BATON ROUGE - As cold weather creeps in, experts advise homeowners to get their houses ready for the winter.

"We've seen a lot of pipes with bird nests in them or different debris in them that can cause fires, that can cause backups, as far as carbon monoxide backups. We see a lot of heat exchanges that have holes in them, as well as different carbon monoxide dangers that can happen."

Sam Abrams with Southern Air says preparing ahead of the colder weather is crucial for your home. That includes changing out filters and starting up your heater ahead of time.

"One of the most common calls we get is 'a smell coming from my furnace' and not to make small of that or belittle that there's usually a smell that comes out the first time you fire up your furnace," said Abrams. "What you don't want to ignore is any smoking or abnormal smell that comes out. It's better safe than sorry."

To ensure your safety, have any heating equipment inspected. Most of the time, negligence is the worst thing you can do to your system.

"That's the leading cause of breakdowns. Dirt. Just not taking care of it," said Russell Keowen, service manager for Southern Air.

"We really emphasize heater maintenance, AC maintenance because if you don't do that, what you're doing is is you're shortening the life of your equipment. You're causing an opportunity for problems to occur, such as fires, such as carbon monoxide poisoning. You're making everything less efficient, just like a vehicle. "

Homeowners should also check carbon monoxide detectors and clear out any chimneys of debris.