Every year over 20,000 people go to the hospital because of carbon monoxide poisoning. The odorless, colorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s essentially undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide, as specified by the CDC, is produced by gas ranges, furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, and boilers so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the colder months when people are trying to keep their homes heated. To help keep you safe, Knochelmann Service Experts is here with some tips to safety heat your home.
- Place a CO detector on every floor of your home and change the batteries yearly.
- Keep all likely sources of combustion, such as paper, clothing, bedding, or rugs, at least three feet away from space heaters, stoves, furnaces or fireplaces.
- Before starting a fire in the fireplace, always check to confirm the chimney damper is open and unclogged.
- Never leave portable heaters or fireplaces alone. Turn off space heaters and ensure 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, nonflammable surface, like ceramic tile. Keep young ones and furbabies away from space heaters.
- When purchasing a new space heater, invest in a model that turns off automatically if the heater tips over.
- Don’t use a oven to warm 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 heating system is to make sure it’s not only up to the task of keeping you warm all winter but also safe, is to set-up your fall tune-up. During your heating tune-up, Knochelmann will check to be sure your heating equipment is operating safely with a complete multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 859-905-0834 today and ask how you can save on a fall tune-up through November 25th.