Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter

Every year over 20,000 people visit the emergency room because of carbon monoxide poisoning. This colorless, odorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s essentially undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector. 

Carbon monoxide, according to 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 winter months when people are trying to keep their homes heated. To help keep you safe, A-Plus is here with some tips to safety warm your home. 

• Put in a CO detector on each floor of your home and change the batteries every year. 
• Keep all potential 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. 
• Do not leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended. Shut off space heaters and make sure all embers in the fireplace are completely extinguished before going to bed or leaving home. 
• Space heaters should always be placed on the floor, and on a hard, incombustible surface, like ceramic tile. Keep children and pets away from space heaters. 
• When buying a new space heater, purchase a model that shuts off automatically if the heater falls over. 
• Do not use a cooking range to warm your home. 

• Have all stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and all types of furnaces professionally checked and cleaned every year. 

The best thing you can do for your furnace is to make sure it’s not only all set to keep you warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your heating tune-up. During your furnace tune-up, A-Plus will check to make sure your furnace is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 301-747-3140 today and find out how you can save on a heating tune-up through November 25th.