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Furnace Safety and Carbon Monoxide

Furnace Safety and Carbon Monoxide

Harmful levels of carbon monoxide can result when a considerable amount of fuel burns without enough oxygen. A faulty furnace, one without good airflow, results in harmful levels of carbon monoxide being released. Combustion equipment like furnaces need to be well ventilated and maintained to avoid instances of incomplete combustion hence carbon monoxide being released. At the very least, there should be ways to monitor levels of carbon monoxide and alert you to evacuate before someone gets hurt.

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Buy a carbon monoxide alarm

When avoiding the existence of carbon monoxide, you also need to have a plan for when the gas builds up while you are not actively looking. One must have a carbon monoxide alarm which they can use as a passive defense strategy. A carbon monoxide alarm detects the gas in the air and sounds an alarm that will prompt you to take action that can save lives. There are different versions of carbon monoxide alarms all with different mechanisms and options. Some will sound the alarm when they detect high levels of carbon monoxide, while others will activate it when they detect very low levels of the dangerous gas (other levels might not even be dangerous).

Detectors are best installed by a trusted heating and cooling company in Saskatoon, SK in or near bedrooms so that everyone will get the alert if something goes wrong. You are best installing a detector in areas where you spend most of your time like the living room. Installing detectors near the furnace could sound like a great idea, given that is where the gas could originate, but the temperature fluctuations around the best areas where furnaces are mounted along with how inaudible they would be, cancel out the advantages of doing so.

Low levels of carbon monoxide symptoms

In low-level carbon monoxide, exposure symptoms may be a little difficult to tell apart from those caused by various other stimuli. These can be alike symptoms of flu or food poisoning except the fact that carbon monoxide poisoning seldom triggers a temperature rise or fever.

Common symptoms include:

  • Fatigue
  • Shortness of breath
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Feeling sick and vomiting
  • Stomach pain

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High levels of carbon monoxide symptoms

If you keep exposed to the carbon monoxide poison the symptoms will intensify, the longer the time you are inhaling the gas the worse the symptoms become. You may start to lose cognitive functions, balance, and sense of sight. If there is a high concentration of carbon monoxide this might take place in a matter of hours, two or less depending on the extent of pollution. You will have placed yourself in locations with high carbon monoxide if you start experiencing the following;

  • Nausea
  • Confusion
  • Chest pains – may result in a heart attack because of the fast heartbeat.
  • Losing consciousness
  • Ataxia – failing to physically coordinate because the damage and nervous would have been damaged
  • Vertigo – this is a feeling of a spinning environment

The bio-logic is that your organs start suffocating from the lack of oxygen since carbon monoxide readily sticks to the red pigment of the blood, hence the breathing issues and losing balance since the brain is essentially placed in a sealed plastic bag.

The point is not to scare, there are plenty of ways you can get on the safe side. For one, purchasing a carbon monoxide detection unit from a heating and cooling company Saskatoon, SK trusts, so as to alert you and keep your family safe from the symptoms above we are most recommended for furnace installation in Saskatoon. Compared to the mess that would happen without one, a small investment of $69 or a simple call to (306) 384-4328 translates to lives saved.

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