Re: [gardeners] Fwd: Snow and Carbon Monoxide

drusus@golden.net (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sat, 16 Jan 1999 12:01:44 -0500 

The danger of furnace vents has been on all of our news stations, papers
etc. all through our storms.  There have been 2 such emergencies locally.
Sounds like a carbon mono detector is a good idea.  Even on old-style
furnaces sometimes there can be leaks.

Lucinda


At 12:05 AM 16-01-99 -0500, you wrote:
>Received this today and thought all of us digging-out up north ought to be
>aware.
>
>Linda in snowy and icy NW Ohio near Toledo/Lake Erie, USDA Zone 5
>llbs@mail.glasscity.net
>
>
>>Dear friends and relatives:
>>
>>Today has been quite a day!   This morning I was getting dressed, just
putting
>>on my shoes, when out of the blue, the carbon monoxide detector warning went
>>off.   Reading of 128 at that point.    I called the non-emergency number of
>>the fire department, stayed on the line until an attendant could get to me,
>>and reported the incident.  They sent a fire truck out with 5 firemen, and
>>with their detector, they noted steadily rising levels of carbon monoxide.
>>Finally when it got to "7 bars", they said, we are shutting your furnace
off,
>>which they did.  The furnace repairmen were called, and they came.  To the
>>best of their ability, they think the following scenario developed:   We
have
>>a new furnace (put in less than a year ago).  The newer furnaces are now
being
>>vented (not out the chimney over the roof), but out the side or back of the
>>house near the foundation.   They think snow may have blocked the intake
pipe
>>or the exhaust pipe one.  So they cleared a patch around the vent to give it
>>room to "breathe".    We have gone between 5 to 6 hours now without the
carbon
>>monoxide detector going off, so we are hoping that was all there was to it.
>>But the concept is a scary thing, especially with all the deep snow all
around
>>the country this winter.    It is also a scary thing to think, "what if we
>>hadn't owned a carbon monoxide detector!"       SOOO -  If any of you have a
>>gas furnace and don't have a carbon monoxide detector - go out tonight
and get
>>one!!    Get the kind that plugs into the wall outlet, not battery operated.
>>Our was a First Alert   ( I am not on a commission to them, however!).
>>
>>PLEASE!
>>
>>Deanna
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