CO fatalities avoided

Mark Hunt

Got a call from a gentleman on Friday asking when I could come and clean his "furnace".

Friday was light and I said I could do it that day. I was more expensive than the other company but I could get there sooner. Other company told him Tuesday.

He tells me he smells something when the boiler lights and I ask if he has oil fuel. "No. Gas", he says.

I told him NOT to run the system. When I get there I zeroed out my Bacharach Pro 125 and entered the house. 12ppm in the living space!!!!!

Now mind you that he had opened windows in the living areas and opened the door to the basement.

When I started down the basement stairs the CO readings went nuts! There in the basement was a gas BOILER and flames were rolling out the front behind the door.

We shut the boiler down immediately, I contacted the utility to come and lock out the equipment and sent everyone to the ER to get checked out.(There was a toddler living in the home)

HO says that he can't afford a new boiler to which I responded, "Well then you sure can't afford a funeral."

BTW, opening the windows on the upper floors was a HUGE mistake. This thing called "stack effect" moved MORE CO from the basement than what would have if he left the house tight. Openeing the door to the basement gave the CO a HUGE path into the living areas.

Tis the season guys. We're the ones that are supposed to know this stuff.

Be careful out there!!
Mark H



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John R. Hall

Mark

Good stuff. It makes me wonder if the HO will now find some "hidden resources" to replace the boiler and keep the family safe and happy.

Unknown

Why does he need a new boiler???

Putting in a new boiler without finding out why this happened is not a good idea. Before replacing the old boiler I would go through it and clean it and check out all the other condistions in the area. The flame coming out the front of the boiler could have been because of a change in pressure in the house with all the windows and doors open. I suspect there may be a blocked chimney or other condition preventing a proper draft. As a last thing I would change the boiler. I have seen new equipment put in and six months later the same problem arose again.

Mark Hunt

Main reason

The only chimney available to vent ANYTHING in the basement is a B-vent that exits the home through the foundation wall.

Nothing wrong with that except it is 6" underground and is buried in dirt. Imagine what is happening to the flue gases when they hit that nice cold metal in the winter.

No place to put a power vent as the house was built with 2x6's for the joist system.(I imagine that this is the reason for the B-vent exiting where it does)

Most of the electrical was cooked or in the process of cooking when we shut the system down.

I spoke to the homeowner today to discuss his options. He is VERY strapped for cash, in fact he asked me not to deposit the check he gave me for the service call for 10 days.

In order to set this system straight so that this never happens again will require more than a cleaning.

I only assign the DNR tag to the ones that require it.

You are correct though, the boiler/furnace problem may only be a symptom of a larger problem.

Thanks for all that YOU do Timmie. The training that you provide is so essential. There are deadly things we bring in to peoples homes. Pump curves and control strategies are very important of course, but understanding combustion and venting is more important. A screwed up pump curve never killed anybody. A misapplied piece of equipment or an improperly vented appliance can and will given the chance.

We test EVERY SINGLE home we enter, regardless of the reason for the call. If you don't test, you CAN'T know!!

Mark H

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Unknown

Mark can you

post some pictures of that mess. How about some of those gas companys that want to give away equipment. Maybe they can help this guy out.

Mark Hunt

Resources


We have plenty of programs here in NY to help folks out of just about ANY situation.

I can only do so much. This guy has a good paying job, he just has no money.

Neccessity is the mother of invention.

Mark H

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