CO hazards and fuels

You are often talked to about the importance of carbon monoxide alarms and the hazards of carbon monoxide. And rightfully so; carbon monoxide is a silent killer that takes many lives every year. Winter is here and it’s time for us to remind you to check your alarms, make sure they are working and installed properly, and for you to read some articles about people who experienced a close call or possibly a tragic result from carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that can be deadly. It is produced when any fuel that contains carbon burns incompletely. This can happen due to any number of reasons such as malfunctioning appliances, blocked vents, and negative pressure.

Appliances include gas or propane furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers, and stoves that run off of a pressurized fuel source. In fact, any appliance with a flame element can produce CO if not properly maintained or if they malfunction. Other culprit appliances include fireplaces and wood stoves, portable generators, grills, lawn equipment used indoors (for instance, tuning a lawn mower in the garage or shop).

Blocked vents are often not noticed because they aren’t visible from inside the home. All fuel-burning appliances have vents to the outside, and those vents are essential for safe operation. If these vents are blocked, CO can build up inside the home. This can happen due to snow build up or shedding from a roof, ice, dirt, bird nests, or something as innocuous as a dropped tool or tree limb kinking an exhaust pipe. Inspect the vents on the outside of your home regularly.

Negative pressure is probably the most overlooked of the most common causes of CO buildup in a home. Negative pressure in a home draws CO from outside into the home. This can happen if there are exhaust fans running, such as in the kitchen or bathroom, or if the fireplace is burning. As homes become more airtight, they become more at risk of negative pressure.

Symptoms of CO poisoning include every symptom of the flu and are therefore easily dismissed as “just getting the crud.” Headaches, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, confusion, general weakness and malaise, watery eyes, and drowsiness lead the symptoms. If you experience any of these symptoms, it is important to get fresh air immediately and call 911 if you have any reason to think it might be CO.

There are actions you can take to prevent CO poisoning in your home. The most important one is to ensure that all of your appliances are property maintained and vented including an annual inspection by a qualified professional. Making sure that the vents are clear, unobstructed, and undamaged is something you can do with a simple walk around your home daily. Never use portable generators inside the home, even in an open garage or a vented crawl space. Don’t use grills inside the home.

Install CO alarms in your home and test them regularly; they need to be installed on every floor of your home at a minimum. CO is density neutral, so it will be equal everywhere in your home. Whether your alarm is on the ceiling on the floor is not important at all, so placing them in the middle of your hall at eye level is a very common practice.

An often-asked question is whether gas more dangerous than propane or fuel oil. Natural gas, propane, and fuel oil are all fossil fuels that produce CO when they burn incompletely. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, but it is also the most volatile when it is burning inefficiently. Propane is also a clean-burning fuel, but it is a little more stable than natural gas and does not produce as much heat. Propane is also heavier than air, so it will not rise as quickly or spread as easily as natural gas which is lighter than air. Fuel oil is the least clean-burning fossil fuel and produces more emissions, including CO. Fuel oil is also heavier than air, so it will not rise as quickly or spread as easily as natural gas. Overall, natural gas is the most dangerous of these three fuels in terms of CO poisoning but they all carry a risk. To stay safe, properly maintain and check your equipment.

Christian M. Hartley is a 40-year Alaskan resident with over 25 years of public safety experience and public service. He runs a freelance business, Big Lake Writer, from home in Big Lake that he shares with his wife of 19 years and their three teenage sons.