With the forecast for snow and ice this weekend, you might be anxious to light the fireplace or crank up the heat.

But before you light the match or turn the dial, here are a few tips for staying safe and warm during this chilly time of year.

The most important piece of advice Jason Behler, fire chief of the Palmerton Municipal Fire Company, can give might not make you any warmer, but it could save your life.

“The biggest thing that I could bring to light to stay safe during these creative times to heat your home when it gets colder is to get a CO monitor,” Behler said.

“As it (CO) builds, it has the ability to harm you, even kill you. You can’t smell it. You can’t see it.”

“A lot of these natural fuels that are used for heating your home — whether it’s kerosene or if they buy a space heater — it’s emitting CO, and without a meter, you would never know that it is accumulating or if it gets to an unsafe condition.”

Behler also warned that the maintenance of one’s heating systems is essential.

“Maintenance is huge,” Behler said.

“It’s important. You know, you don’t think about it in summer, and when it gets cold (it’s) a last minute thought,” he added.

For those who’ve needed to make appointments with their heating and fuel company over the last week, “last minute” might be a spot-on description.

“The season so far has been incredibly mild, so it’s kind of been almost spoiling our customers,” Lisa Hiles, of Hiles Brothers Plumbing, Heating and Fuel Company in Summit Hill, said.

“Those people, who maybe haven’t had their oil burners cleaned, or haven’t made sure that their oil tanks are filled are going to be caught a little bit by surprise when it gets really cold.”

“They may not be anticipating that they’re going to use more oil when it’s colder,” she added.

Hiles said that this last week, the impending winter storm has prompted an influx of people to ensure their homes are weather ready. For those who waited to make appointments until Friday, it might be a different story.

That’s why, Hiles said, it’s important to plan ahead.

“Do all the things that you would do with your car. You make sure you have gas in your car, you make sure the oil is changed. You make sure that you have a good battery. All those things pertain to your oil burner too,” Hiles said.

“Make sure you have somebody give it a once over, clean it once a year, and make sure all that stuff is done so that when we get bad weather, you’re good.”

Speaking of bad weather, after the snowfall this weekend, AccuWeather is reporting a particularly cold start to the week, with some temperatures dropping to single digits on Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday morning.

And with freezing temperatures comes another problem: frozen pipes.

If you know of a particularly cold area of your home, or pipes that have a tendency to freeze, Hiles recommends allowing the faucet to drip throughout the freezing night.

“If you’ve ever had frozen pipes in your house, they would be the homes that you should let some water run. Let something drip,” Hiles said.

“If the water’s moving, it’s not going to be able to freeze.”

The American Red Cross offered some tips for heating your home safely during the winter months. Among other suggestions, the organization recommends keeping heaters or heating equipment a minimum of 3 feet away from children, pets or anything else that can be burned.

If you must use a space heater, place it on level, nonflammable surface, not rugs, carpets or near bedding. Shut off portable space heaters when not in the room or when going to sleep. Plug the power cord directly into an outlet, rather than into a power strip or extension cord.

Do not use a cooking range or an oven to warm your home. Monitor your fireplace at all times.

If possible, keep your pets indoors. Otherwise, ensure they have access to shelter, warmth and fresh water.