The importance of furnace maintenance

[Lloyd Danforth]

If we have an air exchange system is carbon monoxide poisoning a concern?

Yup.  Not as high of a risk, but it's always a risk if you have any sort of flame going inside your house.  CO detectors are cheap.  $40 for the intermediate-level Kidde models at Home Depot (get a battery-operated unit that has a digital display).  $60 for the combined CO and gas leak detector.

We also have one of those gas fireplaces and I would like something more self sufficient like a wood burning stove put in the basement, do you do that kind of work?  If so would you have any idea how much it would cost?

Depends on the chimney.  Do you know how many flues you have, and whether you have one that isn't currently in-use?

Joe

Thanks for getting back to me Joe.   We don't have any flues.  My husband also thought about putting a wood stove in his shed too, would he need a flue for that?
We do have carbon monoxide detectors (every floor of the house), I wish I would've known about the combination gas detectors too when I bought the carbon monoxide detectors.  I miss our electric house, this gas makes me nervous.

Joe was talking about available flues in your existing chimmny(spl?)   They make stove pipe in galvanized and stainless steel.  This is what you would use in your shed.  Probably the less expensive galvanized.  Sometimes you can adapt a stainless steel stove pipe to a basement stove by coming out a window and up along the side of the house.  Buy a gas detector and you'll feel safer.

[Raineyrocks]

Joe was talking about available flues in your existing chimmny(spl?)   They make stove pipe in galvanized and stainless steel.  This is what you would use in your shed.  Probably the less expensive galvanized.  Sometimes you can adapt a stainless steel stove pipe to a basement stove by coming out a window and up along the side of the house.  Buy a gas detector and you'll feel safer.

Thanks Lloyd!   Do I need a gas detector on every floor?  I would feel safer, your right.  As you probraly know from several of my other posts I'm a very skittish, paranoid person to begin with.  I can be sitting right across from you, talking to you and in my head I'm thinking an airplane is going to crash into us, an explosion is going to blow us up, blah, blah.  I need a daily dose of 

[MaineShark]

Thanks for getting back to me Joe.   We don't have any flues.  My husband also thought about putting a wood stove in his shed too, would he need a flue for that?

If you don't have a chimney, or don't have an un-used flue in your chimney, you'll need to construct one.  It's not the cheapest project in the world.  Masonry is quite pricey.  Stainless "class A" vent pipe (I prefer Selkirk/Metalbestos, personally) is expensive, but not as bad as masonry, and actually provides superior venting (but doesn't look as "traditional," given that you'll have a shiny metal pipe running up the side of your house).

We do have carbon monoxide detectors (every floor of the house), I wish I would've known about the combination gas detectors too when I bought the carbon monoxide detectors.  I miss our electric house, this gas makes me nervous.

Gas is generally not a safety issue, but having a detector is cheap insurance (and can often get you a reduction in your homeowners' insurance).  You should have one in the same room as the appliance (eg, if you have a gas cookstove, put one in the kitchen).  That way, it will detect a leak before the gas has spread.

I presume you have LP gas, correct (tanks outside, rather than a natural gas pipeline and meter)?  If so, keep in mind that LP is heavier than air, and will tend to sink and collect in low areas.  Natural gas is similar to air, and mixes.

Joe

[eques]

Our furnace is being replaced on Monday!

Too bad... try to stay warm.

Why would that be an issue?  In 90% of cases, a quality heating company will have your heat back up within a single day, and any professional company should have space heaters (and temporary electric water heaters, if needed) for those cases where that's not possible.

Joe

I guess this is one of the 10%, because we do not have heat yet, and the space heaters aren't putting out enough oomph to do much more than warm my feet (which is better than nothing, I guess).

I don't know if this speaks to the quality of the heating company or the pain-in-the-ass that the heating system in an old building can be.  Either way... two rather cold nights... and chill through the days... it's not what I would call "comfortable."

