • Outside, check that the furnace intake and exhaust pipes are clear of leaves and nests, and keep them clear of snow later.
  • Open the supply registers and pull furniture off the return grilles.
  • Book the tune up before the first cold night, not during it.

Spring

Before the first hot afternoon

  • A fresh filter, same as fall.
  • Uncover the outdoor unit if it was covered, and clear leaves, grass clippings and anything stored against it. Keep a couple of feet clear all around.
  • Rinse the outdoor fins gently with a garden hose, never a pressure washer.
  • Set the thermostat to Cool and run the system once before the first hot day. If the air is not cold after a few minutes, turn it off and call.
  • Once it runs, check that the condensate drain is dripping, not backing up.
  • Close the curtains on the sunny side in the afternoon. It takes real load off the air conditioner.
  • Book the tune up before the heat wave, not during it.

Common questions

The questions that come up on the phone.

Short answers. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.

How do I reach you?

Call or text (414) 712-8506, or email frheating35@gmail.com. Tell me what the furnace or the air conditioner is doing, when it started, and where the house is. I get back to you. If you would rather write it all down, email works well for that.

What should I have ready when I call?

What the unit is doing and when it started. The make and rough age of the furnace or air conditioner, if you know them. Any work done on it recently, and by whom. A photo of the data plate on the cabinet, texted over, answers most of that at once.

Do you work on both furnaces and air conditioners?

Heating and cooling are the two words in the name, so yes: furnaces and central air conditioning, for repair, replacement and seasonal tune ups. If you have something else in the basement or on the roof, describe it when you call. This page only speaks for the two words in the name.

How often should a furnace be serviced?

Once a year is the usual advice, in the fall before the heating season starts. A tune up typically covers the filter, the burners and ignition, a look at the heat exchanger, the blower, the thermostat, the venting and a carbon monoxide check. Air conditioners get the same treatment in spring.

Should I repair or replace an old furnace?

A gas furnace typically lasts 15 to 20 years. Past that, with repairs in back to back seasons, or with a repair estimate near half the cost of a new unit, replacing usually makes more sense. A young unit with its first failed part is usually worth repairing. Tell me the age and I will give you my read.

Where are you based?

South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee County, just south of the city. FR Heating & Cooling LLC has been an LLC since 2023. The towns I cover are still being confirmed for this page; the quickest way to find out if yours is one of them is to call or text.

How to reach me

Tell me what the house is doing and I will get back to you.

Call or text, or email if you would rather write it all down. A few lines on what the furnace or the air conditioner is doing, and where the house is, is enough to start.

Call (414) 712-8506 Text Fabjan Email Fabjan
Based in
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin