Keeping Safe from Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

There is a definite chill coming to Missouri.  Have you noticed that your furnace is kicking on more frequently now?  Every year, like clockwork, this is the season that poison centers start to get more calls about carbon monoxide.One of the most common sources of carbon monoxide in a home is from an inefficient, poorly working furnace. When natural gas is burned to heat a home, an efficient and properly working heater puts out a safe by-product of carbon dioxide and water. On the other hand, a faulty heater that has incomplete burning of natural gas will create carbon monoxide and water. The carbon monoxide is a gas which is invisible, odorless and tasteless.  It is sometimes referred to as the silent killer.   Do two things to keep yourself and your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning:

• Have the furnace and other heaters (e.g. space heater, water heater) checked on a yearly basis.  This is especially true in older homes.  Sometimes heaters that were working perfectly the last time they were used in April do not function correctly in November.  Annual maintenance checks can save lives.
• Make sure there are functioning carbon monoxide detectors in the home.  Even if the furnace was just checked, this will be a lifesaver.  Perform regular checks on the detectors to make sure they are working properly and the batteries are up to date.  Many firemen recommend to change batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with the daylight savings time changes.