Thread: Furnace Problems are dangerous!

Illness from Furnace problems
Again I am seeing stories of people dying from faulty furnace systems on the news programs.
This an updated reprint from two years ago.
Since then I have had all my systems and all burners and exhaust gas systems checked every autumn by trained personnel.
Since the first post, a later inspection found a bad natural gas connection to my stove, leaks of gas could have been really explosive...

Again, it is time to remind / warn folks that there are a lot of pitfalls when heating a home or business during extreme cold. Other heating appliances may be at fault for CO and gas leaks

It is a very good idea to have a furnace repair company come bye and check all the fueled appliances for leakage of gas or their exhaust for traces of CO or other combustion products escaping into the living areas.
In some areas, the local energy supply company will do a no cost inspection.

Back then, I had been having a really bad autumn with lots of allergy attacks. I noticed the sneezing coughing attacks came strongest when the furnace around the corner from my computer fired up. It had been horribly cold during the winter, and the furnace fired often.

I called the local plumbing/heating dealer and was kind of brushed off. They had a lot of frozen burst pipes to deal with. After another day, I called again and told them they had rebuilt my boiler and they damn well better get over here to check it out.

Surprise..the "sniffer" found strong traces of Carbon Monoxide that was just below the level that would trip my in-home fire / CO detector.
(I now have a very good detector on every floor and in my bedroom.)

They fixed the gas furnace's condensate trap which had dried out and let combustion gas into the rooms. They also found and fixed other leakages in the combustion area of the unit. (A condensate trap is often a tube from the bottom of the exhaust stack of the heater. It traps the moisture generated by the combustion to prevent rusting out the system. It is supposed to have a bit of water in the loop to prevent exhaust gas from entering the living area. In really cold dry periods that water evaporates and exhaust gas can enter the home through that tube.)

While in the house they also checked all other combustion, live flame, appliances; water heater, stove, and clothes drier and found them to be safe.

I was able to get the weeks of bad air out of my system but it did take a couple months and they were not pleasant. It is hard to be active when your oxygen carrying system has been compromised! Human brains do require oxygen to function properly.

There are many types of condensate traps and they vary by manufacturer of the appliance. If you retained your installation manual the type may be explained in that. If you have gas appliances the local utility will often do a checkout for you.

Again, if you are having sinus or allergy problems in your home, the combustion appliances should be checked out.

Some good information here.
Carbon Monoxide explained.
Google search for Carbon Monoxide
Also..check your clothes dryer vent pipe, I had a fire in mine a year ago. I was fortunate to have a metal pipe but had to replace the fascia outlet.

~Richard