Annually, over 20,000 people go to the ER because of carbon monoxide poisoning. This colorless, odorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s essentially undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide, as confirmed by the CDC, is given off by gas ranges, furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, and boilers so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning rises during the colder months when people are trying to keep their homes heated. To help keep your home safe, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning is here with some tips to safety keep your home heated.
- Install a CO detector on each floor of your home and change the batteries every year.
- Keep all possible sources of combustion, such as bedding, paper, or clothing, at least three feet away from fireplaces, furnaces, stoves, or space heaters.
- Before lighting a fire in the fireplace, always check to ensure the chimney damper is open and unclogged.
- Don’t leave portable heaters or fireplaces neglected. Turn off space heaters and be sure all embers in the fireplace are completely extinguished before going to bed or leaving home.
- Space heaters should always be positioned on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like porcelain tile. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
- When buying a new space heater, invest in a model that shuts off automatically if the heater tips 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 checked and cleaned every year.
The best thing you can do for your heating system is to ensure it’s not only up to the task of keeping you warm all winter but also safe, is to schedule your furnace tune-up. During your furnace tune-up, Service Experts will check to be sure your furnace is operating safely with a total multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 403-279-5760 today and ask how you can save on a furnace tune-up through November 25th.