Winter came to America this past week and began dumping snow across several states. While it may look white, fluffy and innocent, snow can also present a hazard to your health, if it happens to build up quickly and block the two most important pipes in your heating system, fresh air and exhaust!

Know Where Your Vents are Located

With high efficiency condensing gas furnaces gaining popularity across the country, people can easily lose track of the PVC venting pipes that typically jut out the side or roof of a home. In most areas, there are codes in place to assure there is a hood over the pipes, and they are high enough off the ground that normal snowfall will not affect them.

However, when a snow drift blows up to the side of your house and your gas furnace shuts off due to lack of fresh air, you may start scratching your head and wonder why its getting colder!

Locate your vents and make sure you clear the snow away from them after every storm! It will not only assure you that the furnace will continue to run correctly, it will prevent any blockages in the exhaust side of the vent and minimize any chance of carbon monoxide poisoning!

Also - if you have not installed a CO2 Detector - what are you waiting for? It's a $50-$100 item that is just as important as a smoke detector!

Filed under: HVAC Blog

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