The median home in Franklin Lakes has nine rooms or more, and more than a third have five or more bedrooms. Big houses mean more zones, longer pipe runs and, on many lots, a septic system instead of a sewer line.
House size
9+rooms in the median home
Census figures in the borough's 2025 housing plan put the median Franklin Lakes home at nine rooms or more, against 6.4 for Bergen County. More rooms usually mean more zones, more condensers and longer pipe runs.
Big house, one cold wing? It's usually one part, not the whole system.
A $79 diagnostic, credited to the repair, finds which zone part failed and prices the fix in writing.
What we see here
The patterns below come from the town's housing and utilities. The technician still checks your house before saying anything about it.
Homes & neighborhoods
Over half the homes here have nine rooms or more. One failed zone valve or circulator can leave a wing cold while the boiler runs fine.
A house this size often has two cooling systems. When one is due, AC replacement is the chance to size it for the house.
53.7% of homes date from those three decades. A furnace installed with the house has usually been replaced by now.
Franklin Lakes became a borough in 1922, carved out of Franklin Township, and today it covers about 9.88 square miles with 11,079 residents at the 2020 Census. It is a town of detached houses. The borough's 2025 housing plan, using 2019-2023 Census estimates, puts 89.1% of homes as single-family detached, against 53.2% for Bergen County as a whole, and 88.3% are owner-occupied.
The houses are also big. In the same figures the median home has nine rooms or more, 54.6% of homes reach that size, and 37.0% have five or more bedrooms. Size changes the mechanical work. A house this large often has two or more heating and cooling zones, a second condenser outside, and long hot-water runs from the water heater to the farthest bathroom. When one zone stops heating, the cause can be a single zone valve or circulator, not the whole boiler.
Most of the housing is from the 1960s through the 1980s: 17.3% from the 1960s, 17.9% from the 1970s and 18.5% from the 1980s. A furnace or central air system installed with the house has usually been replaced by now, sometimes more than once, and the replacement is a chance to size it correctly for the house rather than copy the old unit. Our AC replacement and furnace pages explain how we approach that, including heat pumps.
PSE&G supplies gas in the borough. Its work stops at the meter; piping inside the house belongs to the owner, which is where a new range, a pool heater line or an oil-to-gas conversion calls for gas line work.
What's wrong
Big houses fail in their own ways. Tap what you're seeing.
Zones54.6% of homes have 9+ rooms
Houses this size are split into zones, each with its own thermostat and valve or circulator. One failed part leaves a wing cold while everything else runs.
ACoften two systems in one house
With two condensers outside, one can quit while the other keeps half the house comfortable. We find which one and why.
Runs37.0% have five or more bedrooms
The farthest bathroom in a big house can sit a long way from the tank. We look at the heater's age and size and how the hot water gets there.
Septic?many homes still use septic
On a sewered street, a camera shows the line to the street. On septic, a backup can be the tank, so tell us before work starts.
Water & utilities
Franklin Lakes splits from Franklin Township on March 11.
The NBCUA treatment plant begins operating at 8.5 million gallons a day.
NBCUA starts lines on Franklin and Susquehanna Avenues in a town built on septic.
The sewer is on track for mid-July, with no mandatory hookups.
The Round 4 plan sends a new site's sewage to NBCUA and water to Veolia.
Rockland Electric supplies the power and PSE&G the gas. For a gas smell, call PSE&G first.
Bergen County's master plan says many homes still use septic. Tell us before we start on a slow drain; drain cleaning covers the lines inside the house.
It comes from aquifers, the Wanaque Reservoir, and water bought from Ridgewood Water and Oakland.
Franklin Lakes is split between two utilities: Rockland Electric Company, part of Orange & Rockland, supplies electricity, and PSE&G supplies gas. Public water comes from Veolia Water New Jersey's Franklin Lakes system, which lists 5,038 people served. Bergen County's master plan says Veolia's Franklin Lakes customers get water from aquifers, the Wanaque Reservoir, and water bought from the Ridgewood Water Department and Oakland. The borough's Board of Health code also sets testing rules for any property that uses a well for drinking water, which has to be tested before a sale.
Sewer is the bigger difference from neighboring towns. The county plan says Franklin Lakes is in a sewer service area, but many homes still use onsite septic systems. When the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority broke ground on its Franklin Lakes project in May 2012, Patch reported that the borough had relied on individual septic systems. The $3.8 million project ran gravity sewer lines along Franklin and Susquehanna Avenues to the authority's plant in Waldwick, starting at 90,000 gallons a day, and homes along the route were allowed to connect but not required to.
