Professional maintenance and do-it-yourself tasks can ensure that your forced-air heating system will be ready when the temperatures go south of freezing.

How to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Issues Caused by Your HVAC Unit

Mike Rampey · February 16, 2021

Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer because it has no smell, taste, or color. Therefore, it can kill without warning. As a matter of fact, carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of unintentional poisoning deaths.

Carbon monoxide leaks are often caused by faulty heating systems and ventilation problems. The HVAC safety tips below will help you prevent these deadly leaks from occurring.

Check Your Vents

Blocked vents prevent the heat from your furnace from blowing out effectively. Moving furniture around could block your vents. Or, maybe you intentionally close the vents in unused rooms to try to save money. Unfortunately, closed vents can do your home — and your family — more harm than you realize. They can result in:

Duct leakage
Low airflow, which could lead to comfort problems
A cracked heat exchanger, which can let carbon monoxide infiltrate your home

Check the heating vents around your home to ensure nothing is blocking them.

Schedule Regular Maintenance

At least once a year, ideally before winter sets in, you should have your furnace, fireplace, vents, and chimneys inspected by a professional. The fumes from a furnace that isn't working properly could leak into your home. Dust and debris can collect in your vents over time and clog them. Clogged vents and chimney flues can result in carbon monoxide leaking into your home.

During maintenance, the professional will check for proper operation and safety and clean your heating system. He or she will spot potential problems before they become bigger and cause carbon monoxide problems.

Have the Heat Exchanger Inspected

The heat exchanger vents out the poisonous gases produced by heat combustion. Carbon monoxide can make its way through your home's ventilation system if the heat exchanger develops holes, cracks, or corrosion.

Verify that your HVAC technician has inspected the heat exchanger during a routine maintenance visit. That's because many visits usually don't include a heat exchanger inspection.

Taking the precautions above will save you money on energy costs in addition to protecting your family from carbon monoxide poisoning. Contact us at Air Assurance if you need expert heating services for your Broken Arrow home.

Keep Your Home Safe -- Reduce CO Exposure

Mike Rampey · July 22, 2014

Most homeowners are at least somewhat aware of the danger that carbon monoxide (CO) can present to your home. It’s a deadly gas that can lurk in and around your home undetected, because it’s both odorless and colorless. In small amounts it will cause strong headaches, disorientation and nausea along with other symptoms. When there is enough CO to cause CO poisoning it can be deadly, even with immediate treatment. The good news is that you can reduce your CO exposure in a few easy ways.

The Background of CO

To limit CO exposure you must first understand how it is created. CO is the result of incomplete combustion, basically the result of burning a fuel without enough oxygen available for the chemical reaction. What this means is that anything that burns fuel to operate can potentially create CO. This happens when operated in closed off environments or if an important part breaks that limits the oxygen supply.

Reducing CO Exposure in Your Home

Most cars regularly produce some CO, but it’s not a big issue because it quickly dissipates into the atmosphere. The importance of ventilation is the key takeaway here. Even if you take all precautions, CO can still be produced, but if you have sufficient ventilation you will limit your risk. Only operate heavy machinery that burns fuel outdoors in an open area.

The second part of proper use is to inspect and maintain fuel-burning equipment. This includes appliances and the various parts of your HVAC system. Certain things you can maintain on your own, but for others it is worth calling in a professional to inspect and maintain.

Even if you operate all your fuel-burning equipment in open areas and in perfect condition, CO can still enter your home from the outside. Install CO alarms throughout your home to alert you to any danger.

If you need help with HVAC maintenance or improving the safety of your Broken Arrow home, contact Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Creations/Shutterstock”

CO Poisoning: It Can Be a Year-Round Concern

Mike Rampey · October 8, 2013

We tend to think that CO poisoning is a hazard only in the cooler months when the house is closed up tightly and the fireplace and furnace are running. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, because carbon monoxide (CO) k nows no season. If you enjoy boating, camping, barbecuing, or have an attached garage, you could be at risk. Carbon monoxide occurs as the result of incomplete combustion of fuels. It's invisible and has no odor. CO replaces oxygen in the blood stream and in high enough quantities, it can be fatal. Since it's undetectable without CO alarms, it's important to avoid situations where it could be present, like:

At the back of an idling boat. When your boat motor runs, it emits CO. If you're trolling or idling, take care to avoid sitting too long near the motor.
Barbecuing in the garage. Regardless of the weather, it's never a good idea to barbecue in the garage.
Using gas-powered lawn equipment like lawn mowers or leaf blowers close to open windows can spew CO into your home.
Running gas-powered equipment in your garage for any length of time. If your garage is attached to your home, CO poisoning can be a hazard year-round. Unless the connecting door has a tight seal, it can seep into your home. Check the common wall between the garage, as well, and caulk around any pipes, wires or cables entering your home. Inspecting the base and top of the common wall will also reveal small cracks that can bring in CO and other fumes from chemicals you store inside the garage.
Using tent heaters excessively to stay warm while camping or sitting too close to a campfire.
Using a gas or propane appliance indoors, without having them inspected periodically by a professional. Ideally, your furnace should be professionally maintained annually.

We at Air Assurance are here to help you avoid CO poisoning. If you'd like to improve your heating system's energy efficiency and safety, please contact us. We've provided trusted HVAC services for the Broken Arrow area for more than 30 years.Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}