- Cold weather is pushing furnaces to the limit, increasing the risk of fires.
- Neglected maintenance and simple carelessness can heighten those risks, as well, say Jackson neighborhood experts.
- WATCH THE VIDEO as Jackson neighborhood experts Doug Warren and Tim Barker share their safety tips.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
How many of us do not get our furnaces and ducts checked before the winter season? According to neighborhood experts I talked to, that's taking a risk.
"Furnaces running non-stop….They're being pushed to the limit," is what's keeping Tim Barker, owner of Michigan Center Heating and Cooling busy this season.
He tells me reducing fire danger starts with simple things:
"Make sure you don't have things piled around your furnaces."
And when it comes to the condition of a furnace, Barker says a major danger to watch out for is what's called the "flame roll-out". You have to listen to your furnace to hear that one.
"When your furnace fires, you'll hear somewhat of an explosion," says Barker, describing what to listen for. "It can be very dangerous."
For the ventilation side of home heating, I talked with the owner of another hvac company, Ductz. Doug Warren says it's more than furnaces and heaters that can cause a fire:
"When you see fires in an HVAC environment, it's mostly — it's usually a chimney."
Warren says chimneys should be inspected annually for anything blocking them — things like birds' nests. He says dryer ducts, too, should be inspected.
I have a chimney in my own house in Jackson, and after this story decided I might make a call soon to get it looked at.
"This time of year, we catch a lot of fires, honestly, in dryer vents," notes Warren. "If that dryer vent can't breathe properly, it's overheating, and so the lint that comes off of our clothes is highly flammable, and it'll get pushed into that system. It'll just keep running and running and running. Eventually, it'll get so hot that it can create a spark and there's where you get your fire at."
Apart from routine maintenance, Barker suggests fire and carbon monoxide alarms near furnaces and heaters.
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