Carbon monoxide
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OK, I'd say extremely slim but possible.
If you're even asking the question, you should put your mind at ease and get a CO detector.
OK, I'd say extremely slim but possible.
If you're even asking the question, you should put your mind at ease and get a CO detector.
Carbon Monoxide is serious business.
Everyone should have a detector.
I was severely poisoned years ago and will never be without one (even when I lived in an apartment with an electric stove and electric baseboard.
You take it seriously after a helicopter ride and spending the night in a hyperbaric chamber.
Anytime you have combustion you have the potential for CO.
Everyone should have a detector.
I was severely poisoned years ago and will never be without one (even when I lived in an apartment with an electric stove and electric baseboard.
You take it seriously after a helicopter ride and spending the night in a hyperbaric chamber.
Anytime you have combustion you have the potential for CO.
tfdchief
Minister of Fire
leftyscott
Member
Several years ago, I left a full ashcan sitting open downstairs. The embers kept burning and about 1:00 AM my CO2 detector in the upstairs bedroom starts going off. Scared the sh#t outta both the wife and me.
albertj03
Minister of Fire
They just passed a law in Maine that all apartments have to have a CO detector in every bedroom. I have them in my house.
tfdchief
Minister of Fire
That is true but the smelly smoke, is composed of a lot of things, including CO. Some of it has an odor and CO doesn't. So if you smell smoke, rest assured it has CO in it.ribs1 said:
ohio woodburner
Feeling the Heat
+1 Chieftfdchief said:
so many times we hear CO has no smell which is very true, but like you say if you have smoke you also have CO!
I'd be much more worried about the times when you won't smell much at all. A full bed of coals will have very little smoky smell because all of the volatiles have been burned off and there is not much left but charcoal. More than once I've left the griddle top up on my VC when first checking it in the morning and got distracted by the phone of something. Ordinarily, the draft would always be strong enough to vent the stove, but a cool coal bed could spill out enough CO to sicken you under certain atmospheric conditions.
This year I finally got one and put plugged it into an outlet in the bathroom that is right at the top of the stairs leading up from the basement. I got a reading of 10 PPM on Thanksgiving, but then I realized it was probably from having the gas range/oven on all day cooking for dinner. 10 PPM is not enough to make you sick, but it is more than 0 PPM, so nice to see the thing actually works. I reset it and haven't yet had it show any level, even during a few times when there was a definite smoky smell in the house.
This year I finally got one and put plugged it into an outlet in the bathroom that is right at the top of the stairs leading up from the basement. I got a reading of 10 PPM on Thanksgiving, but then I realized it was probably from having the gas range/oven on all day cooking for dinner. 10 PPM is not enough to make you sick, but it is more than 0 PPM, so nice to see the thing actually works. I reset it and haven't yet had it show any level, even during a few times when there was a definite smoky smell in the house.
Cire3
New Member
Aren't most killed when sleeping ? Don't smell anything if you don't wake up. I'm not half as worried about the stove when I'm awake, it's when I sleep 
I own a CO detector, was the best 30 bucks for a piece of mind. Should have one in any home period, goes right up with smoke detectors in my opinion. I save when I can, but some stuff just isn't worth putting off. My family is worth more than that.... Priceless.
My2Cents
I own a CO detector, was the best 30 bucks for a piece of mind. Should have one in any home period, goes right up with smoke detectors in my opinion. I save when I can, but some stuff just isn't worth putting off. My family is worth more than that.... Priceless.My2Cents
killick
Member
CO is serious.Our Building Code requires all new residential construction which contains a fuel fired appliance,(wood stove,furnace,space heater,etc.),or has an attatched garage to have combination CO and smoke alarms.One on each floor level or a maximum of 15 metres from a sleeping room.These are required to be hard wired to the electrical system and have battery backup as well.I installed a CO alarm in our place about two weeks ago and although it doesn't signal an alarm below concentrations of 30ppm it has registered 22ppm.This is considered a trace level but it does show that the wood stove is producing some CO and introducing it into the house as we have no other appliances in the house.Better to be fore warned.
