CO death in newly built home

[Gary Reecher]

Originally Posted by dbowers

Tools are tools but they're only a snapshot in time. Three (3) times in the winter months over the past 2 years have I found a hole or crack in a furnace heat exchanger; wrote it up and recommended replacing the furnace (20 + yrs old) - then 3-4 days later get a call from an irate seller or agent telling me they've had hotrod harry the furnace technician out and there's nothing wrong with the furnace. Each time I've patiently told whoever I'm talking to that I don't report on maybe's. If I said its got a hole or crack then its there, and I apologise for the inconvenience but the service tech is not as good at what he does as I am at what I do.

They get more irate thinking the HI must be wrong because the service tech or gas company used a carbon monoxide detector. So I go back out a 2nd time (with my buyer in tow) and do things like use a telescoping mirror; a borescope; or maybe drill a hole in the plenum and spray a water/oil mixture over the top of the HE and wait for it to show up inside the HE. I've also taken a coat hanger, cut it in two - stretched it out, bent it and put it up inside the HE area and showed them with my mirror how the coat hanger goes through the HE wall. BOTTOM LINE - carbon monoxide detectors can lull people into thinking conditions are OK when they're NOT OK. In each of these cases, I just thank the lord these folks didn't rely on some bozo with his carbon monoxide detector.

Do I have one - yes. Do I use it - sometimes. Do I rely on it 100% - NO.

CO meters are only good for detecting leaks in furnaces if.... enough CO is being generated. If there is only 7 ppm being generated in the chamber there may be no co present outside the heat exchanger chamber and only possibly detected if the probe was located exactly above the hole or crack. You can have CO at one location in the plenum and none at another location. Checking CO at registers will only reveal that there is a very serious problem due to the amount of air mixed with the co. Seven PPM at one small location inside the plenum may show up as zero on the meter at a register. Even a rise of 1 ppm in co would indicate a serious opening and/or co production in the furnace. AGA recognizes only three reliable test methods to be performed: Visual for cracks, flame disturbance and gas injection test. Failure of any of the three methods requires heat exchanger or furnace replacement.

[bdoles2]

What have I learned from 6 pages of this mess..??

My new marketing this season will include a battery operated CO alarm for clients that hire me for a home inspection, excluding all electric homes. Those will get my normal gift.

[Gary Reecher]

If there is an attached garage you should still include the CO alarm

[Russel Ray]

Even if it is an electric home, you should still include the CO alarm, especially if it has a fireplace. One only needs to look at blizzards, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, as well as just plain stupidity or drunkenness, to see that they are useful there, too.

[bdoles2]

Originally Posted by rray

Even if it is an electric home, you should still include the CO alarm, especially if it has a fireplace. One only needs to look at blizzards, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, as well as just plain stupidity or drunkenness, to see that they are useful there, too.

Very true, point taken.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by rray

And there is a stray black cat that has been coming around the past few days. Jim and I are trying to get it to stay, and I think we're succeeding. It's very friendly, talks a lot, and purrs.

Good luck, Russel. You guys might actually like having a little p*ssy in the house. It could change your life.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Good luck, Russel. You guys might actually like having a little p*ssy in the house. It could change your life.

Thanks, James.
***** cat has arrived.
***** cat has changed our lives.
She's already very protective of the property, running off the other ***** cats.
She prefers wet ***** cat food over dry ***** cat food, and tuna fish ( ) seems to be her favorite.
She talks a lot and purrs if you even look at her.
She hates the rain, loves the sun (my kind of ***** cat).
She does seem to like the human ***** who come to visit us, especially since they are always in female pairs.
She doesn't seem to be very fond of Ms Margarita or Dr Cuervo, although she did at least give them the benefit of the doubt at first.
She is quite fond of Mr Carnation.

[wforsyth]

Originally Posted by rray

Thanks, James.
***** cat has arrived.
***** cat has changed our lives.
She's already very protective of the property, running off the other ***** cats.
She prefers wet ***** cat food over dry ***** cat food, and tuna fish ( ) seems to be her favorite.
She talks a lot and purrs if you even look at her.
She hates the rain, loves the sun (my kind of ***** cat).
She does seem to like the human ***** who come to visit us, especially since they are always in female pairs.
She doesn't seem to be very fond of Ms Margarita or Dr Cuervo, although she did at least give them the benefit of the doubt at first.
She is quite fond of Mr Carnation.

She does seem to like the human ***** who come to visit us

I'm going to guess this says women or girls?