Every year over 20,000 people go to 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 specified by the CDC, is given off by stoves, gas ranges, boilers, furnaces, and fireplaces so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning rises during the heating months when people are trying to keep their homes heated. To help keep your family safe, Komfort Air Service Experts is here with a few tips to safety warm your home.
- Place a CO detector on all floors of your home and change the batteries annually.
- Keep all likely sources of combustion, such as paper, clothing, bedding, or rugs, a minimum of three feet away from space heaters, stoves, furnaces or fireplaces.
- Before lighting a fire in the fireplace, make sure you check to ensure the chimney damper is open and unobstructed.
- Don’t leave portable heaters or fireplaces alone. Turn off space heaters and be sure all embers in the fireplace are totally extinguished before leaving the area.
- Space heaters should always be positioned on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like ceramic tile. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
- When purchasing a new space heater, buy a model that powers off automatically if the heater tips over.
- Don’t use a stove to increase the temperature in your home.
- Have all stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and all types of furnaces professionally examined and cleaned annually.
The ultimate thing you can do for your heating system is to be sure it’s not only up to the task of keeping your family warm all winter but also safe, is to set-up your furnace tune-up. During your heating tune-up, Komfort Air will check to ensure your furnace is operating safely with a total multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 704-705-8135 today and ask how you can save on a heating tune-up through November 25th.