Annually, over 20,000 people end up in the emergency room as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. The odorless, colorless gas is referred to as the silent killer because it’s practically 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 increases during the heating months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep your family safe, All American Air Service Experts is here with some tips to safety keep your home heated.
- Install a CO detector on each floor of your home and replace the batteries annually.
- Keep all possible sources of combustion, such as clothing, rugs, or bedding, a minimum of three feet away from furnaces, space heaters, fire places, or stoves.
- Before starting a fire in the fireplace, always check to ensure the chimney damper is open and unclogged.
- Never leave portable heaters or fireplaces alone. Turn off space heaters and confirm all embers in the fireplace are totally extinguished before leaving the area.
- Space heaters should always be placed on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like concrete or tile. Keep young ones and pets away from space heaters.
- When buying a new space heater, buy a model that shuts off automatically if the heater tumbles over.
- Don’t use a stove to increase the temperature in your home.
- Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and gas or oil furnaces professionally inspected and cleaned annually.
The ideal thing you can do for your heating system is to make sure it’s not only ready to keep you warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your furnace tune-up. During your heating tune-up, All American Air will check to ensure your furnace is operating safely with a total multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 386-310-2061 today and ask how you can save on a furnace tune-up through November 25th.