Stay Safe when it comes to Carbon Monoxide

2/25/2022 (Permalink)

Carbon Monoxide alarms are helpful in detecting this harmful gas.

We typically teach our customers about fire safety. We stress the importance of keeping batteries and checking the efficiency of your smoke detectors in your home up to date. But, another important detector is carbon monoxide. Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be a lethal killer in your home. We have a few tips to help keep your home safer when it comes to battling carbon monoxide:

• Have fuel-burning appliances, like oil and gas furnaces, gas or kerosene heaters, fireplaces, and wood stoves inspected by a professional each year.
• Open the damper for proper ventilation before using a fireplace. Never use your oven or stovetop to heat your home.
• Make sure all fuel-burning vented equipment is vented to the outside to avoid CO poisoning. Keep the venting for exhaust clear and unblocked.
• If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Never run a vehicle or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open.
• Make sure vents for the dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace of debris

There are several things like heaters, generators, dryers, or idle cars that can cause carbon monoxide poising and could result in a trip to the hospital according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Following the above tips can help keep your home carbon monoxide-free.