Appliances need checking for carbon monoxide leaks

As the leaves turn and chilly fall nights have us all thinking about the upcoming heating season, we need to think about more than staying warm and paying the bills. COMBAT and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urge Maine consumers to arrange a professional inspection of all fuel-burning appliances – including furnaces, stoves, fireplaces, clothes dryers, water heaters and space heaters – to detect deadly carbon monoxide (CO) leaks. These appliances can burn gas (both natural and liquefied petroleum), kerosene, oil, coal, or wood. Under certain conditions, these appliances can produce deadly CO. However, with proper installation and maintenance, they are safe to use. An annual inspection and service is the first line of defense against this silent killer.

CO is a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning any fuel. The initial symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to flu, and include headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness. Exposure to high levels of CO can cause death. Each year, CO poisoning associated with using fuel-burning appliances kills about 200 people. Having this inspection performed could prevent a terrible tragedy.

A yearly professional inspection should be complete and include checking chimneys, flues and vents for leakage and blockage by debris. Birds, insects and other animals sometimes nest in vents and block exhaust gases, causing the gases to enter the home. Leakage through cracks or holes could cause black stains on the outside of the chimney or flue.

These stains and strange smells can mean that pollutants are leaking into the house. In addition, have all vents to furnaces, water heaters, boilers and other fuel-burning appliances checked to make sure they are not loose or disconnected.

Have your appliances inspected for gas leaks and adequate ventilation. A supply of fresh air is important to help carry pollutants up the chimney, stovepipe or flue, and is necessary for the complete combustion of any fuel. Never block ventilation air openings. Also, make sure the appliance is operating on the fuel that it is designed to use. An appliance must be modified by a professional to burn propane.

Every home should have at least one CO alarm that meets the requirements of the most recent Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 2034 standard or International Approval Services 6-96 standard.

Consumers should also have the vent pipes on their heating systems inspected. In 1998, CPSC worked with the furnace and boiler industry and the manufacturers of high-temperature plastic vent (HTPV) pipes to conduct a vent pipe recall program. The program’s purpose is to replace, free of charge, an estimated 250,000 HTPV pipe systems attached to gas or propane furnaces or boilers in consumers’ homes. The HTPV pipes could crack or separate at the joints and leak CO. Consumers should call the recall hotline toll-free at (800) 758-3688, between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET, seven days a week, to verify that their appliance venting systems are subject to this program.

New technologies to address the hazards of CO poisoning and fire include a standard that added blocked-vent shut-off devices to protect against blocked vent pipes and chimneys, and requirements to guard against a vent pipe becoming separated from the furnace. Both of these conditions could lead to CO poisonings. Also, all gas-fired furnaces manufactured since 1987 have flame roll-out protection technology that prevents flames from shooting out of the furnace’s combustion chamber and starting a fire. But no standards or recalls are as important as having your system thoroughly checked before the snow flies.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.