Evening temperatures have dropped, and mornings are downright chilly. Soon, it will be time to turn on that furnace to keep your home warm and comfortable. When it comes to furnaces, it’s important to always put safety first. So, before you turn up the heat, check out the following furnace safety tips to prepare you and your family for the cooler months ahead.
Change Your Filters
This is a simple yet important safety tip. Pop out your dirty filter and replace it with a new one. It takes seconds and can reduce dust circulating in your home and help keep your furnace running efficiently.
Install a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detector
Although nearly every home has smoke detectors, far fewer have CO detectors. If you have a gas furnace, these are vitally important. A CO detector will alert you if the CO levels in your home reach a dangerous level, so you’ll be alerted if you ever need to evacuate and call for emergency assistance.
Keep Your Furnace and the Area Around It Clean
Eliminate fire hazards by keeping your furnace and the area surrounding it clean and unobstructed by dirt, dust and items that can impact its safety and efficiency.
Store Combustibles Away from Your Furnace
Do you have combustible or flammable items like gasoline, lighter fluid or paint thinners? It’s just common sense to ensure they are nowhere near your furnace to avoid any risk of a fire or explosion.
Keep Registers Open
Keeping registers closed while your furnace is on can cause resistance and heat build-up in the furnace. This can damage your unit and creates a fire risk. If you have to close multiple registers, most likely you need to turn the temperature down.
Keep Registers Clean
Vacuum registers to remove dust, animal hair, and other pollutants that circulate in your home. Also take the time to keep the area around registers unobstructed by furniture, rugs, toys, blankets and other items.
Schedule an HVAC Inspection
Perhaps the most important way to ensure the safety of your home’s furnace is to get a furnace inspection before it’s time to begin turning on your heat. At Bruce’s Air Conditioning & Heating, we offer a thorough check of your furnace that includes inspecting for cracks in the combustion chamber, faulty wiring, dirty air filters, and more. Call us today to schedule your furnace inspection.
