Carbon monoxide (CO) is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels in enclosed, unventilated spaces. . It’s a tasteless, odorless, colorless, and poisonous gas when inhaled that poses a very real threat to resident of Jasper and throughout Southern Indiana.
For starters, you should never start your car or lawn mower with the garage door closed. Other sources of CO emissions are furnaces, boilers, water heaters, gas or wood burning fireplaces, space heaters, BBQ’s, electric generators, gas ranges and ovens, and electric ovens when self-cleaning.
How CO Gets Inside Your Home
Normally the toxic gases from fuel combustion are expelled outdoors, but processes called the “stack effect” and “backdraft” can trap them inside. The stack effect occurs when faulty appliances create a negative air pressure inside the home by ventilating too much air out of the home. The building will then “backdraft” to compensate for the air pressure imbalance by sucking air—including toxic gases—back inside.
This is usually caused by loose vent pipes, cracked metal, or corrosion. Your home could also have internal equipment damage, malfunctioning components, or hidden blockage or damage in the vent or chimney.
Home center variety CO detectors trigger only when already high levels of the gas have been released, often too late to avoid sickness or even death.
How to Prevent Serious Side Effects
First and foremost, contact Messmer Mechanical and ask about our low-level CO detectors…far superior and more effective than home center brands.
These reliably protect you and your family from both high and low level exposure to CO. The standard retail store devices only alarm at dangerously high levels over 70 parts per million (ppm). Low-level detectors, by contrast, trigger when there’s as little 10 ppm in your air. That way, you’ll be alerted to a problem long before your home’s air reaches deadly levels.
Not to be the bearer of bad tidings, but these facts are real: CO poisoning accidentally kills
over 600 Americans each year. Tens of thousands are made sick, many suffering permanent
physiological and nervous system damage. And that’s all the reason you need to install at least one low-level CO detector in your home.
Prevention IS the Cure
To help keep CO out of your home in the first place, contact Messmer Mechanical today for our multi-point heating system tune-up and inspection. It’s a complete system performance check. At the same time, we look for possible causes of CO leaks. If we find them, we’ll correct them.
(812) 482-6766
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