8 Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

You can’t live without a furnace, water heater, stove, and other combustion appliances in your home, and you certainly don’t want to go without your car. However, these are all sources of carbon monoxide, or CO, an invisible, odorless, tasteless gas released as a by-product of incomplete combustion. To keep you and your family safe, take these steps to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning:

1. Install CO detectors. Plan to install at least one detector on every level of your home, especially right outside sleeping areas. And make sure they work by testing them once every one or two months!
2. Never burn charcoal indoors. You may hope to recapture the smell and taste of a summer barbecue in the middle of December, but don’t ever use a charcoal grill inside.
3. Never use a gas stove for heating. This could introduce an unsafe level of carbon monoxide gas into your home.
4. Don’t leave the car idling in the garage. Even when the garage door is wide open, and the door between the garage and house is shut, fumes from an idling car can penetrate the walls and enter your home.
5. React quickly when the carbon monoxide alarm goes off. Head outdoors and call the fire department on your cell phone. Stay outside until emergency personnel has inspected the premises, remedied the problem, and deemed the home safe to reenter.
6. Check the fireplace. Blocked, bent, or cracked chimney flues combined with a high amount of soot and debris could send carbon monoxide exhaust back into your home.
7. Keep an eye on the gas furnace pilot light. Carbon monoxide could be leaking if you notice a flickering yellow or orange furnace flame instead of a steady blue flame. This is a sign that the natural gas isn’t burning efficiently and more CO than usual is being released, possibly into your home.
8. Have your furnace maintained annually. This is your chance to ask the technician to examine the orange furnace flame and check for other signs of CO leaks, including a rusted flue pipe, corroded venting system, or cracked heat exchanger.

Contact Us for a Furnace Inspection in Central Jersey

With these tips to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, you can set your mind at ease, knowing you have done all you can to protect your family from this deadly gas. Don’t forget to schedule furnace maintenance every fall so a technician can check for signs of CO leaks, including a pilot light that burns orange. You’ll still be using your furnace for quite a few weeks, so if you’ve noticed anything off, don’t hesitate to call!

To schedule services in New Jersey, contact Arctic Air Conditioning today.