Before you welcome overnight guests for the holidays, install carbon monoxide detectors near every bedroom.
If you heat your home with a gas furnace or use other gas appliances at home, you need these life-saving detectors. You can’t see or smell carbon monoxide, which is a potential byproduct of burning fossil fuels.
Your home should have at least one carbon monoxide detector to alert you of the presence of gas. Follow these safety guidelines:
- If you install only one carbon monoxide detector, put it on the same floor as the bedrooms so it can alert your family to wake up in case levels of the gas reach an unhealthy level. Better: Place a detector on every floor of the house.
- Keep your detectors at least 15 feet away from a gas stove or oven, which may emit a small amount of carbon monoxide on startup.
- Detectors don’t operate properly in humid areas like the bathroom.
- Replace the batteries in your alarms twice a year.
- Properly maintain your gas appliances, including the furnace and stove. Same goes for devices that use gasoline.
- Know the warning signs of too much carbon monoxide in the house: tuffy, stale air; condensation on windows; yellow burner flames on the stove; and fluttering or extinguishing pilot lights.
- If you see the signs or your alarm sounds, turn off suspect appliances, open doors and windows, and call a natural gas contractor to inspect the equipment. Even better: Get out of the house.
- If your garage is connected to your house, avoid idling your car. Car exhaust is a source of carbon monoxide.
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