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GREENSBORO — The facts are pretty simple: It’s really quite cold. It’s gonna be that way awhile.

Whenever the mercury nosedives, stuff tends to break, catch fire, burst, become more difficult to run efficiently or just go pffffffttt after working too long at full throttle.

So, as the current cold snap moved into its third day Monday, there was plenty of work for plumbers, heating techs, waterline repair crews, car mechanics and school-maintenance personnel, among many others.

“We’ve been working around the clock,” said Gerald Greeson, director of maintenance for Guilford County Schools, which had furnace problems at several schools.

Boilers and other mechanical systems simply lose steam sometimes “when you run these things 24/7, temperatures are in the teens over a sustained period and the temperature never gets much above 35 degrees,” Greeson said.

His staff prevented more widespread problems by visiting schools over the weekend to check their heating units, Greeson said.

Private heating contractors and plumbing companies felt the effects of the cold snap, too. Calls ran about 50 percent higher than normal Monday at Williams Plumbing, Heating and Air, owner Paula Strickland said.

Her Greensboro office fielded more calls about heating than plumbing, she said.

“People call in and say, 'It’s running all the time and it’s just not warm enough,” said Strickland, adding that her firm’s nine heating technicians would stay on the job until every call had been tackled.

There was no apparent rise in house fires across the city linked to heating issues, at least not yet, said David Douglas, the assistant fire chief.

Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas said their equipment isn’t affected by a sustained drop in temperatures. Look for power outages linked to cold weather only when low temperatures hook up with snow, ice and/or high winds, said Jason Walls, Duke Energy spokesman.

It’s another story with water lines, which are prone to breaking in extreme cold.

City repair crews responded Monday to five line breaks potentially related to frigid weather, said Thomas Blaylock of the city water resource department.

Cold weather also can play havoc with your car, especially if the battery is aging out, said Tom Crosby of AAA Carolinas motor club.

“During cold spells, it can take as much as 20 to 30 percent more juice to start your car,” Crosby said. His agency fielded up to 10 percent more calls Monday from stranded motorists.

Guilford County Schools’ bus fleet faces similar challenges but fared pretty well Monday morning, said Jeff Harris, the school system’s transportation director: Only 15 of 629 buses wouldn’t crank, needing a jump or new battery.

Mechanics will be posted at each bus lot every weekday morning until the cold snap ends to be sure buses head out on or near schedule, he said.
 

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com