Master Plumber: Carbon Monoxide Detection
A true story: One of our service technicians was dispatched to a no-heat call in Long Island City a couple of weeks ago. Upon inspection, it was found that the boiler’s flue was malfunctioning and exhaust gases were spilling into the home. The client was notified of this very unsafe condition immediately and the technician…
A true story: One of our service technicians was dispatched to a no-heat call in Long Island City a couple of weeks ago. Upon inspection, it was found that the boiler’s flue was malfunctioning and exhaust gases were spilling into the home. The client was notified of this very unsafe condition immediately and the technician disabled the boiler. Hearing this news, the lady of the house mentioned that the carbon monoxide detector had been sounding all night but that was because they hadn’t changed the battery. The technician took a new battery from the truck and opened the unit but there was nothing to change. The detector was hard-wired to the house electrical system and the family was sleeping in a home filled with carbon monoxide. The good news is no one was made sick or worse. The bad news is the family didn’t know how to interpret the warning signal. I urge you to all to have carbon monoxide detectors in your homes and know how they work. This story could very easily have ended in disaster.
John Cataneo is a Master Plumber Licensed by The City of New York. He is reachable at 718.980-0909 or through his company’s website at GatewayPlumbing.com.
Master P–
Should we have a carbon monoxided detector in our basement/same floor as furnace? Our contractor originally thought yes…his electrician said only in living spaces. The instructions specifically say “not next to furnace”…should they be somewhere else in the basement?
Thanks for the tips.
In addition to a regular hard-wired CO detector, we also have a plug-in detector that gives out a numerical reading. The night we brought our daughter home from the hospital, it gave a reading of 85 – not enough to trip the regular detector, but enough for Keyspan to immediately turn off the gas, especially with a newborn and toddler in the place.
Yes, what’s the loud banging sound coming from the radiators? Same with me? Is something wrong? Can it be fixed?
Master Plvmber,
Is a thermal fuse element (TFE) something that would be useful with my forced hot air furnace?
This sort of happened to me: detector went off, I too thought it was the battery (duh–it wasn’t hardwired but it did plug in). To make a long story short, the vent pipe for the forced-exhaust on the furnance had disintegrated and it was venting into the basement (which fortunately was not at all air-tight.) I count myself very lucky.
He’s not paying us to write these advice columns nor are we paying him, though he has stopped by our place to advise us on the loud banging noises coming from our radiators.
In addition to a carbon monoxide detector, I’d suggest having a spill switch installed on your furnace, which shuts it off if the flue becomes blocked. We had one put in by Bklyn Union Gas about 15 or 20 years ago–I’d imagine Keyspan still does this. Two years ago (before we installed a CO detector) our heat went off and, when a Keyspan tech came, he discovered that the flue was blocked. The spill switch may well have saved our lives. I guess a CO detector alone might be enough, but when uour life is at stake a “belt and suspenders” approach can’t hurt.
Thank you very much Mr. B. for bringing up this important topic.
Brownstoner,
I think this would be a great recurring feature. Have a “master plumber” come on the site to talk about the mechanicals of our brownstones. One question though – is Gateway Plumbing paying you for this prime piece of real estate on your blog? I don’t think it would be wrong if he/she is, but disclosure would probably be appropriate. Just asking and thanks.
Why I have a carbon monoxide detector (and how a cockroach saved my life): A few years ago, I killed a roach in my usually roach-free single family, so I called an exterminator. He said, there’s no sign of an infestation, it must have come in on something, but I made him spray top to bottom anyway. Going into our little-used cellar, he smelled something, thought it was gas, and had us call Keyspan asap. Keyspan came and found a gas leak. While sealing it, a beeper went off on the guy’s belt. He walked around the cellar with a detector and found a carbon monoxide leak from our new boiler. Made us shut it off and call the installer to repair it. The night before, I’d insisted on sleeping with the windows open because the house felt warm, even with heat off. Guy thought that might have kept us from feeling any illness. So, I got a carbon monoxide detector that day and, although I’ll still kill any of em I see, I acknowledge that a cockroach saved my life.