Annually, over 20,000 people visit the emergency room because of carbon monoxide poisoning. The odorless, colorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s virtually undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide, as confirmed by the CDC, is given off by fireplaces, boilers, furnaces, stoves, and gas ranges so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning climbs during the colder months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep you safe, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning is here with some tips to safety keep your home heated.
- Install a CO detector on all floors of your home and change the batteries annually.
- Keep all likely sources of combustion, such as bedding, paper, or clothing, a minimum of three feet away from furnaces, space heaters, fire places, or stoves.
- Before lighting a fire in the fireplace, be sure to check to confirm the chimney damper is open and unobstructed.
- Don’t leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended. Shut off space heaters and make sure all embers in the fireplace are totally extinguished before leaving the area.
- Space heaters should always be situated on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like concrete or tile. Keep young ones and pets away from space heaters.
- When purchasing a new space heater, purchase a model that shuts off automatically if the heater tumbles over.
- Never use a cooking range to increase the temperature in your home.
- Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and gas or oil furnaces professionally examined and cleaned yearly.
The best thing you can do for your heating equipment is to be sure it’s not only up to the task of keeping your home warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your heating tune-up. During your fall tune-up, Service Experts will check to be sure your furnace is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 866-397-3787 today and ask how you can save on a heating tune-up through November 25th.