Carbon Monoxide Concerns and Your Furnace

Carbon Monoxide Concerns and Your Furnace

Carbon Monoxide poisoning from disrepair or modified furnaces increases as weather gets cooler.

"Three family members were taken to a hospital Thursday morning after becoming ill inhaling carbon monoxide. ... AFD officials inspected the house and are blaming the carbon monoxide leak on an improper modification to the furnace." - Albuquerque - Carbon Monoxide sends three to hospital 10/27/2005

"Amy and Chuck Meiburg thought their family had a brutal case of the flu last winter.  Amy woke up with a severe headache, her two children were sick and Chuck was lightheaded. ... When the rural Rock Rapids, Iowa, family called a nurse hot line, the message was clear: Get out of the house. "She said if we didn't have fevers, it could be carbon monoxide poisoning." - Soux Falls - Carbon monoxide menace 10/27/05

“It was cold when we got home so we turned the furnace on right away,” Kate Hooper said. “Normally you hear a loud pop, but I didn’t hear it. So I turned it off and turned it on again and heard a small one.”  Hooper said she and her husband decided to take a nap in the living room, her husband slept on the couch, and she draped a blanket over herself and a nearby register to keep warm. She soon fell asleep in her favorite chair.

Hours later when they woke up, she knew something was wrong. - Stone Creek - Couple Survive monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a tasteless, odorless and colorless gas that is difficult to detect but can cause organ damage and even death if breathed in.

Symptoms of Carbon monoxide poisoning

• At low concentrations fatigue is a sign in healthy people and chest pain is common for those with heart disease
• At higher concentrations dizziness, headaches and impaired vision and coordination, confusion and nausea.
• Flu like symptoms that if you leave the house will clear up.
• At high levels of CO exposure it can be fatal.

If poisoning is suspected

Get out of the house and call the Fire Department with your suspect of Carbon Monoxide.  If possible leave doors and windows open as you leave the house.  Contact your doctor immediately and get your family checked out at the hospital.

Steps for precautions

• Fuel-burning furnace and other appliances should be checked regularly.
• Clean flues and Vents for blockage so gases can escape.
• Vent fumes to the outside if possible.

** If your furnace has a High-Temperature, Plastic Vent (HTPV), call 800-758-3688 to verify your system is not subject to recall.