So, I came home to my wife and kids this evening and had a scare. There had been no fire all day, but rainy and mild weather. Around 6 pm my wife started complaining of a stale smoky smell, but I told her it was just the dampness from our finished basement and woodstove. An hour or so later I went down to start a fire and check the carbon monoxide testers--like I always do-- and the readings were 30 and 33 parts per million. Now, not ever having a reading before, this was obviously kind of concerning to me. I open the windows and crank the ceiling fans and air out the room and the display registers a 0 now. However, upon inspection, it appears my stove had a fair amount of coals remaining from the previous night but a significant downdraft. I have a downdraft frequently and have alway checked the CO monitors religously, but never picked up anything. It was kind of harrowing to catch the readings live, but not sure that there is much I can do to remedy the situation in the future. Is 30 PPM a serious health concern for short periods of time? In any case, I must give testimony to the installation of CO monitors in all woodburner's homes.
CO readings today...
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NordicSplitter
Minister of Fire
This is one reason why even if I'm not having a fire during the day, I open the draft all the way to (a) get free heat and (b) ultimately cool down the stove. By the time I get home from work the stove is cooled down enough for me to clean out the ash pan if needed. Glad everything is ok on your end. Thanks for the post 
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
Well...
50 PPM is the maximum allowable limit for an 8 hr shift per OSHA. NIOSH says 35 ppm/8hr, and I think another group reccommends 25 .
Personally, if it wasn't a regular thing and if people in the house were not complaining, I wouldn't worry about it.
50 PPM is the maximum allowable limit for an 8 hr shift per OSHA. NIOSH says 35 ppm/8hr, and I think another group reccommends 25 .
Personally, if it wasn't a regular thing and if people in the house were not complaining, I wouldn't worry about it.
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
I am surprised that the hot coals in the stove didn't keep the draft going up instead of down. Was the air control open or closed?
One of them reasons an outside air kit is recommended for basement installs. Negative pressure down there.
Sounds like the 'perfect storm'...warm air / mild weather means light air and less draft, humid air / rain means light air and less draft, big bed of coals from the night before means lots of CO production. So the flue cooled down and reversed - allowing the stale smoky smell and CO back into the house.
madison
Minister of Fire
Any chance that there is another contributing source of CO that you are overlooking? ie Nat gas - Water Heater, oven, furnace?
We once had a dead duck in our furnace chimney that resulted in some intermittent low levels in our basement. It culminated in the furnace shutting down due to high back pressures, which lead to finding the mallard in the chimney. The Tech said he had seen every other animal in a chimney, but never a duck.
We once had a dead duck in our furnace chimney that resulted in some intermittent low levels in our basement. It culminated in the furnace shutting down due to high back pressures, which lead to finding the mallard in the chimney. The Tech said he had seen every other animal in a chimney, but never a duck.
blwncrewchief
Burning Hunk
simple.serf said:
x2. Those readings are not anything to get worked up about. That is exactly why having CO detectors is so important. Seeing readings that high occasionally is not uncommon at all. You can get reading like that baking a couple batches of cookies with a natural gas or propane oven without using a vented range hood. Realistically 30-35ppm might give you a headache after a couple hours if you are sensitive to it. Keep an eye on it and make sure you keep those CO detectors up to date. A wood stove is just one of many,many things that can cause CO and pose a danger in a house. I have seen 150ppm from someone letting there car run in the driveway outside the garage and I have seen over 200ppm from baking cookies for the holidays. There is a reason every fossil fuel burning appliance in my house (except my NG stove of course) is sealed combustion with outside air hooked up. Also, if you have back draft problems it is something you really should look into fixing. There are many approaches to taking care of this and has been discussed many ways here. Back drafts on a flue should really not happen.
Sorry, I disagree about the levels. My whole family was sick for a couple months....we couldn't figure out what it was....My wife and I woke up feeling like we were hungover, felt better after a day at work/school. We chased allergies, gave up drinking for a couple weeks, couldn't figure it out.....until our CO unit pipp'ed once in the middle of the night. Which was all it ever did.
In our case, our oil boiler was emitting low levels, and when the weather was mild it accumulated in the boiler room and house. Probably never broke 40 ppm, prob often lower. Def something I would NOT want to live with again. Now I have multiple detectors, one with continuous ppm display (Nighthawk), and we caught it immediately when the boiler acted up a second time.
In your case, a few hours at 30 ppm are not the problem. IF it was an isolated perfect storm, seldom repeated, then fine. How do you know? An upgrade on your CO detectors/redundancy would not be unreasonable.
Also: when I researched this low-level chronic exposure issue, I found a lot of evidence of bad effects in more sensitive individuals: elderly, pregnant, people with heart disease, kids. Even if you all 'feel fine', worry about grandma or your pregnant sister staying over for a few days.
In our case, our oil boiler was emitting low levels, and when the weather was mild it accumulated in the boiler room and house. Probably never broke 40 ppm, prob often lower. Def something I would NOT want to live with again. Now I have multiple detectors, one with continuous ppm display (Nighthawk), and we caught it immediately when the boiler acted up a second time.
In your case, a few hours at 30 ppm are not the problem. IF it was an isolated perfect storm, seldom repeated, then fine. How do you know? An upgrade on your CO detectors/redundancy would not be unreasonable.
Also: when I researched this low-level chronic exposure issue, I found a lot of evidence of bad effects in more sensitive individuals: elderly, pregnant, people with heart disease, kids. Even if you all 'feel fine', worry about grandma or your pregnant sister staying over for a few days.
Martin Strand III
New Member
woodgeek said:
Exactly correct.
Play with fire, you'll get burned.
Play with CO, you'll wind up dead.
And, unfortunately, I've seen both.
Aye,
Marty
Grandpa used to say,
"Taking 'a little poison' wins
the Darwinian Award every time."
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
As I said , I personally wouldn't worry so long as it wasn't a regular thing, which means one is monitoring levels regularly.
The only time I have ever had any problems b/c of CO was when playing with an engine running on producer gas. Engine wasn't running right due to a leak in a fuel line- fuel is mostly carbon monoxide. Air in the garage was over 500PPM. Couldn't hear the alarm because of the engine running.
The only time I have ever had any problems b/c of CO was when playing with an engine running on producer gas. Engine wasn't running right due to a leak in a fuel line- fuel is mostly carbon monoxide. Air in the garage was over 500PPM. Couldn't hear the alarm because of the engine running.
I just went and checked the peak level recorded on mine in the next room (my temporary bedroom).
recorded 34 some time... I've been drowsy all the time and not myself. Maybe this is it. I know the reason though.
I've never seen it show an actual reading though, and I always look at it. So maybe it does it when I'm sleeping... Because I take a shower after I get home from work then go to bed. Which means the water heater is running when I'm sleeping and... yep...
My propane water heater in the basement has 3 90degree bends... Over, up, then out the house... then one more 90 bend up the side of the house. So a total of 4 90 bends within about a 2-3 foot stretch.
I think I'm going to take some pics and post a thread... actually. Thanks.
recorded 34 some time... I've been drowsy all the time and not myself. Maybe this is it. I know the reason though.
I've never seen it show an actual reading though, and I always look at it. So maybe it does it when I'm sleeping... Because I take a shower after I get home from work then go to bed. Which means the water heater is running when I'm sleeping and... yep...
My propane water heater in the basement has 3 90degree bends... Over, up, then out the house... then one more 90 bend up the side of the house. So a total of 4 90 bends within about a 2-3 foot stretch.
I think I'm going to take some pics and post a thread... actually. Thanks.
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