Preventing Your Furnace from Leaking Carbon Monoxide

November is a big month:

• Clean and polish everything in the house to get ready for Thanksgiving.
• Non-stop cooking and baking.
• Haul the Christmas decorations out of the attic (or wherever you keep them).

But Masters Heating & Cooling wants to make sure this doesn’t get lost in the shuffle: November is also Carbon Monoxide Awareness month, so please take a few moments to read this article about ways to keep you and your family safe.

Furnace Maintenance Is Vital

Any fuel burning device can cause CO poisoning, but during the heating season much of the focus is on gas furnaces . Oftentimes the culprit is a cracked heat exchanger . The only way to diagnose this problem is with a careful inspection by a trained HVAC technician. Just one more reason why seasonal maintenance is so important. A cracked heat exchanger demands an immediate repair or furnace replacement. It’s the only way to protect your Fort Wayne, Decatur, Angola, Indianapolis, or Greenwood, IN home and the people who live in it.

The Threat Is Real

According to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 400 people in this country die each year from non-fire-related carbon monoxide exposure. There’s a nearly foolproof way to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. Carbon monoxide detectors or monitors (ask Masters about the difference between the two) should be installed on every floor of your home. If you have an attached garage, there should also be a detector in the house near the door to the garage.

Know The Warning Signs

Even after installing detectors or monitors a big part of CO awareness is learning the warning signs. Early symptoms can include:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Rapid heartbeat
• Shortness of breath

If anyone in the home experiences these symptoms it could be because of exposure to even non-lethal levels of carbon monoxide gas. This is especially true if the symptoms seem to disappear when you leave your house in Fort Wayne, Decatur, Angola, Indianapolis, or Greenwood, IN .

Depend On Masters

Make sure you are doing everything possible during this Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month to protect yourself and your loved ones. If you have any questions about CO detectors and monitors or need to schedule furnace maintenance , call Masters Heating & Cooling now to make an appointment. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more great information.