The season has come to start your home oven. However, before grabbing your duvet and a cup of hot cocoa, make sure you’ve done your due diligence and prepared your oven for the month. Because ovens are not used in summers, they need a bit of upkeep and maintenance before you can start using them again after such a long hiatus. Keeping them will help them stay in great condition and, most importantly, keep them from burning in flames.

Whether yours is a central gravity model, a floor model, a central forced air model, or a wall model, here are 5 ways you can make sure your home heater is safe to operate.

Vacuum cleaning

Dirt and dust can make your oven dangerous. This daily accumulation of dust can be avoided by regularly vacuuming both the interior and exterior of the oven once a month. If you don’t, the accumulated dust can also become a fire hazard. Take a look at your maintenance list from the company you purchased your oven from for additional help. If you have a wall oven, make sure the interior compartments are clean. An indicator of a clean gas oven is a bright blue burning flame; any other color would imply the opposite.

Air supply

For your oven to work properly, it needs fresh air. In case your oven is not getting enough air, you can start using oxygen inside your home! The one you need. A home that has low oxygen levels is not safe to live in. Also, any blockage in your furnace’s air supply can cause areas of the house to overheat unevenly, causing your furnace to overwork and spilling your clean wallet. Remove any clogs and your furnace will be supplied with its own air for an evenly heated home.

Filter replacement

Filters that are broken or need to be replaced can cause harmful breakdowns. A neglected filter can also be the cause of poor performance. To avoid this complication completely, filter replacement is the only solution. Changing the filters once or twice a month will avoid this danger. If you have pets in the house, or if your filter often raises smoke, then you need to change your filters more than the average twice a month.

Clean flammable items

Put away any flammable items that can catch fire from minimal or extraneous heat. Some people use their heating room as a storage room or for washing clothes. If where you store your oven has more than one purpose, making sure this room is organized will help you along the way. Anything near your heater could become a potential hazard. Do not take washed clothes out of the oven and keep liquid detergents sealed in an airtight cover. Ammonia can cause corrosion at the heat exchange point of your furnace and you don’t need it; also keep anything gaseous away.

Rules of the whole oven

Make sure your children, if any, understand not to pry or play with the ovens. Sweep once at bedtime to make sure nothing flammable is in the vicinity and always leave a window open in the boiler room at all times. Enforce the strictest oven safety rules to be safe.

Use our tips and more to make sure your home oven has everything it needs to operate safely. You will feel comfortable knowing that your home and family are safe with a well-functioning oven. Enjoy the warmth and heat this winter with a well-kept oven.