Heating and Air Conditioning Service in Cypress, TX Alerts You About the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide,the silent killer, is difficult to detect. It does not have a color, taste, or smell that makes its presence known. Carbon monoxide resides in your fireplace, furnaces, and gas ranges. When carbon monoxide enters your home, it creates a poisonous breathing environment for the people living there.
With most of the deaths related to carbon monoxide occurring in the winter, it is essential for homeowners to contact a professional heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX. Let’s learn more about carbon monoxide poisoning.
What is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless and an odorless toxic flammable gas. When you breathe carbon dioxide, it makes it harder for your blood to deliver oxygen. Insufficient amounts of oxygen due to carbon monoxide poisoning can result in asphyxiation. Since detecting carbon monoxide in the air is difficult, you need to look for the following signs and symptoms:
- Aggravation of preexisting medical conditions
- Coma
- Disorientation
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Impairment of the cerebral function
- Muscle cramps
- Muscle weakness
- Nausea
- Respiratory and heart disease
- Seizures
- Visual disturbances
If you experience any of these symptoms or signs, you need to turn off the source, given you know the source, go outside, and contact 911. Your home is no longer livable if carbon monoxide has taken over. For this reason, it is important not to neglect getting in touch with a HVAC company for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX.
Obtaining awareness about carbon monoxide is essential, as it can save you, your family, and pets, if you have any, from breathing in poisonous air. You also need to know the sources responsible for leaks so you can turn it off if you suspect carbon monoxide in the air.
What Sources Are Responsible for Leaking Carbon Monoxide into Your Air?
Household appliances, ranging from heating systems, boilers, and gas furnaces, are sources responsible for carbon monoxide poisoning. Even accidental exposure to blocked chimneys and flues, which restrict gas from escaping can result in carbon monoxide poisoning. In the event you are unable to identify the source of carbon monoxide poisoning, you need to contact a HVAC company for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX. If you want to prevent carbon monoxide from poisoning the air indoors, you need to take measures to prevent it from happening.
How to Keep Your Family Safe? — 4 Tips to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Here are four tips you need to follow to keep your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning:
1. Check Your Chimney and Fireplace for Efficiency and Safety
You need to inspect and clean your chimney and fireplace to ensure its efficient and safe. A clogged chimney increases the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning the indoor air and can even result in a fire. You to inspect your chimney for bird nest, debris, or any obstructions. In addition to this, you need to ensure there is no buildup of sooth, as it can cause a fire if not cleared.
Next, use a flashlight to check the flue damper to ensure you can open, close, and seal it properly. If you are unable to seal the flue damper, you will lose a lot of heat from your home when you have not turned on the fireplace.
You also want to remove the creosote from inside your chimney and if you have not called a professional for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX in a long time, you need to contact them to come and inspect your chimney and clean the ducts. The same goes for homeowners with a gas burning fireplace.
They too need to contact a professional heating and cooling service in their area to inspect their HVAC system. If you have a gas burning furnace, you can identify if this is the source of carbon monoxide poisoning by checking the glass doors for cracks, inspecting the position of the gas logs, and turning off the gas at the shut valve and testing the igniter. By taking these steps now, you are making sure that your furnace works better in the future.
2. Inspect Your HVAC Vents to Ensure Proper Airflow
You need to inspect your HVAC vents to ensure there is nothing blocking the heating vents. Blocked vents trap the heat, increase your heating bill, and overheat your furnace. You need to check both of your supply register and your return registers. Heat blows out of the supply registers and air draws into them via the return registers. You should also not close the vents in the room you do not use, as it does more harm than good.
Closing the vents increases duck leakage, causes discomfort, causes cracks in the heat exchange and increases the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, and leads to condensation and mold growth due to decreased surface temperatures in the rooms of the house where you have closed the vents. If you suspect improper airflow, you need to contact a heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX without delay.
3. Install Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms and Detectors
Carbon monoxide alarms and detectors detect level of carbon monoxide in the air. You can install carbon monoxide detectors and alarms in your home to keep you, your family, and pets safe. You also need to contact a HVAC professional for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX to come to your home to investigate and resolve any problems that come up during their routine maintenance inspection.
4. Schedule Routine HVAC Maintenance
You need to schedule routine HVAC maintenance by contacting a skilled HVAC technician for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX every year. If they find a problem that could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning if remained unresolved, they can fix and repair it straightway. When it comes to carbon monoxide poisoning, you cannot take any chances, as you and your family’s life is on the line.
If you want a professional HVAC company to come and inspect your home for carbon monoxide poisoning, contact Cypress Heating and Air Conditioning for heating and air conditioning service in Cypress, TX.
