This winter, safeguard your indoor air quality with this easy checklist.

• Inspect the furnace/boiler exhaust stack for gas leakage and back-drafting. Are exhaust fans running with no makeup air?
• Make sure you have adequate ventilation air now that the A/C is off.
• Change your air filters before starting the system. Use efficient pleated filters. Afterward, make sure the blower door is replaced properly to prevent drawing in combustion air.
• Have the furnace serviced including the flue, draft diverter, vestibule, heat exchange surfaces and baffles, and gas burner outlets.
• Be sure air supply diffusers and return grills are not blocked, closed, or plugged.
• Clean all condensate drip pans and coils in air moving systems. Ensure no sewer gas entrainment will occur when the trap dries up in the winter.
• Clean the fins of heating coils and radiators in the rooms prior to system start up of baseboard heating systems to prevent burning or blowing accumulated dust.
• Remove window A/C units and have them serviced and cleaned during the winter.
• Check to make sure the cooling systems are off when the heat is on.