Liza M. had a new roof put on in the summer of 2009. During the process, one of the roofers inadvertently knocked loose venting to two furnaces. One furnace is a 135,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) furnace and the other an 80,000 BTU furnace. With the venting being knocked loosed by the roofer, carbon monoxide (CO) was left to leak into the attic and trickling down into the home. One of these furnaces, mind you, was right next to one of their children’s rooms. The amount of CO was so great that it triggered her CO detector alarm. Luckily, the CO alarm type she had was connected into her fire detector alarm which in turn dispatched the police, fire department, and ambulance to her home.
When the fire department showed up, they found that the CO levels in the house were at the serious levels of 60,000 (60%) parts per million. This is 10 times the amount over before serious health risk causing side effects take place. Lisa M. was showing signs of fatigue, nausea, and headaches that are common symptoms when exposed to CO for long periods of time.
Now how, you may ask, is Superior Service of Broken Arrow, Inc. involved in this story? Liza M. has been a customer of ours since March 2008. We had done work for them on both their furnaces and air conditioner. She called us to help find out where the leak was coming from. When we arrived the CO levels in the air were still at 12,000 (12%) parts per million. This is after 4 hours (30 minutes after we got the phone call) and with all windows and doors open and one furnace being turned off.
We had found the leak in the attic coming from the vent that the roofer inadvertently knocked loose. We repaired the venting for Liza M. by rerunning the exhaust system to the furnace (the venting part that was leaking the gas) and put the boots in a different location. Also, Superior Service of Broken Arrow, Inc. repaired to code the damaged venting as we do in all our work.
What we recommend:
As we have always recommended to everyone that has either a furnace or air conditioner to get a Preventive Maintenance Safety Check (PM). They not only help prevent this from happening but extent the life of the equipment by fixing smaller issues before they become major. You will want this done by a licensed Journeyman technician. As always, a CO detector alarm present in the home. You will need at least one for each level of your home.
Depending on what brand CO detector alarm you purchase will vary the frequency on when it needs to be changed out for a new one. The ones that are available at your local hardware stores will last on average about 2 years. Medium grade ones that you can get from HVAC Supply stores will last you about 5-7 years. The CO defectors that we offer will actually last about 10 years. With the ones we offer they plug in so if you move, you can take it with you. Or if you like you can also wall mount it or simply place it on a table in a room somewhere. It has a rechargeable battery backup, continuous digital display, peak level memory, and a test/retest button.
Also, when you get your PM done, ask the technician to check the ducts and venting in the attic. That is a place that is not routine for the PM process. If your ducts and venting are in the slab, have him check in the crawl space. Especially have him/her check them if you’ve recently had your floors done.
Still have questions?
If you have any questions about what we do on a Preventive Maintenance Safety Check and would like to schedule one or have questions in regards to CO detector alarms, just give us a call at (918)357-2248. Or log on to our website at www.357ac4u.com . We will be happy to help and assist you in all your home comfort needs.
Superior Service of Broken Arrow, Inc. Blog 