“Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” George Santayana (1863-1952, bio link)
Building pressures can change the safe and efficient operation of a combustion appliance.
Every home & building with natural drafting, atmospheric, Category 1 Listed or non-positive vent pressure appliance should be pressure tested to verify safe exit of combustion gases. The buildings by design and/or with additional mechanical exhaust fan systems in operation can overcome the pressures of these certain types of appliances. This reversal can begin to change the air-fuel mixtures being delivered to the burners and begin the generation of carbon monoxide and perhaps dispersion of it into the breathable air.
Any of these natural drafting systems requiring air for combustion from inside shall also have their space verified to manufacturer specifications, code and by draft performance in the flue or chimney. This test is to determine availability of combustion air required for appliances and people as well as discovering if driving forces produced by construction, mechanical or human means might cause interruption or reversal of vented combustion gases.
Wood fireplaces as an example can reverse gas water heaters, furnaces, space heaters and wall heaters when it is in operation and competing for the air in the building with these other combustion systems.
The technician would measure the differential pressure inside with reference to outside. This in a series of steps can determine if and when there is a danger of back drafting of vented appliances. This is often referred to as combustion appliance zone testing or CAZ testing and includes turning on all exhaust fans at the same time and experimenting with the furnace or air delivery room & duct pressures. You could easily monitor the performance of an appliance during this reversal by using your combustion analyzer.
If you don’t test, you don’t know. If you don’t test, it is hard to defend your results. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety.
CO news links
Marysville Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
ABC6OnYourSide.com
MARYSVILLE -- Fire crews are on the scene of a carbon monoxide poisoning at the Watkins Glen Apartments, off Rt. 33 on Watkins Glen Blvd. Two adults and a child were transported to Union ...
Construction workers in Milwaukee treated for suspected carbon monoxide ...
OregonLive.com
Paxton said the men were using circular saws in a relatively confined area and may have been exposed to a concentration of carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas that can be deadly. The McDonald Excavating crew is working to lay a pipe under a ...
Three Hospitalized With CO Poisoning In Shrewsbury
The Daily Voice
Three people, including two children, were taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning after Shrewsbury firefighters responded to their home on Comstock Drive. The Shrewsbury Fire Department went to 12 ...
Don’t forget, don’t let it happen again
Breakfast to Raise Awareness of Carbon Monoxide in Honor of BWC Members
Clarksville Now
Local high school student Skylar Hughes will host a Pancake Breakfast Saturday, July 21 at Applebees on Wilma Rudolph Blvd. from 7:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. to raise awareness about carbon monoxide poisoning....
Follow up
Faulty gas flue left couple exposed to carbon monoxide, say homebuilders
Borehamwood Times
A faulty gas flue resulted in a Borehamwood couple being exposed to carbon monoxide, the homebuilders have confirmed. Doreen and Gerald Lee, of Winthorpe Gardens, were left shocked when a Taylor Wimpey representative found high levels of the ...
Emissions monitoring system launched in Shanxi province
The Hindu
The system can monitor the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, oxynitride and particulate matter in the air and publish the data in a timely manner, a spokesman with the Shanxi Provincial Meteorological ...
· Heart Rescue Now This link takes you to a very short video that is a practical demonstration on the proper usage of an AED. This video is tastefully done & demonstrates the step-by-step way one might be able to save a life.
· Please take CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY CARE during all holiday and everyday activities.
· Carbon Monoxide Survivor A website made by poisoning survivors that brings a view that can only come from those that know what it is like to have been poisoned - as well as live with the long term impact.
· Consider low level protection for carbon monoxide and smoldering fire detection problems; don't leave anyone behind.
National Conference of State Legislatures
Carbon Monoxide Detectors State Statutes
Twenty-five U.S. states have statutes that require carbon monoxide detectors in certain residential buildings. Updated Nov. 2011
Alaska | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Florida | Georgia | Illinois | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts| Michigan | Minnesota | Montana | New Jersey | New Hampshire | New York | North Carolina | Oregon | Rhode Island | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | Wisconsin | West Virginia
Google Maps to reference the locations referenced in these Internet headlines.
The following companies are acknowledged for their continued support of carbon monoxide safety education and this daily news blog. They may just have what you are looking for.
Fieldpiece Instruments
The Energy Conservatory
IntelliTec Colleges
CO Experts
Masimo (See the non-invasive RAD-57)
Mahugh Fire & Safety
ESCO Institute
TPI - Test Products International
Every Day is Carbon Monoxide Safety Day!
