By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – “Hectic” is how Dan Bronson of Bronson’s One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning puts it when asked how this week has been for him and his business.

His week was similar to what a number of heating contractors and plumbers experienced throughout St. Lawrence County.

The extreme cold this week, well into the minus-20s, has had the phone ringing at Bronson’s for the heating and plumbing services he and his wife Pat provide.

“It’s close to a record-setter,” he said. “It’s been very busy.

The main complaints, as you might expect, are no heat and frozen water and sewer lines.

He said many people might save themselves some trouble if they rethink their thermostat settings.

“People tend to turn down the heat at night, and in normal weather that’s not bad, but in this type of weather there could be problems.” Bronson said that if people leave the heat up overnight in these extreme temperatures, it could prevent pipes in exterior walls from freezing up.

“Some furnaces are made to maintain temperature at a certain level, and if you turn it down, it could be a disaster,” he said.

He also pointed to the problem of a heat system on a ground floor, such as a wood or pellet stove, that doesn’t deliver enough heat to the basement where some vital equipment subject to failing at lower temperatures resides.

Weather forecasters say we will get some respite from the deep cold this weekend, but then it’s back to sub-zero nighttime temperatures.