Earl
Earl
DanCorcoran
Minister of Fire
Any open combustion (gas log stove, wood stove, gas-fired water heater, fireplace, etc.) can produce carbon monoxide. Definitely get a detector if you have open combustion. The risk is just as great as not having a smoke detector.
tfdchief
Minister of Fire
Probably worth a lot more than that. ;-)Cire3 said:Aren't most killed when sleeping ? Don't smell anything if you don't wake up. I'm not half as worried about the stove when I'm awake, it's when I sleep
My2Cents
Thanks for the info everyone. I don't have one yet - just smoke detectors but I'll definitely purchase one now! The next question is whether anyone would suggest a good brand - or are they all basically the same? Are the ones sold in a regular hardware-type store (i.e. Home Depot) sufficient? Thanks for your input.
you absolutely need CO detectors whether you're burning wood or not, but the fact that you ARE burning wood makes having a CO detector even more of an imperative.
NSI 3000 will alarm at 15 ppm. ul listed detectors bought at home depot and elsewhere don’t usually alarm until 70 ppm for so many minutes..
I always hook up an outside fresh air supply and tape the connections with high temp tape. If the chimney was plugged for some strange reason the gasses/CO would go out the fresh air intake. One day I noticed smoke coming from the elbow connection in the stove pipe, upon inspection I found about a 1/2" of creosote build up in the stove pipe. Now I clean the chimney and stove pipe every month, just to be safe.
Some stoves have a primary and secondary air supply so the fresh air supply approach would not be effective for CO.
Some stoves have a primary and secondary air supply so the fresh air supply approach would not be effective for CO.
smokestack said:
Kidde is the brand to get and Home Depot carries just about the whole line at the best prices. We got the Kidde Nighthawk (Model KN-COPP-3), a plug-in type with 9V battery backup and digital readout that was less than $40. If you have explosive gases in the home for heat or hot water, they make the same model with the addition of a gas detector for about $20 more. I like it because it will detect and hold in memory a peak reading of as little as 10 PPM. Some of the units just sound an alarm after the exposure threshold is passed - not nearly good enough for my peace of mind.
Main problem there is that exposure is both time and concentration dependent, with exposure time at a given concentration being the determining factor for toxicity. So where it is not considered hazardous to breathe in 70 PPM for a short time, 400 PPM may sicken you during the same time. The cheaper types will allow a 70 PPM concentration to exist for a long time before sounding the alarm, and will let concentrations build up to 400 PPM for about 5 minutes or so before the alarm goes off. By then, your air is pretty well compromised, but you have no idea whether it was 70 PPM for a long time or 400 PPM for minutes. With the Nighthawk, I can go to the alarm and press the sensor indicator button to find out exactly what the concentration is before I go ahead and press the panic button instead.
Anyway, I don't want to be breathing any of the stuff, my body makes enough as it is. The Kidde Nighthawk continually monitors the CO levels and lets you know if there has been any detectable trace any time you press the button, but only emitting an alarm signal if a dangerous amount has accumulated. This is a win-win situation for me.
jf254 said:
Ah, didn't know about that one. Looks to be even better than the one I have. I'll check that out for my second installation in the basement where the stove sits.
Cire3
New Member
OilNoMore
Member
I agree on all fronts about having a good CO detector. My question is where do you install it, height wise, for the best operation? A guy I work with is a volunteer firefighter and he told me CO was a low lying gas and to install the CO detector 1'-2' from the floor. Anyone else done the same or heard of this? Any advice where to put it? I previously had it up with the smoke detectors.
E.W. said:
I wouldn't consider 22 PPM to be "just a trace" at all. Toxicity for most folks begins at 50 PPM over an 8 hour period. Long term exposure to lower levels may be beyond your body's ability to deal with it.
I burn hard 24/7, and the stove is in the basement where you might expect a trace due to the house stack effect on the draft. The only time I got a nudge (10 PPM) from my detector is the one day of the year we were using an unvented propane-fired kitchen appliance all day long on Thanksgiving Day. You have eliminated other sources form consideration, so it has to be your stove. I would expect 0 PPM coming from a wood stove that is burning/venting properly. I'd check into why that reading may have occurred, unless you already know and have remedied the situation.
If you have smoke in the house, you definitely have CO, but you can have CO in the house and not have smoke. ie- once the fire burns down to just coals, a gust of wind causes a flue reversal, or someone happens to kick on a clothes dryer or vent fan and the negative pressure in the house causes the flue to reverse, etc.
So I would say CO detector is as important or more-so than a smoke detector. Fire / smoke generally tend to wake you up, or alert neighbors/passerby and you'd have a chance to get out. CO just puts you to sleep and that is the end.
So I would say CO detector is as important or more-so than a smoke detector. Fire / smoke generally tend to wake you up, or alert neighbors/passerby and you'd have a chance to get out. CO just puts you to sleep and that is the end.
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