How Yearly Heating Maintenance Can Save Your Life

It's that time of year; the time for heating and cooling companies to be pounded by countless 'no heat' calls from customers. It's also the time of year for carbon monoxide poisonings to peak.  All of this can be prevented with a yearly maintenance check.

I mention this because we had our maintenance check on Friday and it uncovered a dangerous problem. I will totally admit we skipped the check last year, so I thank God we had the company come on Friday or we could have died this winter.

Our system failed the draft test, so the technician dug deeper to find out why and, after removing a cover from a part, found this hole.

That hole was letting deadly fumes go into the air we breathed upstairs. If we didn't have a drafty house, it would have snuck up on us before the CO detectors caught it. Needless to say, we have a new furnace now.

If you smell oil or something unusual, tell the company that when they come for your yearly check up. We had a bit of an oil smell when the unit first kicked on.

Please, get your heating system maintenance done. and ask that they specifically do draft and CO tests. And don't forget to change your filters every 3 months (more frequently if you have pets). Oh, get CO detectors too!

Here's to a healthy and safe winter for you and your family.