Members of Pipefitters Local 455 and Local 539 gathered for a photo after the Heat’s On volunteer breakfast in Roseville.
Union pipefitters on Saturday carried forward their fall tradition of providing free furnace repairs and inspections to senior, low-income and disabled homeowners in the Twin Cities.
St. Paul-based Steamfitters Pipefitters Local 455 and Minneapolis-based Local 539 team up for the annual service day, Project Heat’s On, each year. Union volunteers provide service to homeowners identified by two Community Action Partnership agencies, and union contractors, members of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, cover the cost of materials needed for the repairs.
The volunteer effort, started in 1986, has since given back over $4 million in volunteer work hours and repairs to nearly 8,500 Minnesota households, reducing their energy costs and preventing heat failure.
Local 455 journeyman Brian Nelson volunteered for the sixth time this year, traveling to Cottage Grove with fellow Local 455 member Ray Bear, a four-time Heat’s On volunteer. At their first of two scheduled service calls, they tuned up a recent retiree’s furnace.
Brian Nelson (L) and Ray Bear tune up a retirees’ furnace in Cottage Grove during Heat’s On 2024.
“I just like giving back,” Nelson said. “You feel good about it. Doing this for people who need help feels better than doing it for your shop.”
Bear said union volunteers offer more than just their expertise during Heat’s On visits; they provide companionship, too.
“Talking with the customers – a lot of them don’t have a lot of resources or see a lot of visitors,” Bear said. “Providing that connection is the part that’s the best.”
That’s what Sonia Gass, executive director of Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties, refers to as “the human touch,” and at a breakfast before volunteers fanned out across the metro, Gass told union members that it’s an important part of the service they provide. it
She remembered tagging along with a volunteer crew that serviced the home of a retired big-band musician. “The service prodder asked him, ‘Do you play?’” Gass said. “And before you knew it, the service provider was getting an hourlong concert while he did the repairs.”