It’s still cold outside, and all your windows and doors are closed. This makes heating season a perfect time to make sure the carbon monoxide detectors in your house are working properly. If you don’t have any, it’s time to install them.
Carbon monoxide is a potential byproduct of burning fossil fuels including gas and oil. It’s colorless and odorless, but it’s potently toxic and can cause everything from dizziness to death.
Stay safe this winter by taking a few precautions:
• Install a carbon monoxide alarm outside of every bedroom, and one on every level of your house.
• Replace batteries in the alarm at least twice a year. While you’re at it, change the batteries in your smoke alarms, too.
• If you notice any warning signs that carbon monoxide is at harmful levels in your home—the air is stuffy and stale; condensation appears on windows; burner flames turn yellow; pilot lights flutter or extinguish—turn appliances off and open the windows. Call a natural gas contractor to inspect the equipment.
• Properly maintain your furnace, boiler vents and chimneys.
