Gas Furnace Safety – Protecting You and Your Family from the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide

If you read our blog with any frequency, you know that we are constantly reminding our customers in the metro-Atlanta area to make sure that their furnace is properly installed and serviced by a professional technician. We’ve talked about how having a well installed and serviced furnace can save you money and prolong the life of your furnace.

But there’s another extremely important reason to make sure your furnace is properly maintained: carbon monoxide safety.

As you might know, carbon monoxide (CO) is often called “the silent killer.”  It is caused by the incomplete combustion of a carbon-based fuel during the burning process. This fuel could be pretty much anything burning, including natural gas, propane, oil, methane, or even wood.

Carbon monoxide is a completely odorless and invisible gas. It robs the body of oxygen and causes drowsiness, headache, and shortness of breath. High exposures can lead to confusion, vomiting, seizures and death.

It is so very, very important that every home have working carbon monoxide alarms, preferably outside of all sleeping areas. Like fire alarms, interconnected alarms are the best bet.

And, if you haven’t gotten the point yet, it’s also important for you to make sure that your gas furnace is properly installed and maintained. A furnace that isn’t vented correctly upon installation could back feed CO into your home.  A neglected furnace that’s not been serviced in a while could have combustion problems that could cause CO poisoning.

The best way to avoid CO in your home is prevention: make sure that your furnace and any other fuel-burning appliances in your home are properly installed, vented, and maintained. And ALWAYS have a working CO detector. Also, make sure you know about natural gas safety if you use that fuel source.

At Gagne Heating and Air, it’s important to us to do every job up to industry standards to help keep you not just comfortable, but safe. If you’re in the Alpharetta, Buckhead, Sandy Springs, or surrounding areas, call us today for reliable, professional heating and air service.