Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

Carbon Monoxide is a chemical compound of carbon and oxygen with the formula CO. It is a colorless, odorless gas, about 3 percent lighter than air, and is poisonous to all warm-blooded animals and many other forms of life. When inhaled it combines with hemoglobin in the blood, preventing absorption of oxygen and resulting in asphyxiation.

Examples of carbon monoxide producing devices commonly in use around the home include, fuel fired furnaces (non-electric), gas water heaters, fireplaces and woodstoves, gas stoves, gas dryers, charcoal grills.  It also includes types of fuel driven engines like lawnmowers, snow blowers, and automobiles.  Carbon monoxide is a part of everyday life.

• The following is a checklist for where to look for problem sources of CO in the home:
  • A forced air furnace is frequently the source of leaks and should be carefully inspected.
    • Measure the concentration of carbon monoxide in the flue gases. 
    • Check furnace connections to flue pipes and venting systems to the outside of the home for signs of corrosion, rust gaps, holes.
    • Check furnace filters and filtering systems for dirt and blockage. 
    • Check forced air fans for proper installation and to assure correct air flow of flue gases. Improper furnace blower installation can result in carbon monoxide build-up because toxic gas is blown into rather than out of the house. 
    • Check the combustion chamber and internal heat exchanger for cracks, holes, metalfatigue or corrosion. Be sure they are clean and free of debris. 
    • Check burners and ignition system. A flame that is mostly yellow in color in natural gas fired furnaces is often a sign that the fuel is not burning completely and higher levels of carbon monoxide are being released. Oil furnaces with similar problems can give off an oily odor. Remember you can't smell carbon monoxide.
      
      
• Check all venting systems to the outside including flues and chimneys for cracks, corrosion, holes, debris, blockages. Animals and birds can build nests in chimneys preventing gases from escaping. 
  
  
• Check all other appliances in the home that use flammable fuels such as natural gas, oil, propane, wood or kerosene. Appliances include water heaters, clothes dryers, kitchen ranges, ovens or cook tops: wood burning stoves, gas refrigerators. 
  
  
• Pilot lights can be a source of carbon monoxide because the by-products of combustion are released inside the home rather than vented outside. 
  
  
• Be sure space heaters are vented properly. Unvented space heaters that use a flammable fuel such as kerosene can release carbon monoxide into the home. 
  
  
• Barbecue grills should never be operated indoors under any circumstances nor should stove tops or ovens that operate on flammable fuels be used to heat a residence. 
  
  
• Check for closed, blocked or bent flues, soot and debris. 
  
  
• Check the clothes dryer vent opening outside the house for lint.