6 Furnace Safety Tips that will Keep your Home Protected this Winter

alert signBecause your furnace is a fuel-burning appliance, it’s important to understand what can go wrong with it that could potentially threaten the safety of your home. Luckily, it doesn’t take much to ensure that your system is running in a safe manner. Today we’re going to talk about six furnace safety tips that will help keep your heating system safe all winter long!

6 furnace safety tips to keep in mind this winter

  1. Schedule your furnace tune-up. The best thing you can do to ensure that your furnace is running safely this winter is to schedule a tune-up with Tiger. During your tune-up, we’ll inspect your entire system for any problems like a cracked heat exchanger, venting issues or inefficient burners that could cause your system to operate in an unsafe manner.
  2. Change dirty filters. A dirty air filter blocks airflow to your heating system and allows dirt to build up on your burners and other vital system components. This forces your furnace to operate inefficiently, which can cause it to produce an unsafe amount of carbon monoxide in your home’s air. Make sure to check and/or change your filter once a month!
  3. Keep flammable objects away from furnace. Never store flammable objects such as paper, cardboard, cleaning products or other flammable liquids near your furnace. If those products were to accidently come in contact with your furnace’s burners, they could start a fire in your home. You’ll want to keep the area around your furnace clear anyway so that you and your service technician can have easy access to your system.
  4. Keep your air registers open and clear. If the air registers around your home are blocked by furniture or other household objects, it can cause your furnace to overheat. Keeping your air registers clear will avoid safety hazards and also allow warm air to flow freely into your living spaces.
  5. Test your smoke detectors and CO detectors. The two biggest safety hazards that your furnace can be susceptible to are a fire and a carbon monoxide leak. In order to protect your home from either of these hazards, you need properly-functioning smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Make sure to test all of the alarms and detectors around your home and install a fresh pair of batteries in each of them this heating season.
  6. Call Tiger if something goes wrong. If anything goes wrong with your furnace this winter, it’s best to contact Tiger so that we can inspect and fix the problem for you. You don’t want to take any chances fixing a problem on your own that could cause your furnace to operate unsafely.

If you have any questions about these furnace safety tips, or if you’d like a heating system serviced or installed in your home, contact Tiger Services, your Glen Carbon plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor.

photo credit: nizger

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