All Around Comfort warns Central Arkansas homeowners about furnace safety this winter

All Around Comfort Heat & Air is urging Central Arkansas homeowners to inspect furnaces, test carbon monoxide alarms, and clear heating equipment before cold weather deepens. The Cabot HVAC contractor says preventive maintenance can help reduce CO exposure, fire risk, and winter breakdowns while also highlighting heat pump efficiency benefits.

Why it matters: - Winter heating season increases the risk of carbon monoxide exposure, furnace fires and no-heat emergencies in Central Arkansas homes. - Homeowners can lower those risks with annual inspections, working CO alarms and basic upkeep between service visits. - Heat pumps can also reduce winter electricity use for households that heat with electricity.

What happened: - All Around Comfort Heat & Air, a Cabot, Arkansas HVAC contractor and Amana dealer, shared furnace safety and preventive maintenance guidance for Central Arkansas homeowners. - The guidance focuses on carbon monoxide safety, winter fire prevention, and steps to avoid mid-season heating failures. - The company also outlined heat pump maintenance and efficiency considerations for homes in Cabot and surrounding communities.

The details: - Gas furnaces produce carbon monoxide as a normal byproduct of combustion, and a proper flue system is supposed to move that gas outdoors. - A cracked heat exchanger, blocked or disconnected flue, or damaged venting can let carbon monoxide enter the home. - The heat exchanger is the metal barrier that separates the flame and exhaust gases from indoor air circulated through the ductwork. - The CDC advises annual oil and gas furnace inspections and battery-operated or battery-backup CO detectors near every sleeping area. - The CDC says carbon monoxide kills hundreds of people in the U.S. each year and sickens thousands more. - Common carbon monoxide symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. - Symptoms affecting multiple people in the same home, or symptoms that improve when people leave the house, can signal carbon monoxide exposure. - Infants, older adults and people with chronic heart disease, anemia or breathing problems face higher risk, though anyone can be affected. - Anyone who suspects carbon monoxide exposure, or whose alarm sounds, should leave immediately, get to fresh air and call for emergency help. - Homeowners should not re-enter the house or restart fuel-burning equipment until the source has been found and corrected. - Carbon monoxide alarms should be placed near every sleeping area, with coverage on each floor of a multilevel home. - Alarms should be tested regularly, batteries replaced on the manufacturer’s schedule and units replaced when they reach end of life. - A working alarm warns occupants after carbon monoxide is already present, while an inspection is meant to find the problem before exposure happens. - Heat pumps and electric furnaces do not burn fuel, so those systems do not create carbon monoxide themselves. - CO risk can still come from gas water heaters, gas ranges, fireplaces, attached garages and portable generators. - The CDC warns against running generators, grills or other fuel-burning equipment inside a home, basement or garage, even with doors or windows open. - Gas ovens and stovetops should never be used to heat a home. - Furnaces installed in closets, garages, attics or crawl spaces should be kept clear of boxes, paint, cleaning products, gasoline and other combustible materials. - Space heaters should stay at least three feet from anything that can burn, plug directly into a wall outlet and turn off when people leave the room or go to sleep. - All Around Comfort says its fall furnace service includes cleaning the heat exchanger and burners, inspecting flue and venting components, checking safety controls, testing ignition and overall operation, and checking for carbon monoxide. - Homeowners can ask service providers whether a visit includes a CO check, heat exchanger inspection, flue and venting review and safety-control testing before scheduling. - A furnace may need service even if it is still running. - Warning signs include a CO alarm, repeated ignition failures, short cycling, rising heating bills, soot around registers or the cabinet, unusual startup odors, rattling or banging noises, and a yellow or unsteady burner flame. - A faint burning smell the first time a furnace runs in the season is often dust burning off and usually fades quickly. - A persistent odor, a gas smell or any odor accompanied by illness should be treated as a safety issue, and a suspected gas leak requires leaving the home and calling the gas utility or emergency services from outside. - Replacing air filters on schedule helps airflow and reduces strain on the blower. - Supply registers and return grilles should stay clear of furniture, rugs