Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter

Each year over 20,000 people end up in the hospital as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. This odorless and colorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s essentially undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector

Carbon monoxide, according to 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 colder months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep you safe, Stevenson Service Experts is here with a couple tips to safety heat your home. 

  • Install a CO detector on each floor of your home and swap out the batteries every year. 
  • Keep all potential sources of combustion, such as bedding, paper, or clothing, a minimum of three feet away from space heaters, stoves, furnaces or fireplaces. 
  • Before lighting a fire in the fireplace, be sure to check to confirm the chimney damper is open and unobstructed. 
  • Never leave portable heaters or fireplaces unwatched. Shut off space heaters and be sure all embers in the fireplace are fully 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 concrete or tile. Keep kids and furbabies away from space heaters. 
  • When purchasing a new space heater, purchase a model that shuts off automatically if the heater tumbles over. 
  • Never use a oven to heat your home. 
  • Have fireplaces, chimneys, gas or oil furnaces, and coal and wood stoves professionally inspected and cleaned yearly. 

The ultimate thing you can do for your furnace is to make sure it’s not only all set to keep your family warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your heating tune-up. During your fall tune-up, Stevenson Service Experts will check to ensure your heating equipment is operating safely with a complete multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 614-334-3192 today and ask how you can save on a furnace tune-up through November 25th.