Carbon Monoxide and Your Home's Safety

What You Need To Know

The Centers for Disease Control reports that about 50,000 people end up in emergency rooms yearly with CO poisoning. About 4,000 of them are hospitalized and 430 die each year. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a silent killer because it is odorless and colorless. CO replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells, depriving vital organs such as your brain and heart of oxygen. This can result in serious injury or death. Many CO poisonings happen when people are asleep. People in these situations can be in danger before they feel any symptoms. Those symptoms are usually described as flu-like, with the most common symptoms being:

• Headache
• Weakness or lethargy
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Confusion
• Chest pain

Those with anemia, respiratory problems, or chronic heart disease are especially vulnerable to the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. Many things can cause a dangerous buildup of carbon monoxide in your home, including unsafe use of space heaters, cars idling in the garage, using a gas stove for heating, and a malfunctioning heating system.

How To Prevent Co Buildup

The best way to make sure that your home’s heating system is not contributing to carbon monoxide buildup in your home is by getting it a maintenance tune-up each year. Kimlin Energy’s trained, experienced service technicians will make sure that your furnace or boiler is running safely and at its best possible efficiency. We also offer affordable service plans that include an annual tune-up, as well as discounts on repairs and 24/7 emergency no-heat service.

Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Ensure that you have detectors for CO on every level of your home, including the basement and outside any sleeping areas. Change the battery on your CO detector when you change the batteries in your smoke detectors. This should be done each time Daylight Savings Time begins or ends. CO detectors needs to be replaced every five years. Homes that use propane gas also need a device to detect leaks. The rotten-egg smell might not be detected because of something like rust inside the tank or people in the home having allergies or a condition that affects their sense of smell. Propane leak detectors are low-cost and simple to install. They can be purchased at a hardware store or online, depending on your personal preferences. If your carbon monoxide detector goes off, here's what you need to do.

• Get everyone, including your pets, out of the house IMMEDIATELY
• Call 911 or your local fire department
• Let the first responders investigate the CO buildup and what caused the carbon monoxide detector to go off

If no carbon monoxide buildup is found, the CO detector may have malfunctioned and needs to be retested.  Make sure that your home’s heating system runs safely. Contact us today to schedule your annual maintenance tune-up. And don’t forget to ask about our service plans!