Before calling a licensed NYC HVAC technician, check these common causes of furnace and boiler failures in New York apartments.
When you have no heat in your NYC home, it's urgent — especially between October and May, when NYC's heat law requires landlords to provide it. Work through this checklist in order before assuming the worst; several of the most common causes take two minutes to rule out.
Check the thermostat Ensure it's set to HEAT and the target temperature is above the current room reading. Try replacing batteries first — a dead battery is indistinguishable from a "broken furnace" from the tenant's side of the wall.
Check the circuit breaker Electric furnaces, gas furnace control boards and boiler circulator pumps all run through a dedicated breaker. Reset it once — if it trips again immediately, stop and call a professional, since a repeat trip points to a wiring fault rather than a random glitch.
Check the pilot light (gas furnaces and boilers) If the pilot is out, follow the relighting instructions printed on the unit's access panel. If it won't stay lit after relighting, the thermocouple is likely failing — that's a same-day professional fix, not a DIY one. In NYC, any gas line work legally requires a licensed professional.
Is it a building-wide outage? In NYC apartment buildings, a heat outage affecting multiple units is almost always a shared boiler issue managed by your super or building management — not something fixable at the individual radiator. Check with a neighbor before troubleshooting your own unit further.
NYC heat law reminder Landlords must provide heat to at least 68°F indoors when outdoor temperatures fall below 55°F during the day (6am–10pm), and at least 62°F overnight, every day from October 1 through May 31. This applies regardless of the outdoor temperature at night.
If you smell gas at any point, leave the building immediately and call 911 or Con Edison's emergency line from outside — do not attempt any further troubleshooting.
FAQs
What number do I call to report a heat violation in NYC? Call 311. HPD (Housing Preservation and Development) can issue violations and fines to landlords who fail to maintain required heat levels during the legal heat season.
Why does my furnace turn on but blow cold air? On gas furnaces this is often a delayed ignition or a failing igniter that lets air circulate before combustion starts; on heat pumps, cooler-than-body-temperature air during a defrost cycle is normal and temporary. If cold air persists for more than a few minutes, call a technician.
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