Every year over 20,000 people end up in the hospital due to carbon monoxide poisoning. This colorless, odorless gas is referred to as the silent killer because it’s essentially undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide, as specified by the CDC, is put off by fireplaces, boilers, furnaces, stoves, and gas ranges so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the heating months when people are trying to keep their homes heated. To help keep you safe, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning is here with a few tips to safety heat your home.
- Place a CO detector on every floor of your home and change the batteries yearly.
- Keep all potential sources of combustion, such as clothing, rugs, or bedding, a distance over three feet away from space heaters, stoves, furnaces or fireplaces.
- Before starting a fire in the fireplace, be sure to check to verify the chimney damper is open and unblocked.
- Do not leave portable heaters or fireplaces alone. Power off space heaters and be sure all embers in the fireplace are fully extinguished before leaving either heating source unattended.
- Space heaters should always be situated on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like porcelain tile. Keep kids and animals away from space heaters.
- When purchasing a new space heater, invest in a model that turns off automatically if the heater tips over.
- Do not use a oven to heat your home.
- Have all stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and all types of furnaces professionally examined and cleaned annually.
The ideal thing you can do for your furnace is to be sure it’s not only up to the task of keeping you warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your fall tune-up. During your heating tune-up, Service Experts will check to be sure your heating equipment is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 352-414-4006 today and ask how you can save on a heating tune-up through November 25th.