CHECK YOUR SIDE WALL VENTS

tim_20

A woman and her two children were overcome by co as the drifting snow up here in massachusetts blocked there flue vent about 1 foot off the ground all in serious condition. so if you have a lot of drifting snow check your flue outlets. tim up here in the deep snow

joel_19

how??

More info please how can this happen?? The pressure switches should not allow this to happen the unit should not have started.

Unknown

I had sent a

e-mail concerning that very thing to Channel 10 here in RI the day of the snow storm. I watched hopeing they would announce it with all the cancellations and warnings they never did, Channel 10 reaches the area that family lives in.

Unknown

Joel, the picture

I saw on the TV it looked like a direct vent unit. Possibly the air supply got contaminated by flue gases going back into the unit. A crack or any kind of opening or even excessive pressure caused by the exhaust building up would get circulated into the dwelling. The system may not have had a combustion air blower so no pressure switch.

Many wall furnaces work that way. The American Gas Association many years ago determined that sealed combustion systems are not really ever fully sealed .

Doug_21

Plymouth

The video I saw shows a single metal pipe (probably combination intake and exhaust) of the type I've often seen with the less than highest efficiency boilers or furnaces. This house appears to be in a remote area of Plymouth, Mass., so, unless they have propane, I suspect it was oil. Perhaps the unit lacked the fail-safe mechanisms included in the highest efficiency models, Joel?

This is my post from another thread.........

Sidewall venting makes problems (normally never seen by the consumer up in those chimneys), visible to even the average jane, joe, or junior. Many of you in the industry (and many more homeowners) will see the video of the sidewall venting in Plymouth, Mass. that was buried in the snow. Side venting will get a bad rap from this near tragedy, but the reality is that every day, CO problems arise in homes with faulty conventional chimneys. For homeowners, the key is education. Admittedly, some DIY'ers do drive tradespeople crazy, but that's no reason to keep consumers out of the loop. The more HO's know about their systems, the better. Few people would think it prudent to run a dryer vent or car tailpipe immersed in snow, in part, because even the layperson can see the dangers connected with such situations. If you educate your customers to know as much as they can about their systems, the more they are likely to appreciate you and the importance of your work.

Doug_21

Here's the scoop

From an article by John Ellement in the 1/25/2005 issue of The Boston Globe.......

A pregnant Plymouth mother and her two children were in critical condition in a Boston hospital last night after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning, caused when an exhaust vent of their home's heating system was blocked by heavy snow, officials said.

The Associated Press reported that Christine Garofalo and her 10-year-old daughter, Nicole, were in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital, where they were being treated in high-pressure oxygen chambers to counter the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ryan Garofalo, 7, was in serious condition.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said the accident should alert homeowners to the dangers of improperly vented heating systems, and he urged people to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

Deputy Fire Chief Martin Enos said the father in the Plymouth family, a Massachusetts Highway employee, had left the family's White Street home early yesterday, apparently to help respond to the snowstorm. He returned home about 10:45 a.m. and discovered his wife and their two children passed out in an upstairs bedroom, Enos said. The victims were taken to Jordan Hospital and then were sent to Massachusetts General.

Enos said the house has a propane-fueled natural gas heating system with an exhaust vent at the rear of the house, just a foot from the ground.

Town building officials examined the furnace yesterday, he said, and found it was installed correctly and functioning properly after a 4-foot high snow drift was cleared from the vent's front.

Enos and Coan said the state building code allows for vents for some new, highly efficient gas furnaces to be installed close to the ground, instead of being vented through a chimney or out a roof.

Coan said he already has alerted the state agency that oversees changes in the state building code about potential problems caused by that change. Late last year in Mashpee, several people had to be taken to hospitals after similar vent pipes were blocked by snow.

Mitch_4

Intersting

Most manufacturers of DV equipment and All codes I deal with state terminal must be 12 inches above the anicipated snow line.

So if they anticipate 3 feet of snow, it should be 4' above the ground.

Mitch

Constantin

Plus...

... there are some interesting dynamics re: wind-driven snow piling around houses. In the NE, I wouldn't install a DV terminal less than 6-7' above ground and I would think hard about what locations would not be prone to having snow piling up against them.