our opinions: ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT
In The
Comfort
Zone
Did You Get Your Flu Shot This Year?
Make Sure Your Home Is Safe Before
Winter Winds Start To Blow
By BRETT HOBSON
CEO Comfort Experts
A
92
ccording to the Centers for Disease Control, this time
of year is called “flu season.” In the United States,
flu viruses are most common during the fall and winter
months. Influenza activity often begins to increase in
October and November. Most of the time flu activity
peaks between December and February. I’m sure you’re
wondering what the flu has to do with your heating and
air-conditioning system. Because our heating systems are
working their hardest during these bitterly cold days, and
many people come down with a cold or the flu, it’s just
a seasonal problem, right? It may be more than that. Your
heating system could actually be making you sick, and, in
extreme situations, can even kill you.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can produce flu-like
symptoms, especially during cold snaps when your heat-
ing system is working overtime. The signs and symptoms
of carbon monoxide poisoning can include a dull head-
ache, weakness, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, shortness
of breath, confusion, and, in extreme cases, blurred vision
and loss of consciousness. According to the Mayo Clinic,
it is especially dangerous for people who are sleeping.
And like with the flu, older people, children, pregnant
women and their babies, and those with breathing prob-
lems or cardiovascular disease are at increased risk. It can
cause irreversible brain damage or death before anyone
even knows there is a problem. Many people who seek
treatment at hospitals for the flu may in fact be suffering
from carbon monoxide poisoning.
What is carbon monoxide (CO)? It’s a colorless, odor-
less, tasteless toxic gas produced by incomplete combus-
tion in fuel-burning devices like cars, gas-powered
furnaces and portable generators. According to the CDC,
unintentional CO exposure accounts for an estimated
15,000 emergency department visits and 500 uninten-
tional deaths in the US each year. We have had custom-
ers who, before we either fixed or replaced their heating
systems, had not felt well for weeks and had been to the
Brett Hobson
emergency room over and over again because they had
the flu and just couldn’t get better. They didn’t have the
flu, they were being slowly poisoned by their own heat-
ing system. There are lots of reasons for your system to
be producing or not exhausting these gases. It can be
because there is something wrong in your system, or even
one customer had a roof replacement and a portion of her
venting system was improperly cut off and left to vent the
gases back into her home. That’s why we also talk about
the importance of getting your system checked once a
year to make sure it’s working the way that it’s supposed
to. One tell-tale sign that you might be suffering from CO
poisoning is if you get better when you are away from
home and then feel poorly again when you return.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, also spikes
during cold weather. Although many different causes of
SIDS have been proposed, no one cause or combination
of causes has been established as definite, according to
the Journal of the American Medical Association. Howev-
er, one of the culprits may be the buildup of carbon
monoxide in the child’s environment caused by common
occurrences like cigarette smoke, car exhaust and inad-
equately vented heating systems. More than 2,000 babies
die in the US each year from SIDS.
So, what can you do to protect your family? Our
company recommends having at least two carbon
monoxide detectors in your home. Why two? Because I
don’t want to risk my family’s safety and well-being on
any $50 piece of equipment. If the first one fails to work,
the second one will register an increase in CO in the
home. A carbon monoxide detector costs between $20
and $100, so ask your heating technician which one they
recommend. We also recommend a checkup for your
home’s heating system before it begins working overtime.
These checks are inexpensive and will make sure that no
carbon monoxide is leaking into your home and making
your family sick. It’s a small price to pay for peace of
mind. Please call us today to schedule a system checkup
— it’s like a flu shot for your HVAC system.