So the first question on a slow drain here is where the house drains to. On a sewered street, a camera inspection through sewer line repair shows the condition of the line to the street, and drain cleaning handles most clogs inside the house. In a house on septic, tell us before any work starts, because a backup there can be a tank problem rather than a pipe problem.
Where a furnace, boiler or water heater sits on the basement floor, a sump pump with battery backup is worth having. If a pipe bursts, emergency pipe repair is covered by our guarantee: on site within 90 minutes of your emergency call, or $50 off.
Drains
Bergen County's master plan says the borough is in a sewer service area, yet many homes still use septic systems.
Fixtures, drain lines and the water heater. This is the part we work on.
The county plan says many Franklin Lakes homes still use onsite septic. The tank is a septic contractor's work.
A $3.8 million NBCUA project ran sewers along Franklin and Susquehanna Avenues. Homes on the route could connect but didn't have to.
Where that line leads, starting at 90,000 gallons a day.
Slow drains in Franklin Lakes? Tell us if you're on septic.
We start with the plumbing inside the house and tell you whether it looks like a pipe problem or a tank problem.
Permits
When a job needs a permit, Rescue files it and takes care of the inspection. Most repairs don't need one, and we tell you which yours is before any work starts. How NJ permits work.
Before we arrive
Three things that limit the damage while the van is on the way.
A burst pipe or a failed water heater is usually stopped at the main shutoff, typically where the water line enters the basement. Our shutoff guide shows how to find it. Then call us.
Don't flip switches or use the phone inside. Leave the house, then call your gas utility's emergency line or 911 from outside. Once the utility has made it safe, we handle the repair. See gas line service.
Check the thermostat batteries and setting, the furnace or boiler switch and breaker, and a clogged filter on a furnace. If it's still down, call. No heat in freezing weather gets a van now, any hour. See furnace repair.
How we price
Every visit works the same way, in Franklin Lakes and everywhere else we go.
If you decide not to go ahead, the $79 is all you pay. Every job carries a one-year parts and labor warranty, and when a job needs a permit we file it as part of the work. Technicians are background-checked. NJ Master HVACR Contractor Lic. #19HC00145700 · bonded · insured · $2M liability coverage.
Franklin Lakes has two utilities, so two sets of programs can apply. PSE&G is the gas utility, so its programs are the ones to check for gas furnaces, boilers and water heaters. For electric equipment such as heat pumps and central air, the program is your electric utility's, and here that is Rockland Electric (Orange & Rockland). Offers and eligibility change from year to year, so check before you buy.
The federal 25C tax credit for home heating and cooling equipment ended for anything placed in service after December 31, 2025, so utility programs are what remain. Current details are on our NJ rebates page.
Everything we do
Every service page carries published prices. What changes from house to house is what the technician finds, and you see that in writing before anyone starts. See also our Bergen County page.
Yes, inside the house. Bergen County's master plan says many Franklin Lakes homes still use onsite septic systems. Tell us when you call, because a backup on a septic system can come from the tank rather than the pipes, so we look at the whole picture before clearing the house plumbing. The tank itself is a job for a septic contractor.
That split is normal here: Rockland Electric supplies electricity in Franklin Lakes and PSE&G supplies gas. For a gas smell, call PSE&G first. For a furnace, boiler, AC or water heater problem on your side of the meter, call us, 24/7. For rebates, PSE&G's programs cover gas equipment and Rockland Electric's cover electric equipment such as heat pumps.
Usually not. Over half the homes in Franklin Lakes have nine rooms or more, and houses that size are often split into zones, each with its own thermostat, valve or circulator. One failed zone part can leave a wing cold while the boiler or furnace runs fine. A $79 diagnostic, credited to the repair, finds which part it is.
Dispatch runs 24 hours a day with a real person answering, and an emergency in Franklin Lakes goes out from our shop at 2 John St in Haledon. Our published commitment is a technician on site within 90 minutes of your emergency call, or $50 off the job.
The diagnostic is $79. A licensed technician finds the actual problem and prices the repair in writing before any work starts. Go ahead with the job and the $79 comes off the total; decide not to, and $79 is all you pay.
Yes. NJ Master HVACR Contractor License #19HC00145700, bonded, and insured with $2M in liability coverage. Our technicians are background-checked, and the work carries a one-year parts and labor warranty.
A real dispatcher, any hour of any day.
