Make Home Safety Checks Part of your Spring Forward Plans

We’ve turned our clocks ahead and spring is just about here. While we all look ahead to fun traditions of spring and summer, Peoples encourages all its customers to make safety checks part of your springtime traditions.

Sure, you may not need to manually change the time on your clocks in this era of smart devices. What to do with those few minutes of time saved? Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working properly!

These detectors are crucial components to a healthy, safe home, helping warn you to a possible fire or overabundance of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide (CO) is often called the “silent killer,” as it is an invisible, odorless, tasteless gas that can be poisonous. Tens of thousands of Americans suffer CO poisoning every year, with symptoms ranging from headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and shortness of breath. CO poisoning causes approximately 400 deaths each year, and because it’s flammable, also carries the risk of causing explosions if introduced to an open flame or ignition source.

So what can you do to make your home safe? To start, make sure you have carbon monoxide detectors in your home. While some combination smoke – CO detectors exist, it’s important to make sure the devices in your home can detect both threats.

Safety experts recommend placing a CO detector on each floor of the home, with a special importance placed on level(s) with fuel-burning appliances. It’s also wise to place a detector outside of bedrooms, near enough to wake you if an issue is detected when you are sleeping.

Have them installed? Great – but don’t stop there! Test your detectors on a regular basis, and replace the batteries at least once a year. And now that you don’t need to manually change the time on those smart phones and other devices, why not use the time saved there to put fresh batteries in these small devices with a significant safety benefit?!

For more tips on preventing carbon monoxide poisoning and creating a safe home environment, please visit our Carbon Monoxide Safety page.