House Keys: The Essential Homeowner's Guide to Saving Money, Time, and Your Sanity Building, Buying, Selling, and Maintaining a Home by Lisa Turner

Author:Lisa Turner [Turner, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Turner Creek Publishing
Published: 2017-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

Safety Tips for the Holidays 3 - Heating

This week I’ll talk about some hazards that are common at this time of year as we fire up the furnace, the fireplace, and the gas logs with the first round of freezing temperatures as we sail into the holidays.

Our expectation is that the heating equipment will work perfectly the first time in over 7 or 8 month of being idle when we hit that thermostat, but this isn’t always the case. It’s sort of like driving on tires when we’ve not checked the air pressure - we don’t really notice diminished performance over time. Or, we may find on the first cold day that the heat does not work at all. This is one of the “things your mother told you but you didn’t want to hear” sayings: regular and preventative maintenance pays off over time. You can go year to year and the appliances continue to work, but if you have a plan to service them regularly, they are less likely to surprise you with a malfunction.

Here’s how to keep your heating appliances working and keep you safe.

Fireplace. Most of us throw the wood in there and light it. That’s it. Simple. But wait! Before your next fire, take a look at a couple of things. First, is the damper working properly? Is it closing all the way? Opening all the way? If it’s not, you’re sending warm/cold air up the flue when you’re not using the fireplace, and when you are using it, it may not be venting properly. Take your fingers and press at the rear of the firebrick inside the fireplace - is there any give, or any loose brickwork? This is important, as loose brickwork can cause the area behind it to receive more heat than it should and cause damage. Open the damper and look up into the flue, or use a digital camera and point it up the flue and take a picture. Is there a buildup of creosote, a fire byproduct? If you discover any problems. call a professional chimney sweep for an inspection and a cleaning. Creosote buildup can cause a fire where you do not want it - inside the chimney.

Gas Logs. At the beginning of the heating season, have your gas company inspect the gas lines and valves. Try to negotiate this service into the purchase of your propane. As a home inspector I always look at gas lines that are visible and do the “sniff” test - get your nose right up to the valve and see if you can detect any sulfur, or “rotten egg” smell. Propane is a heavier than air, odorless gas that has the smell added to it so that we can recognize a leak. I check the outside storage tank valve too. About 8% of the time I find a leaking line or valve. This is serious - a spark or flame can cause propane in the air to explode. If you do think you

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