[Lloyd Danforth]

Joe was talking about available flues in your existing chimmny(spl?)   They make stove pipe in galvanized and stainless steel.  This is what you would use in your shed.  Probably the less expensive galvanized.  Sometimes you can adapt a stainless steel stove pipe to a basement stove by coming out a window and up along the side of the house.  Buy a gas detector and you'll feel safer.

Thanks Lloyd!   Do I need a gas detector on every floor?  I would feel safer, your right.  As you probraly know from several of my other posts I'm a very skittish, paranoid person to begin with.  I can be sitting right across from you, talking to you and in my head I'm thinking an airplane is going to crash into us, an explosion is going to blow us up, blah, blah.  I need a daily dose of 

I had a gas detector, but, I'm old and I kept setting it off

[Raineyrocks]

I had a gas detector, but, I'm old and I kept setting it off

Yeah I guess I have to stay away from beans.

[MaineShark]

I guess this is one of the 10%, because we do not have heat yet, and the space heaters aren't putting out enough oomph to do much more than warm my feet (which is better than nothing, I guess).

I don't know if this speaks to the quality of the heating company or the pain-in-the-ass that the heating system in an old building can be.  Either way... two rather cold nights... and chill through the days... it's not what I would call "comfortable."

That speaks to the quality of the company.  Old systems may take several days to replace, in some cases, but that's no excuse for not providing proper temporary heat.

What company is doing the work?

Joe

[eques]

I don't know their name--the landlord hired 'em.

Also, we have two heaters on the premises... problem is, we keep tripping circuit breakers as we are attempting to locate separate circuits for them.  It turns out that the entire wall on the side of the street is one circuit, as is the entire wall on the river side, including the bedroom.

We have four breakers, and we keept tripping two of them.  Makes me wonder where the other two are.  I know that one socket in the kitchen seems to be on a different circuit (the microwave has kepts its time so far), but that fourth circuit is a mystery to me.

In any case, it seems that they're engaging in guesswork now... they've bled the system three or four times, each time with the heat failing to register after they leave.  It is, to put it lightly, irritating.

Oh, and (of course), it's going to drop down below zero tonight... and I don't know if these heaters will keep the place warm enough so as to prevent the pipes from freezing, especially by the stairwell.

[MaineShark]

In any case, it seems that they're engaging in guesswork now... they've bled the system three or four times, each time with the heat failing to register after they leave.  It is, to put it lightly, irritating.

Okay, that's just ridiculous.  They shouldn't leave until the system has been fully checked-out and is working properly.

It sounds like you have heat while they are bleeding it, and then it gets cold shortly after they leave?

How big is this building?

Do you have access to the boiler room?

Joe

[Lloyd Danforth]

get yer flashlight Eques

[eques]

In any case, it seems that they're engaging in guesswork now... they've bled the system three or four times, each time with the heat failing to register after they leave.  It is, to put it lightly, irritating.

Okay, that's just ridiculous.  They shouldn't leave until the system has been fully checked-out and is working properly.

It sounds like you have heat while they are bleeding it, and then it gets cold shortly after they leave?

How big is this building?

Do you have access to the boiler room?

Joe

I don't know if it would be a good idea to go down there, even if I had access to the boiler, seeing as I wouldn't even know what I was looking at.

Thanks, though... we'll huddle around the electric heaters. 

[Quantrill]

I don't know their name--the landlord hired 'em.

Probably the landlord and his nephew trying to save money by doing it themselves.  My sis' landlord did their HVAC system and there were some GAPING holes in the ductwork.  Ugh.


Does your oven work?  Turn it on and open it up!     

[KBCraig]

Does your oven work?  Turn it on and open it up!     

But ONLY if it's electric!

Unvented NG flames are bad. I don't want to read another CO poisoning article, only to find out that it's Eques and girlfriend.

Use whatever electric heat they gave you. Add many blankets. Snuggle tight.

Hopefully, you'll be back on boiler heat soon.

Kevin

[Lloyd Danforth]

Eques?

[Lloyd Danforth]

Eques??