Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter

Every year over 20,000 people end up in the emergency room due to carbon monoxide poisoning. This colorless, odorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s practically undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector. 

Carbon monoxide, according to 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 winter months when people are trying to heat their homes. To help keep you safe, Neal Harris Service Experts is here with some tips to safety keep your home heated. 

• Install a CO detector on all floors of your home and replace the batteries annually. 
• Keep all possible sources of combustion, such as paper, clothing, bedding, or rugs, a distance over 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 unobstructed. 
• Never leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended. Turn off space heaters and make sure all embers in the fireplace are totally extinguished before going to bed or leaving home. 
• Space heaters should always be situated on the floor, and on a hard, nonflammable surface, like ceramic tile. Keep children and pets away from space heaters. 
• When buying a new space heater, buy a model that turns off automatically if the heater tips over. 
• Do not 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 best thing you can do for your furnace is to make sure it’s not only ready to keep you warm all winter but also safe, is to schedule your heating tune-up. During your fall tune-up, Neal Harris Service Experts will check to make sure your furnace is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 816-787-0500 today and learn how you can save on a fall tune-up through November 25th.