Tips to Safely Heat Your Home This Winter

Annually, over 20,000 people visit the emergency room due to carbon monoxide poisoning. This colorless, odorless gas is known as the silent killer because it’s virtually undetectable without a carbon monoxide detector. 

Carbon monoxide, as confirmed by the CDC, is put off by fireplaces, boilers, furnaces, stoves, and gas ranges so it only makes sense that carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the winter months when people are trying to warm their homes. To help keep your family safe, Broad Ripple Service Experts is here with a few tips to safety keep your home heated. 

• Install a CO detector on all floors of your home and replace the batteries annually. 
• Keep all likely sources of combustion, such as paper, clothing, bedding, or rugs, at least 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. 
• Never leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended. Shut off space heaters and make sure all embers in the fireplace are fully extinguished before leaving the area. 
• Space heaters should always be placed on the floor, and on a hard, fire-resistant surface, like ceramic tile. Keep children and pets away from space heaters. 
• When buying a new space heater, invest in a model that shuts off automatically if the heater tips over. 
• Do not use a oven to heat your home. 

• Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and gas or oil furnaces professionally inspected and cleaned yearly. 

The best thing you can do for your furnace is to ensure it’s not only ready to keep your family warm all winter but also safe, is to call for your heating tune-up. During your furnace tune-up, Broad Ripple Service Experts will check to ensure your furnace is operating safely with a full multi-point inspection and cleaning. Call 317-527-0271 today and find out how you can save on a furnace tune-up through November 25th.