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Introduction

Bottini Fuel knows that when the snow starts to fall, your first priority is to make sure that the walkways are all clear. This is not only for you but for the potential people that come to visit you. Additionally, if you are a customer of ours, you will probably ensure that the walkway to the tank is clean and clear so that you can get your propane delivery on time. Well, there is one thing that you are overlooking – your heating air vents. Generally speaking, they are on the side of your house. These are the two pipes that are critical to the proper ventilation of your propane system. Not keeping them clear can lead to one of two things. The first being a heating system shutdown. The second being a buildup of carbon monoxide gas in your home. Both are equally dangerous for you. Below we are going to walk you through the reasons that you need to keep them clean and how you need to keep them clean.

Reasons

In order for your propane system to function properly, it needs the following things. The first is propane, of course. Second is a spark to ignite the fuel. And the last is oxygen. If your vents are not properly cleared, you will be depriving the system of the oxygen that it needs to function. Older homes used to get this oxygen from the basement. However, this is no longer the case. Modern installations don’t have basements and therefore have to vent from the side of your house. If you have an older home, you may also have the vents going up the chimney. At any rate, it is important that after each and every snowfall you must clear the snow buildup if it exists.

Cleaning

The first step in cleaning the vents is to locate them. As we said previously, they may either be somewhere on the side of your house or up the chimney. The second step is to mark them. Do you know how you mark out the driveway for the snowplows to clear it? Well, you are going to do something similar to these. All you need to do is take a long metal bar and drive it into the ground near where the vents are. Pay attention to not get too close to the vent pipes and damage them. Next step is to actually clear them. You are going to want to shove around the area so that you can have easy access to them. Then you are going to want to use a broom or something else that will not damage your equipment. That’s it. The task should take no longer than 5 minutes if you keep up with it.

Conclusion

Bottini Fuel hopes that you do not have to deal with any more snow this year. If you do, make sure that you clean the vents off so that you do not put yourself or your family in any danger. Remember, it is the little things that we do that can make a big difference when you are working with propane.