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Safety Tips For Living In A Home With A Gas Furnace For The First Time

20 January 2017 by Roy Morris

If you just purchased your first home with a gas furnace, then it is important that you know how to safely care for and operate it. While a gas furnace is a safe and efficient way to heat your home, it does require some special attention to keep it safely operating. Since this is your first experience living with a gas furnace, here are some safety tips you need to know to keep your family and pets safe:

Tip: Never Operate a Gas Furnace With Its Front Cover Open

You should never operate your gas furnace with its front cover open. The cover functions as a safety device to keep your hands and your pets from getting trapped in the furnace's moving parts, and it also serves to keep carbon monoxide generated by your furnace out of your living space. If you need to open the cover to service the furnace, make sure that it is securely reattached before using your furnace again.

Tip: Change Your Gas Furnace's Filter Each Month

Since an excessive amount of dirt and pet hair trapped in your gas furnace's filter is both a fire hazard and a cause of home air pollution, you need to change the filter at least once each month. Place the dirty filter in a sealed garbage bag and dispose of it in your outdoor trash can. Never clean and reuse a disposable heater filter.  

Tip: Never Operate a Gas Furnace Without a Working Carbon Monoxide Detector in Your Home

You should never operate a residential gas furnace in a home that does not have a working carbon monoxide detector. All gas furnaces give off some carbon monoxide as they burn. If your furnace malfunctions, it can give off enough gas to kill animals and humans. Since carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, you do not have any way to know it is present until it harms you and your family. To mitigate this risk, you should always check to make sure your carbon monoxide detectors are working before using your gas furnace. 

Tip: Have Your Gas Furnace Professionally Serviced Each Fall

Finally, it is very important that you have your new home's gas furnace professionally serviced in the late summer or early fall season each year. A licensed technician will clean and inspect your furnace's various parts and will ensure that you can safely operate your gas furnace during the cold winter months.

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