Our furnace of 15 years has been just diagnosed has having a
hole in the combustion chamber. So, what happens next?
Our furnace contractor turned on the furnace and showed me what a hole or crack in the combustion chamber does to the furnace. He explained that the hole allows a back-draft of air into the furnace. The back-draft is exhaust, which is supposed to vent outside through the chimney. With nowhere to go, the exhaust is forced down into the furnace. Depending on the size of the hole or crack, the flames from the burner can be forced out of the burner chamber. This can be bad for a number of reasons. The flames are forced into the area where the wiring may be located creating a fire hazard. A hazard equally as great is that the exhaust air from the back-draft may have high levels of carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas has no odor, taste and is colorless. It is a natural by-product of incomplete combustion. Small amounts of it can cause severe illness or death. Symptoms of exposure to carbon monoxide are very similar to flu symptoms: headaches, dizziness, faintness, drowsiness, pain in the ears and seeing spots (for more information on symptoms, visit WebMd. Furnace contractors have devices that can detect the amount of carbon monoxide in the air. Our contractor sampled the air near the furnace and found that the levels were not hazardous to our health.
Even though the levels of carbon monoxide were not a health hazard, the furnace needed to be turned off until either the chamber or the furnace was replaced. The furnace still presented a fire hazard, as the flames were being forced out of the burner chamber into the area where the wiring was located. A health hazard from carbon monoxide was still present as the hole or crack will expand over time.
How do we survive in a home without heat from a furnace in the winter?
Until later…
The Home Know-It-All
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