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As Temperatures Drop, Calls For Heating Repairs Spike

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The bitter cold in the Chicago area has lit a fire under people to call for urgent repairs around their homes.

There is a real sense of urgency on nights when the wind chill drops below zero, if appliances that keep people warm stop working, and that has kept a lot of people scrambling.

Sol Sher has been a very busy chimney sweep these days. Once temperatures plummeted, the crackling fire dreams kicked in, and so did calls for a clean chimney.

"It gets real cold out, and they want to have it done yesterday, and sometimes we just can't do it. I mean, we're really busy right now," he said.

Sher recommended getting an annual sweep of chimneys for safety. Ditto for furnace inspections, unless it goes on the fritz first, like Ken Powers' did.

"It is an annoyance, and it always seems to happen during coldest stretches as well," Powers said.

HVAC technician Joe Shots responded to Powers' emergency call, and didn't have good news: Powers needed a new furnace.

Shots said more furnaces seem to break down the colder the weather gets.

"They have a tendency to have to work a little bit harder to keep the home warm," he said.

Prepping for the arctic stretch ahead is on the minds of many people, while fueling cold weather-driven businesses.

"I'll probably be out non-stop, doing pre-saltings, getting ready for the system that's coming through this weekend," said Mike Riddle, with Chicago Service Group.

Of course, this deep freeze also means safety first.

"The guys in the trucks, they're in heated trucks, but I do have shovel crews, too. It's just dressing for it," Riddle said.

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