Whether you are a parenting rookie or a seasoned veteran, childproofing your home is essential to keeping your baby safe. Common household items can pose a potential threat to your children, your HVAC system is no different. Your HVAC system may seem harmless, but like most household items, your children can turn it into a hazard. To keep your children safe from your HVAC system and vice versa, follow these safety tips and reduce the risk:
Secure Vents: To a small child, floor vents are a whole new world; shiny and sharp. It is vital to make sure your vents are properly secured to protect your child from any misfortune. Sharp registers can get loose and become a major hazard to your children’s safety. To prevent this from happening, try nailing or screwing your vents into hardwood floors. For further precaution, you could try plastic registers to avoid the sharp edges of metal ones. Evaluating the security of your vents will keep food and toys out of your unit, but more importantly keep your children safe.
Keep Equipment Out of Reach: You may not look at your thermostat as a major hazard, but if your child were to have access to it they could make severe changes that could cause harm to your health as well as damage to your HVAC system. To avoid situations like this from occurring, it is important to keep all thermostats, remotes, or other HVAC control devices in a place inaccessible to small children.
Check your Outdoor Unit: Your outdoor HVAC unit is equally, if not more, dangerous than your indoor unit. It is not a playground, though your child may view it that way. It is essential to eliminate any hazards as your children take on the outside world. A possible solution is to fence in the area or block it off to make it inaccessible to your children, but still accessible to your HVAC technicians.
Securing your home and making it a safe place for children is a top priority. At Doug’s we respect you and your home and we want to help eliminate any potential risk your HVAC system may bring. If you have questions about childproofing your HVAC unit, give us a call at 309-764-2500 and we will be happy to help!
