Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible killer. You can’t smell it, see it, or taste it. It’s a poisonous gas that comes from combustion sources such as car engines, gas generators, furnaces, grills, fireplaces, wood stoves, and gas or kerosene space heaters. Every year, carbon monoxide accidentally kills about 150 people in the United States. Many more people suffer CO poisoning due to faulty furnaces and appliances.

Symptoms of CO poisoning include headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing, dizziness, drowsiness and becoming light-headed. If the CO poisoning progresses, the person may experience confusion, vomiting, staggering and coordination problems, loss of consciousness, and death. If you or your family experience these flu-like symptoms inside your house without a fever, open up all windows to ventilate the house and leave the house immediately. Go to the emergency room and have your family get medical attention as well.

You can protect yourself and your family from carbon monoxide poisoning by having your home heating systems checked and serviced annually by a trained specialist. You should also have the expert check your vents and chimney. Never operate combustion sources such as grills, gas generators, or gas and kerosene space heaters indoors. Have carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of the house and outside of the bedrooms. Having a CO detector should never substitute for maintaining your heating systems, as CO detectors can fail.

For all your heating and cooling needs, including servicing your furnace, please schedule an appointment with Powers Heating & Air, your HVAC business serving the Peachtree City area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

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