Greenstar Home Services Warns of the "Silent Killer" and Educates Homeowners on the Deadly Dangers of Carbon Monoxide Emissions from their Furnace

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Green it Up!

Many times we go to homes where the carbon monoxide detector has gone off and a cracked heat exchanger was the culprit.

Laguna Beach, CA (PRWEB) October 20, 2012

A furnace that isn’t running optimally can be deadly. Most gas furnaces produce some carbon monoxide – it’s a natural byproduct of combustion, and it’s usually transferred away from your home via the furnace venting system. An efficient, clean-burning furnace produces negligible amounts of carbon monoxide, but an inefficient one can produce fatal amounts.
To prevent dangerous furnace challenges associated with carbon monoxide, Greenstar Home Services recommends having your furnace checked and cleaned every year. This is even more important if the furnace is old. Newer models have safety features that shut them down if problems are detected – older ones don’t.    

Greenstar recommends getting a professional licensed HVAC technician to perform a thorough evaluation of your heating system. A professional technician will verify that all valves and controls are functioning to manufacturer’s specifications. They will also check and inspect the hot surface igniter, amperage draw, clean the burner area and verify that your venting is functioning properly. Most importantly they will do a thorough evaluation of the heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger is the hub of a forced air furnace. But it is actually much more than that; if a heat exchanger fails or cracks, it poses a fatal risk to a household. Properly functioning heat exchangers separate the toxic gasses produced during combustion from the clean, warmed air used in forced air heating systems. However, when heat exchangers develop cracks or holes, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors prove they can emit dangerously high levels of the invisible, odorless, deadly gas—carbon monoxide. According to the Center for Disease Control, “500 Americans die from carbon monoxide poisoning every year and another 15,000 suffer carbon monoxide poisoning illnesses.”

When the heat exchanger reaches a high enough temperature, the furnace's blower turns on, pulling cool air from the return duct and blowing it across the hot heat exchanger, into the ducts that heat the home. Therefore, if a crack develops in the heat exchanger, the possibility that deadly gas can be blown into the home is all too real. Eric Magana Operations Manager with Greenstar says “Many times we go to homes where the carbon monoxide detector has gone off and a cracked heat exchanger was the culprit. Greenstar focuses on getting to the challenge before there is an emergency. A routine visit is an effective solution.”

Greenstar follows the same guidelines set out by the American Gas Association. Any visible crack or hole discovered in a visual inspection is reason for requiring replacement of the heat exchanger or furnace. Greenstar advises that any homeowner who is informed that their heat exchanger is cracked or otherwise damaged must take that information seriously. A homeowner that has a belief that the holes are not siginificant enough to produce any real problems is “a very dangerous way of thinking” says Magana.    Greenstar always provides a visual confirmation of the crack and an explanation of how the crack was discovered. Once the crack or other challenge has been verified, it is urgent to take steps to prevent any chance of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Greenstar is a full service and eco-friendly Central Water Filtration, Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning company. You can go to greenstarhomeservices.com for more information.

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