An important line of defense for the ones you love
This is of particular concern to me. Several years ago I lost a friend to (CO) cxarbon monoxide. This was a needless loss. I had warned him about the danger and he ignored me. It cost him his life. I was not in the Heating bussiness at that time, but now I am and it is something I take very seriously. I test for any carbon monoxide in the living area and I use an exhaust gas analyzer to check the efficiency on the gas combustion. By code you are allowed 300 parts per million of CO in the exhaust. With proper adjustment the exhaust should be less tha 50 PPM. I recently checked a new customers furnace and the exhaust was over 2000 PPM. I cleaned the burners and adjusted the flame and got the exhaust down below 50 PPM. If the furnace happens to develop a crack in the heat exchanger you have a lot better chance of living long enough to figure out what is going on if the combustion is clean.
Not too long ago, carbon monoxide detectors were only for people who had sophisticated alarm systems in their homes. Today most every family is aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and have at least one CO detector in their home. The smartest families have CO detectors installed on every level of their home, including one next to their heating equipment. This is the safest way to protect your family from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
9 PPM | The maximim allowable concentration for short term exposure in a living area according to ASHRAE |
35 PPM | The maximum allowable concentration for continuous exposure in any eight hour period industry according to MIOSHA |
200 PPM | The maximum concentration allowable in any 15 minute period according to OSHA. Slight headaches, fatigue, dizziness,nausea after 2 to 3 hours. |
400 PPM | Frontal headaches within 1 to 2 hours,life threatening after 3 hours. Maximum allowable limit in flue gas according to EPA and AGA. |
800 PPM | Dizziness,nausea and convulsions within 45 minutes. Unconsciousness within 2 hours. Death within 2 to 3 hours. |
1600 PPM |
Headache, dizziness and nausea within 20 minutes. death within 1 hour. |
3200 PPM | Headache,dizziness and nausea within 5 to 10 minutes. Death within 30 minutes |
6400 PPM | Headache, Dizziness and nausea within 1 to 3 minutes. Death within 10 to 15 minutes |
12800 PPM | DEATH WITHIN 1 to 3 MINUTES |