According to a 2012 report by the National Fire Protection Association, fire departments attend to an average of 72,000 carbon monoxide calls each year. Carbon Monoxide, or CO2, is a colorless, odorless gas by-product of burnt fuel. It’s most often associated with wood stoves, car engines and other fire combustion sources including gas or oil furnaces.
Why should you be constantly aware of CO2?
Not to be overly dramatic, but understanding the causes and ways to prevent excessive CO2 exposure is a matter of life and death. CO2 is tops when ranking leading ways of accidental poisoning deaths in the US*, and conditions of CO2 poisoning can be mistakenly labeled as the flu, viral infections and prolonged fatigue, among many others. This makes CO2 poisoning a very serious concern for any Livermore homeowner. Serious poisoning takes place from inhaling large concentrations of CO2, but poisoning has also been reported to occur over many months or years. Some symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, dizziness and fatigue.
How to protect your family from carbon monoxide?
- If you don’t have a CO2 detector in your home, get one right away. You can phone Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning to purchase one today.
- Existing CO2 detectors should be checked regularly (at least every 90 days). It's also wise to replace the detector every 3-5 years.
- If you experience or have experienced any of the symptoms mentioned above, ask your doctor to test for carbon monoxide poisoning, and get a second opinion if necessary.
- Schedule routine gas furnace maintenance annually to check that no CO2 leaks are present at the start of heating season.
- If your furnace is approaching the end of its working life, consider a proactive home furnace replacement service and upgrade to a brand new high efficiency system.
*emedicinehealth.com. Prevention information for Carbon Monoxide poisoning may be inaccurate or incomplete; none of these methods guarantee prevention of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.