CO gas question

[Deleted User]

Grandpa serviced the boiler himself since 1999. Base of stack plugged & froze when the stuff got wet. 3 dead. Inside of home heavily sooted. Battery had been removed from smoke detector. Only oil CO deaths I have heard of in 45 years in this business.

jrc2905

I am doing research on what is commonly referred to in the trade as CO gas as it relates to toxic levels in people.
Is the CO produced by gas the same as the CO produced by an oil fired appliance?
Are there any documented cases where someone died from CO poisoning resulting from oil fired appliance?
I see stories involving gas appliances but do not see anything on oil appliances.
Thanks.

brucewo1b

Sure can, CO is CO

It is a byproduct of any carbon based fire
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=50186

Big Ed_3

Oil Has More of a warning..

Say you have a plugged chimney . You will get more of a warning with oil then gas with signs of smoke and smell. So the home owner would call faster for service. You can smell gas combustion spillage but its not as potent . The CO will not smell but it is mixed in with other gases that do. With oil you will get smoke before CO and with gas you get CO before smoke.

Also oil users are accustom to more service then gas users do . Gas users tend to forget about them more .

More oil users have a service contract,( but I been seeing a decline in their search for cheaper oil.) Most oil service contract include a once a year check up.

Warning is the key ,,,, Thats what CO detector do . Some of the earlier models were faulty giving false alarms.. People hear stories about this and when theirs go off the foolish may ignore the warning rather then deal with the problem . My brother in law spent the whole night in the hospital with his young family getting checked out on a false alarm he call in. He may hesitate on the next one. Heaven help not ! With oil ... The alarm goes off , you smell and see smoke your out the door .

Lurkin' Murkin'

CO without warning...

There were several deaths associated with CO from the Blueray "Blue Flame" boiler, sometime in the 80's.

I found this site had details:


http://www.inspect-ny.com/heat/BluerayRecall.htm


Note the proper combustion setup method described for this equipment and caution on being "on the wrong side of the (air/fuel ratio) curve"