HVAC in Rhode Island is oil or gas heat in older houses, plus humidity the bay never really lets go. Steam and hot water still heat three-families in Pawtucket, Providence's orbit, and Woonsocket. Cottages along the south shore may have a small furnace and window units that drip into salt-wet clapboard. Basements are damp even in a mild week. Say what is in the cellar, including the tank.
A boiler that short-cycles, a radiator cold at the far end of a wing, and a chimney too large for the burner are separate faults. Outdoor condensers near the bay corrode in salt air faster than the brochure suggests. A fuel smell at a cellar tank is not a filter visit. Buried tanks still turn up in older yards. Note soot, the smell, and whether the heat fails on the damp cold nights or runs without stopping.
Ductless heads get added to porches and third floors that never had ducts. They do not dry a bay-damp cellar by themselves, and they do not fix steam that is full of air. Condensate lines that dump outside can freeze after a coastal storm turns cold. A dehumidifier in a finished basement may matter more than another degree of cooling. Summer air here is heavy. The house has to handle moisture, not only temperature.
Power drops in a nor'easter, and then the heat that needed electricity sits quiet while the house loads with cold. Know what still runs. Window units left in through the winter rattle, leak, and rot the casing. Radiator valves drip and get blamed on the roof. Say whether the wet spot is under a bath or under a radiator, and which rooms were added after the original boiler.
Have the fuel, the system, and the room that fails. Say if this is no heat, a smell, salt-ruined outdoor equipment, or cooling for a house that has never had ducts. Mention how close you are to the water. Call the number on this page.