Your furnace is the vital HVAC component that keeps your home warm throughout the cold winter months. Because a furnace burns fuel to create heat, it can also be a menace if it’s not properly maintained, and expose your family to hazards like carbon monoxide, gas leaks and accidental fires. Here are four furnace safety tips to follow that can help keep such winter hazards in check:
Don’t Neglect Professional Maintenance
To keep your furnace running efficiently and safely, it needs to be professionally inspected, cleaned and tuned-up at the start of the heating season. During the visit, your HVAC technician will complete a variety of procedures that ensure safe operation. These key tasks include verifying the heat exchanger integrity, testing the pilot light, flame sensor and burner, checking the gas lines/valve, inspecting the wiring, electrical connections and flue, and checking safety controls like the high limit switch.
Maintain a Flammable- and Combustible-Free Zone
You can minimize the risk of fires by keeping the furnace room or closet free of products and materials that easily ignite or explode. Such combustibles and flammables include fuels like gasoline, cleaning products, paint, solvents, aerosol sprays, kitty litter, rags, wood and paper products, and textiles or fabrics.
Install Detection Devices
Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed in the right locations are crucial to alert you to deadly carbon monoxide gas and accidental fires. You should have one adjacent to every bedroom and sleeping area, and on every level of the house. For peace of mind that your detectors are working properly, test each one monthly and replace the batteries semi-annually.
Stay Alert to Gas Leaks
Natural gas has no odor, so manufacturers add a smelly chemical called mercaptan for safety. If you smell mercaptan’s distinctive, rotten-egg odor, it’s a warning sign of a leak in the furnace gas valve or lines. If you suspect there’s a leak, call your fire department and gas company, and leave the house until the source is found and fixed.
For expert help addressing furnace safety concerns in your Lorain-area home, contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area