Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter
Every year over 20,000 people go to the emergency room because of carbon monoxide poisoning. This odorless and 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 stoves, gas ranges, boilers, furnaces, and fireplaces so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the heating months when people are trying to heat their homes. To help keep your home safe, Stevenson Service Experts is here with a few tips to safety keep your home heated.
- Place a CO detector on every floor of your home and swap out the batteries every year.
- Keep all possible sources of combustion, such as clothing, rugs, or bedding, a distance over three feet away from fireplaces, furnaces, stoves, or space heaters.
- Before starting a fire in the fireplace, always check to verify the chimney damper is open and unblocked.
- Don’t leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended. Turn off space heaters and make sure all embers in the fireplace are totally extinguished before leaving either heating source unattended.
- Space heaters should always be placed on the floor, and on a hard, fire-resistant surface, like concrete or tile. Keep young ones and furbabies away from space heaters.
- When purchasing a new space heater, purchase a model that turns off automatically if the heater falls over.
- Do not use a oven to increase the temperature in your home.
- Have fireplaces, chimneys, gas or oil furnaces, and coal and wood stoves professionally checked and cleaned yearly.
The best thing you can do for your furnace is to ensure it’s not only all set to keep your home warm all winter but also safe, is to schedule your furnace tune-up. During your fall tune-up, Stevenson Service Experts will check to make sure your furnace is operating safely with a total multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 614-334-3192 today and ask how you can save on a fall tune-up through November 25th.