Stay safe from carbon monoxide in your home

More CoServ Members are using portable back-up generators for the rare occasions when there’s a power outage.

While these portable generators can provide power to cool your refrigerator, power your internet or turn on the lights, they can also be deadly if the exhaust fumes aren’t properly ventilated.

It’s an unfortunate reality during cold-weather outages that people will succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning from improper use of a portable generator, a natural gas-powered oven or a grill.

Carbon monoxide is odorless, tasteless and colorless. The silent killer is created when there’s an incomplete combustion of fuel. In humans, the carbon monoxide molecules attach to the hemoglobin in your blood and, after extended exposure, prevents blood from carrying oxygen throughout the body, causing asphyxiation.

CoServ does add mercaptan to natural gas to give it the rotten egg smell, but that smell is gone once the gas burns.

Homeowners can protect themselves by installing carbon monoxide detectors throughout the home. Check the batteries at least once a year, just as you do with your smoke detectors.