Winter is here and heating your home and its contents has become of paramount importance. Modern gas appliances from furnaces to water heaters provide an great level of comfort in a usually safe appliance. There are times, however, when a heating system fails and produces the deadly gas, carbon monoxide. Heating system safety in your home is essential.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is just one oxygen atom away from the relatively innocuous carbon dioxide (CO2) that we exhale with every breath. Both will kill you rather quickly if no free oxygen is available. The trouble with carbon monoxide is that you won’t know that you are dying. Your body is equipped to deal with an overexposure of CO2 and you will cough and sputter as you escape its effects. Your body has no similar defense against carbon monoxide.

Without proper ventilation, carbon monoxide is produced by each of the following items found in every home:

• Gas furnaces

• Gas boilers

• Gas water heaters

• Stove/Gas range

• Generators

• Motor vehicles

It doesn’t take much carbon monoxide to produce ill effects. A chainsaw in an enclosed space can quickly make you sick. The above appliances are used almost continuously, every day in the average home. As such, there is a significant possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning affecting your family.

For these reasons, carbon monoxide detectors and heating system safety are imperative for the safety of your family. Carbon monoxide detectors work in one of two ways with both sensing the carbon monoxides effect on a substrate. One device senses a change in electrical resistance while the other senses a change in color of an organic compound. In both cases a battery powered alarm is then triggered.

The importance of maintaining properly heating system safety and functioning carbon monoxide detectors in your home cannot be overstated. The danger of a heating system malfunctioning is real. It’s probably the most common danger in your home. The fact is that there over 15,000 cases of non fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning cases reported each year with 500 deaths. What makes carbon monoxide so deadly is that it doesn’t have a smell to alarm you that there maybe something going wrong. If you think you may have a carbon monoxide leak or your carbon monoxide alarm is going off then get out of your home and call a professional heating contractor.  They will have the equipment to test your home for levels of carbon monoxide and heating system safety. If you don’t have a carbon monoxide detector they are extremely reliable and affordable. Don’t take the chance. Install one today!