Cavinder Holiday Hours and Emergency Service: Christmas and New Year's 2026

Published October 27, 2026 - Cavinder Plumbing, Heating and Cooling - Granger, IN

Quick answer: On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve, Cavinder is open 24 hours for emergency calls only. We're closed on New Year's Day and back on Saturday, Jan. 2. If your furnace quits, a pipe bursts, or a drain backs up on one of those open holidays, call (574) 633-4557 any time.

The holidays are when Michiana homes work hardest. The house is full, the dishwasher runs twice a day, showers stack up every morning, and the furnace is fighting the coldest stretch of the year. That's also when a lot of businesses close, so it helps to know ahead of time who picks up and what to do while you wait.

This post covers our holiday hours, how emergency service works over the holidays, what counts as an emergency, the safety steps to take before a technician arrives, and how to head off the most common holiday breakdowns before they start.

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Our Christmas and New Year's Hours

On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve, our phones are answered around the clock, but we only take emergency calls. We're closed on New Year's Day.

Tune-ups, estimates, and other non-urgent work can be booked for any other day: before Dec. 24, between the holidays, or from Jan. 2 on.

If something goes wrong on New Year's Day

We're closed on Friday, Jan. 1. If you have a problem that day:

• Carbon monoxide alarm or gas smell: Get everyone outside and call 911. For gas, also call your gas utility (NIPSCO for most of our Indiana service area, 1-800-634-3524).
• Water leak or burst pipe: Shut off the main water valve to stop the damage.
• No heat: Keep the house as warm as you safely can and protect your pipes.

The steps in "What to Do Until the Technician Arrives" below cover each of these. Then call us at (574) 633-4557 when we reopen on Saturday, Jan. 2.

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How Holiday Emergency Service Works

On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve, there's one number to call, day or night: (574) 633-4557. You don't need a separate after-hours line or an online form. For anything urgent, calling is always faster than the website.

Here's what happens when you call:

1. A dispatcher picks up. They'll ask what's going on, confirm your address, and give you an arrival window.
2. A technician heads out from the closest office. We dispatch from Granger, Mishawaka, and South Bend. Most emergency calls see a tech within one to three hours.
3. The truck shows up stocked. Our trucks carry common heating parts and plumbing materials, so most single-part failures get fixed on the first visit.
4. You get a diagnosis and a written flat-rate quote before any work starts.
5. We test before we leave. We confirm the repair works, run a safety test, and leave you the warranty paperwork.

Have this ready when you call

• What the system is doing: no heat at all, running but blowing cold, leaking, backing up, or alarming
• When it started and whether it's getting worse
• Whether you've already shut off the water or gas
• Who's in the house, especially infants, older adults, or anyone with a health condition

That information is how we decide whether you need a truck right away. If it can safely wait, we'll book it for the next regular service day.

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What Counts as an Emergency?

On the holidays we only take emergency calls, so it helps to know which side of the line you're on. A true emergency is anything that puts your family's safety at risk or will cause real damage to your home if it waits.

Call right away, any hour

• No heat in freezing weather, especially with infants, older adults, or anyone with a health condition in the home. A cold house also puts your pipes at risk.
• A burst or leaking pipe, or a frozen pipe you can't thaw
• A leaking water heater, especially one putting water on the floor of a finished basement or utility room
• A clogged drain with water backing up into a tub, shower, floor drain, or another fixture
• A sewer backup, or no water at all
• A carbon monoxide alarm. Get everyone outside and call 911 first, then call us.
• A gas smell. Leave the house and call 911 and your gas utility from outside, then call us.

Can wait for a regular service day

• A slow drain when the rest of the house drains normally
• A dripping faucet, or a running toilet you can shut off at the valve behind it
• One room running cooler than the others while the furnace still heats the house
• Lukewarm water from a water heater that isn't leaking
• Tune-ups, estimates, and questions about replacing equipment

Not sure which list you're on? Call anyway. Our dispatcher will help you sort it out, and if your problem can safely wait, we'll get you on the schedule for a regular day.

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What to Do Until the Technician Arrives

A few minutes of the right action can be the difference between a quick repair and a flooded basement. Here's what to do for the most common holiday emergencies.

Water leak or burst pipe: shut off the main

Find your main water shutoff. In most Michiana homes it's in the basement or utility room, where the water line comes through the wall or floor. Turn the handle clockwise until it stops. If it's stuck, don't force it; call us and we'll talk you through it.

If the leak is coming from the water heater, you can also close the cold-water valve on top of the tank and turn off its gas or power. Our post Water Heater Leaking? Here's What to Do Right Now walks through it step by step.

Backed-up drain: stop using it

Stop running water anywhere that drains to the clog. If water is coming up through a floor drain or a basement fixture, hold off on the dishwasher, washing machine, showers, and toilets until we've cleared the line. Skip chemical drain cleaners. They rarely clear a full blockage, can damage older pipes, and leave caustic water sitting in the line when the tech opens it up.

No heat: run the quick checks, then protect your pipes

Check the thermostat setting and batteries, the furnace breaker, and the filter. Our post Furnace Not Heating? 7 Things to Check First covers the full list. If the heat still won't come on:

• Open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warmer room air reaches the pipes
• Let faucets on outside walls drip slowly
• Close doors to unused rooms and keep everyone in one warm space
• Never use the oven or a gas stove to heat the house

Carbon monoxide alarm: get out first

Don't try to find the source. Get everyone, including pets, outside into fresh air and call 911 from outside. Don't go back in until the fire department says it's safe. Then call us, and don't run the furnace or any gas appliance until it's been inspected.

Gas smell: leave and call from outside

Don't flip light switches, use your phone indoors, or try to find the leak. Get everyone out, then call 911 and your gas utility (NIPSCO for most of our Indiana service area, 1-800-634-3524) from a safe distance. Once the area is cleared, call us for the repair.

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Prevent the Emergency Before the Holiday

The best holiday service call is the one you never have to make. Many holiday breakdowns show warning signs ahead of time, and a little prep in early December catches them before the house fills up.

• Get the plumbing ready for guests. Extra showers, extra dishes, and holiday cooking grease are hard on drains and water heaters. Our Holiday Plumbing Preparation checklist covers clog prevention, water heater care, and keeping pipes from freezing.
• Make sure the furnace is up to a full house. If it's been short-cycling, making new noises, or leaving some rooms cold, run through Furnace Not Heating? 7 Things to Check First now, and call us if anything looks off. A furnace that's already struggling is the one most likely to quit on the coldest night.
• Test your carbon monoxide alarms. More people in the house and a furnace running nonstop make working CO alarms more important. Our Carbon Monoxide Safety Guide covers detection, prevention, and what to do if an alarm goes off.

If you'd rather have a pro look things over, book a visit before Christmas Eve, while regular appointments are still open.

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Need Help Over the Holidays?

Call (574) 633-4557 any hour. On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve we take emergency calls around the clock. We're closed New Year's Day and back on Saturday, Jan. 2. See what to expect on our 24/7 Emergency Service page, or schedule service online for anything that can wait.

Licensed in Indiana (CO19900013 HVAC / PC19700254 plumbing). Emergency dispatch from three Michiana offices in Granger, Mishawaka, and South Bend, serving St. Joseph County, Elkhart County, and southwest Michigan.

From all of us at Cavinder: happy holidays, and here's to a warm, dry, uneventful new year.