(Updated 3:30 p.m., Dec. 26)
Power surge leaves many Springridge residents scrambling to stay warm
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

A number of residents in the Orléans community of Springridge have been unable to operate their furnaces for the past three days after a power surge caused the motors that run the furnaces' exhaust systems to blow.

The source of the problem can be traced back to an unscheduled power outage that affected 1,700 homes east of Tenth Line Road late Monday night. When the power came back on it caused a surge that fried the electronics in the furnace motors.

While it's impossible to find out exactly how many homes in the area were effected, enough furnace motors were blown to cause a run on replacement parts. By late Tuesday afternoon, every heating and cooling parts vendor in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec were sold out, leaving some people having to suffer until this coming Monday when a new ship.m.ent of motors is expected to arrive from the distributors.

That's cold comfort for people like Alfred Mignott who went out and bought seven electric space heaters to try and make his home livable until he can get his hands on a new motor.

From what anyone can tell most of the homes effected were built by Braebury and the furnaces area all Amanas.

Gail Morris and her husband have been making do with their gas fireplace and a couple of space heaters loaned to them by Achor Climate Care. They managed to get their motor replaced only to find out that the furnace's mother board had been fried as well.

"We're wearing an extra pair of socks and we threw a couple of sleeping bags on the bed. Luckily it hasn't been such that it hasn't been unbearable," says Morris.

Patricia Nimhey and Matthew Sybulski were among the lucky few who managed to get a replacement motor before they were sold out. The contractor Sybulski called managed to track down a new motor in North Gower and drove all the way there and back in the frreezing rain to get it.

"He was awesome," says Sybulski.

Further adding insult to the hastle of trying to replace the furnace motors is the confusion of who if anybody is on the hook for the cost to replace the motors which is about $500 per furnace. Most warranties do not cover the cost of damage caused by a power surge, nor do most household insurance plans and Hydro One is saying that it is not their fault.

Morris is hoping the Cardinal Creek Community Association will help put together a list of all the people whose furnaces have damaged by the power surge so they can approach Hydro One for restitution.

"I called Hydro One and the girl told me that there wasn't anything they could do about it. Well that's not good enough. Our fridge got fired in the last power surge a couple of weeks ago and it cost us $350. Now our furnace is likely going to cost us $750. Somebody's going to pay for it," says Morris.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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