How to Prevent Heat-Related Illness

• Dress for the heat. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing (light colors reflect away some of the sun’s energy) and plenty of sunscreen. Wear a hat or use an umbrella to help shield you from the sun.
• Carry water or juice and drink frequently, even if you do not feel thirsty. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which dehydrate the body. Make sure to check on youth and elderly to make sure they have enough fluids.
• Eat small meals and eat more often. Avoid foods that are high in protein, which increases metabolic heat.
• Avoid using salt tablets unless directed by a physician.
• Avoid strenuous activity. If you must do something physically demanding, try to do it during the coolest part of the day, which is usually between 4:00 and 7:00 a.m. Take regular breaks to cool off.
• Stay indoors as much as possible.
• Be vigilant about water safety if headed to a pool or beach. Never leave a child unattended near water and keep lifesaving gear handy.
• Watch for signs of life-threatening heat stroke. The person’s temperature control system, which produces sweating to cool the body, stops working. The body temperature can rise so high that brain damage and death may result if the body is not cooled quickly.
• Signals of heat stroke include hot, red, and usually dry skin, changes in consciousness, rapid, weak pulse and rapid, shallow breathing.
• If you or someone you know experience symptoms, call 9-1-1 or your local EMS number. Move the person to a cooler place. Quickly cool the body by wrapping wet sheets around the body and fan it. If you have ice packs or cold packs, place them on each of the victim’s wrists and ankles, in the armpits and on the neck to cool the large blood vessels. Watch for signals of breathing problems and make sure the airway is clear. Keep the person lying down.
• Don’t forget to protect your pets.
• Limit exercise to the coolest part of the day, typically early in the morning. Even in the coolest part of the day, watch for signs of trouble. Glassy eyes and frantic panting indicate a dog needs help.
• Make sure your pet has constant access to shade and an endless supply of cool, clean water.
• Never leave a pet in a car – even for a few minutes.
• Be vigilant for signs of heat stroke, which is deadly for pets. Symptoms include sluggish and non-responsive demeanor, bright red and/or dry tongue and gums, vomiting or diarrhea and/or unusual breathing patter, heavy panting, or high heart rate.  If your pet displays these symptoms, get emergency medical attention.

Coming up later this week… Air Conditioning and whether it is right for you.

• Portable space heaters need to have a 36-inch clearance between them and anything that can burn.  They also need to be turned off every time you leave the room or go to bed.
• Only use a licensed heating contractor to install new furnaces or heat pumps in your home.  They will be able to install them with the correct ventilation according to code, which will prevent fires.
• Do not use your oven to heat your home
• Have your wood & coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and furnace or heat pump inspected annually by a professional, and cleaned as often as is suggested.
• If your power goes out, avoid using candles.  Use flashlights instead.
• Make sure your fireplace has a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from flying into the room.
• Test your smoke alarms monthly and install a carbon monoxide alarm in a central location outside of each sleeping area.

As simple as it seems, avoiding close contact with anyone who is sick is the number one way to stay healthy.  And if you are sick, do everyone a favor and stay home from work or school.  Believe us, they will thank you.

Always cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.  If you don’t have a tissue nearby, use the crook of your elbow, not your hands.  If you use your hands, you will spread the germs much more readily than if they were captured in your elbow.

Wash your hands frequently.  This is a good practice in general, but during the cold season, it is even more important.  You will stop the spread of your germs to others and prevent the spread of their germs to you.

Avoid touching your face at all.  Our skin does such a great job of protecting us that germs have to find a way in somehow.  The mouth, nose, and eyes are all hot spots that germs love to gain entry.

Make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy diet, and keep your stress levels down.  The immune system is compromised by a lack of sleep, improper nutrition, and high stress levels.  When your body has to concentrate on combating those problems, it has less ammunition for colds and the flu.

Ensure that you are changing or cleaning the filters on your furnace every couple of months.  If you have someone with a compromised immune system or someone who often gets sick living in your house, you might want to consider a UV light.  They are often installed in doctors office and hospitals to ensure that all of the bacteria in the air is killed as it is being circulated through the building.

1) To maintain a comfortable temperature within your house, you might want to consider keeping your thermostat at one temperature during the coldest days & nights.  If you turn down the temperature when you leave your house or go to bed, it will take much longer than normal to bring it up to a comfortable level when you return.

2) If you have a 90% or 95% efficiency gas furnace, check those condensate lines!  Sometimes they can freeze up, causing minor flooding or your furnace to shut off entirely.  You can thaw any frozen lines simply with a hair dryer.  If you want any help, give us a call at 253-630-9224 and we can walk you through it over the phone.

3) Make sure all of the registers are open in your house.  It’s a good idea in this extreme cold to have them open even in rooms you don’t use so that the house heats evenly and you prevent the possibility of mold growing in a damp room.

4) Do you have fresh batteries in your thermostat?  Sometimes when people don’t have any heat, it’s a simple matter of changing the batteries in their thermostat.

Bonus Tip: If you celebrate Christmas and have a fresh Christmas tree, you will want to make sure that you close any registers next to the tree.  If you have warm air blowing on the tree from an open register, it can dry it out and become a fire hazard.

1. Is your thermostat set with the proper settings? In the winter it should be in Heat or Auto mode. If you have cooling in the summer, it should be in Cool or Auto mode.

2. When was the last time you changed your filters? If it wasn’t within the past 3 months, a clogged filter might be tripping the safety switch and shutting off the unit. You can test to see if the filter is the source of your problem by taking the filter out and cycling on the system. If it turns on and runs normally, a clogged filter might have been your problem.  If the filter was indeed clogged, the furnace may be in similar shape, so call to schedule a Precision Tune Up ASAP.

3. Do you have power to the unit? Check the breakers to make sure they haven’t tripped for any reason.  A tripped breaker may have been caused by a faulty part, so call us after resetting it for further instruction.

If you have gone through these checks and your unit still isn’t working, give us a call and we can schedule a technician out to your house to perform a thorough diagnostic check on your system.