Winter storm prep for service companies

Why winter storms are different

A heat wave builds over days. A winter storm hits demand, roads and crews in the same few hours. Furnaces fail when they run nonstop, heat pumps struggle in deep cold, pipes freeze, garage door springs snap and ice dams push water into ceilings. At the same moment, techs face icy roads, frozen ladders and dark mornings. From 2018 to 2022, water damage and freezing was the second largest cause of homeowners insurance claims, affecting 1.6% of insured homes, behind wind and hail at 2.8%^[1].

The trades that feel it most are HVAC, plumbing-adjacent handyman work, roofing, garage doors and restoration. BLS notes that HVAC technicians may be on call for emergencies in peak heating seasons^[4] and that maintenance and repair workers may need to be on call evenings and weekends for emergency repairs^[5]. A winter storm is when that on-call promise is tested.

The 72-hour storm timeline

Staffing and on-call coverage

• Name the on-call techs and backups for the storm window, not just for the week.
• Ask techs who live farthest away whether they can stay closer for the night, and cover the cost.
• Keep an office person or overflow answering on the phones for the whole storm window, including overnight if you take emergency calls.
• Plan shift limits. A tech who has worked 16 hours on icy roads is a safety risk; set a maximum and enforce it.
• Decide who can approve after-hours dispatch, and make sure everyone answering the phone knows the rules.

Fuel, trucks and parts

1. 01

   Fill everything

   Every truck, every fuel can for shop generators and every propane cylinder for heaters. Power outages can shut down gas station pumps and card readers.

2. 02

   Winterize vehicles

   Tires, chains or traction devices, batteries, wiper blades, ice scrapers and an emergency kit with blankets, water and food in each truck.

3. 03

   Stock the storm parts

   Igniters, flame sensors, inducer motors, heat pump defrost parts, garage door springs and cables, tarps and pipe repair supplies.

4. 04

   Protect the shop

   Keep the shop heated or drained, move water-sensitive stock off the floor and confirm the backup power plan for phones and servers.

Crew safety on ice and in the cold

Falls are the leading risk. Fatal falls, slips and trips at work numbered 844 in 2024^[3], and construction and extraction workers alone had 370 fatal falls, slips and trips^[3]. Snow and ice multiply that risk on roofs, ladders, decks and driveways. Set storm-day rules in writing:

• No roof work on ice or snow without fall protection and a second person on site; emergency tarping waits until it is safe.
• Ice cleats or traction footwear for every tech, worn from the truck to the door.
• Ladders set only on cleared, level ground, with a spotter.
• No working alone in crawl spaces or attics during a storm; text check-ins every few hours.
• Techs stop and call the office if roads become unsafe; no job is worth a crash.

Carbon monoxide is the other storm risk, for crews and customers. CDC lists gas and oil furnaces among the sources of unintentional CO poisoning, which kills more than 400 Americans a year outside fires^[6]. CPSC staff were aware of at least 94 generator-related CO deaths in 2005, 47 of them during power outages caused by severe weather^[2]. Techs should carry personal CO monitors on storm calls, and never run fuel-burning heaters or generators in enclosed spaces while they work.

Customer alerts that prevent calls

Send a short message 48 hours before the storm, tailored to your trade. Customers who prepare call less, and the calls you do get are real emergencies.

• HVAC: replace the filter, keep outdoor heat pump units and furnace vent pipes clear of snow, set the thermostat steady rather than letting the house cool and reheat, and never use a gas oven or grill for heat.
• Handyman and plumbing-adjacent: know where the main water shut-off is, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls and disconnect garden hoses.
• Garage doors: avoid forcing a door that is frozen to the ground; if it will not open, call rather than pushing the opener.
• Roofing: clear gutters before the storm where safe, and call if water appears on ceilings or walls.
• Everyone: if a CO alarm sounds, get outside and call 911 first, then call us.

Triage during the storm

1. Safety first: gas smell, CO alarm, electrical hazard or active water near electrical. Give the safety instruction and direct to 911 or the utility where needed.
2. No heat with a vulnerable person in the home: older adults, infants, medical needs.
3. No heat in occupied homes, then active leaks and frozen or burst pipes.
4. Garage doors trapping a vehicle needed for medical or work reasons.
5. Everything else is booked for after the storm with an honest window.

Tell every caller the truth about timing. "We are on emergency calls only until the roads clear; I am putting you on our first-day list for tomorrow morning" is better than a promise the crew cannot keep.

If the office loses power

Storms knock out the office as easily as the customer's furnace. Plan for running the company from phones and laptops for a day or two:

• Forward the main line to cell phones or a cloud phone system that works without the office.
• Make sure dispatchers can reach the schedule and customer records from home.
• Print the on-call list, key supplier contacts and the triage script, in case the network goes down.
• Agree on a check-in channel for techs, such as a group text, that does not depend on the office.
• Keep a battery bank and car chargers for every phone that matters.

After the storm: clearing the backlog

The day after a storm often brings more calls than the storm itself, as people return home, roads clear and damage becomes visible. Clear the backlog in a set order and tell customers where they stand:

1. 01

   Return every voicemail

   Within a day, even if only to give a time. Unreturned calls become one-star reviews.

2. 02

   Work the priority list

   No-heat homes with vulnerable people, then no-heat homes, then active leaks, then garage doors, then routine work.

3. 03

   Revisit temporary fixes

   Tarps, temporary heaters and bypassed parts need a permanent repair. Book those follow-ups before closing the storm ticket.

4. 04

   Rest the storm crew

   Give techs who worked the storm a lighter day before the next push.

5. 05

   Review and record

   Note what ran out, which calls were missed and what customers asked, and update this plan.

Example: a two-day ice storm

Example: a fictional HVAC and garage door company in Tennessee gets a forecast for freezing rain followed by single-digit lows. At 72 hours it confirms four on-call techs and orders extra igniters and springs. At 48 hours it fuels every truck and sends a storm message to customers. During the storm it runs an emergency-only board, sends two-person crews on any call with ladders and sets a 14-hour shift cap. After the storm it clears the no-heat backlog first and calls every voicemail within a day. Calls are high for four days, but no tech is hurt and no voicemail goes unanswered.

For the summer version of this plan, see extreme heat and AC demand, and for roofers dealing with water in ceilings after a freeze, see ice dams and winter roof leaks.