Every year over 20,000 people go to the hospital due to carbon monoxide poisoning. This odorless and colorless gas is called the silent killer because it’s practically undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide, as specified by the CDC, is put off by gas ranges, furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, and boilers so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning climbs during the heating months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep your family safe, Neal Harris Service Experts is here with a couple tips to safety warm your home.
- Install a CO detector on all floors of your home and replace the batteries every year.
- Keep all likely sources of combustion, such as bedding, paper, or clothing, a minimum of three feet away from space heaters, stoves, furnaces or fireplaces.
- Before starting a fire in the fireplace, always check to ensure the chimney damper is open and unclogged.
- Do not leave portable heaters or fireplaces alone. Shut off space heaters and ensure all embers in the fireplace are fully extinguished before leaving the area.
- Space heaters should always be positioned on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like porcelain tile. Keep kids and furbabies away from space heaters.
- When investing in a new space heater, buy a model that shuts off automatically if the heater falls over.
- Do not use a cooking range to heat your home.
- Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and gas or oil furnaces professionally checked and cleaned annually.
The ideal thing you can do for your furnace is to be sure it’s not only all set to keep your family warm all winter but also safe, is to set-up your furnace tune-up. During your fall tune-up, Neal Harris will check to ensure your furnace is operating safely with a complete multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 816-787-0500 today and ask how you can save on a furnace tune-up through November 25th.