The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) participated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a joint public announcement last Thursday in Atlanta regarding the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning for America's homeowners.
The three organizations also outlined steps homeowners can take to prevent possible poisoning as the heating season approaches.
CO poisoning causes over 500 deaths each year in the United States. CO is an odorless, colorless gas produced by burning fossil fuels. Sometimes concentrations reach dangerous levels, but because you can't see it, smell it, taste it, or touch it, homeowners must take precautions to protect themselves and their families.
Homeowners should engage the services of qualified licensed contractors to annually inspect and adjust all fossil fuel heating devices (any gas-, oil-, coal-, or wood-burning appliances or equipment within the home). To make sure that the technicians do the proper check, ACCA has prepared a list of actions that should be undertaken by qualified technicians and made it available on their website at:
http://www.acca.org/carbonmonoxide.pdf