Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter

Each year over 20,000 people visit 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 gas ranges, furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, and boilers so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the winter months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep your family safe, Fras-Air/General Service Experts is here with a couple tips to safety heat your home. 

• Put in a CO detector on every floor of your home and change the batteries annually. 
• Keep all potential sources of combustion, such as paper, clothing, bedding, or rugs, 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 unobstructed. 
• Do not 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 placed on the floor, and on a hard, fire-resistant 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. 
• Don’t use a cooking range to increase the temperature in your home. 

• Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and gas or oil furnaces professionally examined and cleaned every year. 

The best thing you can do for your heating equipment is to make sure it’s not only all set to keep your family warm all winter but also safe, is to schedule your heating tune-up. During your furnace tune-up, Fras-Air/General Service Experts will check to make sure your heating equipment is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 908-448-2154 today and ask how you can save on a fall tune-up through November 25th.