The kids went to bed in sweatshirts. It is past 11 on a February night, the thermostat reads 61 and falling, and the burner in the basement is silent. You are trying to decide whether this can wait until morning. Rule out the two emergencies below first.
Gas smell or a CO alarm comes before everything
Two situations are not heating repairs. They are emergencies for 911 or the gas company, and the heating company comes after.
You smell gas. National Grid, which supplies natural gas on Long Island, says to go outside right away and call 1-800-490-0045 or 911. Do not touch light switches, doorbells, phones, appliances or the thermostat. Do not plug or unplug anything. Do not assume a neighbor already called. Take family and pets out and wait for the technician outside.
The carbon monoxide alarm goes off, or people feel sick. All Island Comfort tells customers to leave the house, get fresh air and call 911 if anyone has a headache, dizziness, nausea or confusion, then call for service. National Grid also treats CO symptoms as a gas emergency and takes those calls on the same number. All Island Comfort names a cracked heat exchanger, a blocked flue or chimney liner, and back-drafting from negative pressure in the basement as common sources.
A burning smell or smoke from the equipment: shut the system off and call immediately, per All Island Comfort.
When the power is out too
If the lights are out on the whole street, the heat problem is a power problem. Report it to PSEG Long Island’s outage line, 1-800-490-0075, which runs 24 hours a day. Once the power comes back, check the heating system’s breaker and emergency switch before you call a heating company.
Pipes and people, while you wait
All Island Comfort gives homeowners a short list for the hours between the call and the knock on the door.
For the pipes
- close interior doors to hold heat in the rooms you are using
- open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls
- let faucets on exterior walls run at a slow drip
For the people
- never use the oven or an unvented kerosene heater for heat
- keep any space heater 3 feet from anything flammable, and never leave it running unattended or overnight
If someone in the house is elderly, an infant or medically fragile, tell the company when you call.
What a midnight service call costs
All Island Comfort runs a 24-hour line and publishes how it prices emergency work:
| Item | What they say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic | Flat fee, written quote on site, your written approval before any repair | All Island Comfort, Oct 2026 |
| After-hours premium | Disclosed up front, never added as a surprise | All Island Comfort, Oct 2026 |
| Typical emergency fixes such as igniters, nozzles and circulators | $200 to $700 with parts | All Island Comfort, Oct 2026 |
| Big repairs | More than that range, priced at the house | All Island Comfort, Oct 2026 |
| Response time | 1 to 3 hours across Suffolk and Nassau; Nassau runs somewhat longer | All Island Comfort, Oct 2026 |
Before any company sends a truck, ask what the after-hours fee is and whether it goes toward the repair. All Island Comfort also gives its maintenance plan members reduced after-hours rates.
Emergency help paying for it
New York’s Home Energy Assistance Program has two pieces that matter on a no-heat night.
- Emergency HEAP is for households facing a heat emergency. In the 2025-2026 season OTDA opened it on January 2, 2026 and ran it to April 7, 2026 or until funds ran out. Watch for the 2026-2027 dates from your county.
- HERR, Heating Equipment Repair or Replacement, covers owner-occupants 60 and up who pass the HEAP income test: as much as $4,000 to fix a system or $8,000 to replace one. Per ny.gov, the 2026-2027 round started on October 1, 2026.
Both are handled by the county, not by the heating company. OTDA keeps a HEAP contact list by county for Nassau and Suffolk.
When it is the air conditioning that quits
In a heat wave, a dead AC can be an emergency too. All Island Comfort’s advice while you wait: move to the lowest level of the house, which is usually the coolest, close the blinds on sun-facing windows, drink fluids, and check on older relatives and pets. They point out that heat exhaustion is the real danger when the AC fails in a heat wave. The AC repair page covers what to check on the equipment itself.