If your clients need gas or electric furnace repair, then you need to be cautious. There are a wide variety of dangers associated with furnaces and other HVAC units, especially when working with the innards of the units themselves. Here are three ways a furnace repair contractor should keep themselves safe when repairing furnaces.

1. Preventing a Fire

One of the major risks of repairing furnaces is a fire starting from flammable objects being near the furnace. Even if the environment around the furnace you are fixing is clean, dry, and clear of extra materials that don't belong near it, it's still possible for a fire to occur while repairing the furnace. Not only should you clear the area of anything flammable left behind, but you should also make sure that masks, cloths, paper, and other flammable objects that belong to you aren't near the furnace, especially while the pilot light is on.

2. Recognizing a Carbon Monoxide Leak

The second major risk of furnace repair is that there is a carbon monoxide leak due to a cracked heat exchanger within the furnace. Depending on how much the furnace is cracked, there could be major amounts of carbon monoxide leaking from the furnace over time. Not every home has a carbon monoxide detector (although they should), so you may not have any warning before either physical symptoms hit or before you find the cracked heat exchanger. If you are suddenly feeling ill upon arrival at your client's home to fix their furnace, considering wearing a mask and evacuating the household until you can identify the problem.

3. Protecting Your Hands

As an HVAC technician, you most likely already have the hands needed to do the work with sharp, heavy, hot, and other harmful materials. However, the less damage you have on your hands, the better you can work. For any HVAC work, you will need to protect your body and use gloves. This is especially true with furnace repair, as you will be handling sharp edges if something is cracked, and hot metal if the furnace was just recently turned off. The gloves will also help you keep any possible coolant or oil present in the area you are working in from reaching your skin.

There are many ways to keep yourself safe when repairing a furnace. As always, furnace issues should be handled by furnace repair services instead of homeowners.