and curtains. - High-efficiency furnace vents should stay clear of leaves, debris and ice. - Heat pump outdoor units should stay free of leaves, snow and vegetation so air can move across the coil. - Checking that the thermostat switches to heating mode, and replacing thermostat batteries when needed, can help prevent a no-heat call. - In cold, damp weather, a light frost layer on a heat pump outdoor coil is normal and the system will periodically run a defrost cycle. - During defrost, homeowners may see steam from the outdoor unit or a brief fan shutdown. - A heat pump that remains heavily iced, runs constantly without keeping up or relies on backup electric heat unusually often should be checked by a technician. - Heat pumps move heat rather than generating it, which lets them provide both heating and cooling without burning fuel. - Because they do not burn fuel, heat pumps do not produce carbon monoxide. - The U.S. Department of Energy says heat pumps can cut electricity use by 50% compared with electric resistance heating such as electric furnaces and baseboard heaters. - SEER2 measures cooling efficiency and HSPF2 measures heating efficiency, with higher numbers indicating better performance. - All Around Comfort installs Amana heating and cooling systems, including heat pumps that use R-32 refrigerant. - The company says R-32 has a lower global warming potential than the R-410A refrigerant used in many older systems. - Amana’s S-Series heat pumps use inverter technology with a variable-speed compressor that adjusts output to match demand instead of cycling fully on and off. - Amana says its S-Series inverter heat pumps are rated up to 19.0 SEER2 and 8.8 HSPF2, and its S-Series All Climate heat pump is rated up to 21.0 SEER2. - Lower-speed operation can help maintain steadier indoor temperatures and improve humidity removal in summer. - Some homes use a dual-fuel setup with a heat pump in milder weather and a gas furnace when temperatures drop further. - Those dual-fuel systems still need the annual combustion safety inspection, and the heat pump still needs spring and fall maintenance. - Central Arkansas homes face heavy HVAC demand in both hot summers and cold winters, which is why many professionals recommend two inspections a year. - A spring visit usually includes cleaning the outdoor unit and coils, checking refrigerant levels, inspecting electrical connections and testing cooling performance. - A fall visit focuses on combustion safety, venting, safety controls and heating performance. - Preventive maintenance can catch small issues before they turn into breakdowns during peak demand. - Regular service also creates a record of system condition that can help homeowners decide whether to repair or replace aging equipment. - Many equipment warranties require proof of routine professional maintenance. - All Around Comfort’s Residential Maintenance Program includes a spring air conditioning cleaning and inspection and a fall heater cleaning and inspection each year. - Homeowners can also schedule a one-time furnace inspection. - When replacing an aging system, All Around Comfort uses Conduit Tech load calculation software that considers square footage, insulation, airflow and duct design. - Oversized equipment tends to short-cycle, while undersized equipment can run too long and struggle in extreme weather. - All Around Comfort serves Cabot, Austin, Beebe, Jacksonville, Lonoke, North Little Rock, Sherwood and Ward, along with other Lonoke and Pulaski county communities. - The company offers heating and air conditioning repair, preventive maintenance, system installation and 24-hour emergency service. - Homeowners can contact All Around Comfort at (501) 291-7218 or visit More information.

Between the lines: - The guidance blends safety advice with efficiency messaging, positioning preventive maintenance as both a health protection step and a way to manage utility costs. - The emphasis on annual inspections reflects a broader shift in HVAC service from emergency repair to planned maintenance before extreme weather hits. - The repeated focus on CO alarms, venting and dual-fuel systems shows that carbon monoxide risk remains relevant even in homes that do not use gas furnaces as the primary heat source.

What's next: - Homeowners heading into winter can schedule furnace inspections, test carbon monoxide alarms and clear vents before the first sustained cold snap. - Households with heat pumps can use the season to check defrost operation, outdoor-unit clearance and thermostat performance. - Owners of aging systems may need a professional load calculation if replacement becomes the better option than repair.

The bottom line: - Winter heating safety starts before the furnace runs hard, and the most important protections are a clean system, working alarms and a professional inspection before cold weather peaks.