CO Scares Serve as Reminder

Written by Chris Rasmussen on Friday, 28 December 2012

Don't wait until spring and just hope that you make it through the winter. That furnace is cutting in every few minutes and working hard, but is it working like it should?

With two carbon monoxide scares this week in Saskatoon, SaskEnergy is hoping that you'll think safety. Check the furnace and chimney vents to ensure everything is in proper working order and install a carbon monoxide detector to serve as a warning system just in case something does go wrong.

With that said, Director of Media Relations Dave Burdeniuk says we also need to take a look outside the home for potential problems with the gas meter.

"Gas meters are designed to work in Saskatchewan winters but if that gas meter is under a snow bank, say you get a little bit of melting then a freezing cycle, you could have that meter encased in ice pretty quick." explained Burdeniuk. "We have had a couple of incidents over the last couple of years, even in Moose Jaw, where a gas meter froze over completely in ice and the safety mechanism tripped and the gas was venting to the outside."

Burdeniuk says if your metre is encased in ice or snow, and it's not something you can simply brush off, you can always give them a call and they'll send someone out. SaskEnergy is also suggesting yearly inspections for any natural gas appliance just to be on the safe side.