As a new parent, you're no doubt anticipating the day when your baby begins crawling and walking, so you're busy taking safety measures around the house to ensure that it's a baby-friendly environment. It's easy to miss potentially-harmful household elements, though, so here are five helpful suggestions on how to babyproof your HVAC system:
Secure Any Metal HVAC Vent Covers
Babies are attracted to shiny metal HVAC registers that are down near the floor. If you have metal registers, their sharp edges can quickly cut your baby's curious fingers. If the cover comes off, there's also the danger of bruises, bumps or serious eye injuries. You can make the covers less dangerous by screwing them down securely in place.
Switch To Plastic Registers
Another way to babyproof your HVAC vents is to replace your metal ones with the plastic type that don't have sharp edges. You don't have to screw plastic covers down either, so it's easy to keep the registers and duct boots dusted and vacuumed.
Add Screening to Toy-Proof Your Ducts
Babies love to drop toys down into small spaces, but you can keep them out of your ductwork by trimming vinyl window screening to size and securing it underneath each register cover.
Put HVAC Remotes Safely Away
Just like other remote controls, your thermostat and mini-split remotes contain batteries that can cause serious internal burns if they're swallowed. Since babies learn about taste and texture by putting everything in their mouths, for safety, store all your remotes in a secure drawer or on a high shelf.
Take Precautions With The Outdoor Unit
Your outdoor HVAC unit presents a lot of potential dangers for your mobile little one, with its live electrical components, sharp condenser fins and rapidly-rotating fan blades. Whether it's located in your backyard or along the side of the house, you'll have greater peace of mind if you babyproof your HVAC unit by installing a fence around it, or enclosing it in a locked security cage.
For more suggestions on how to babyproof your HVAC system components in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about home safety and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “FeeLoona/Pixabay”