In the middle of a dark wintery Saskatchewan evening, the last thing you want is for your furnace to quit. With snow coming you will see many warnings about clearing your furnace vents of snow. Many ask does this mean you need to clean your ducts? And the answer is not necessarily.

During extreme winter weather events (i.e. heavy snowfall and extreme cold), your furnace and water heater exhaust vents may become blocked with snow, ice, or frost. New models of furnaces are factory programmed to automatically shut off when Carbon Monoxide (CO) levels are higher than usual within your home. Without proper ventilation, carbon monoxide can build up inside your home and the consequences can be fatal. The burning of natural gas produces both water and CO. Where do these gases go? Furnace exhaust gases are vented outside via a PVC pipe and are typically one to two feet above the ground.

If you notice your furnace is not properly heating your home, check to ensure your exhaust vents are clear of any obstructions. Even if your furnace is running, there is a possibility that the exhaust vent could be partially blocked. Over the cold winter months, frost can build up slowly in and around the vent, reducing your furnace’s efficiency. So whether it’s for optimal efficiency or protection from carbon monoxide, it’s important to keep your exhaust vents clear.

Carbon Monoxide Info

Often referred to as the “silent killer,” Carbon Monoxide, also known as CO is an invisible, tasteless and odourless gas that can cause severe illness or death. The poisonous gas is produced when fuels, such as propane, gasoline, natural gas, heating oil or wood do not burn completely in fuel-burning appliances, such as furnaces, fireplaces, hot water heaters, stoves, barbecues, portable heaters and generators, or vehicles.

There are more than 300 CO-related deaths per year and more than 200 hospitalizations per year in Canada. While it is mandatory to have carbon monoxide detectors in all homes now, they are not 100% reliable (they become unplugged, run out of battery, may not be in the right room, etc.). This is why you need to take every step to ensure your furnace vents properly.

Exposure to Carbon Monoxide

Exposure to CO can cause flu-like symptoms, such as headaches, nausea and dizziness, burning eyes, confusion, drowsiness and loss of consciousness. If you or others in your household or building have these symptoms, go outdoors and call 911 immediately. If your CO alarm sounds and no one is suffering from symptoms of CO poisoning, check to see if the battery needs replacing or if the alarm has reached its “end-of-life” before calling 911.

Not sure if you need your ducts cleaned or not, contact Bridge City Duct Cleaning Services to have them review your situation.

Call today to book your appointment with Bridge City Duct Cleaning.

JOB Heating & Air Conditioning’s wonderful staff will be more than happy to provide you with an estimate for any home comfort improvement that you have in mind. They also offer training classes at your personal site for maintenance and they also offer home heating tune-ups. JOB are Trusted Saskatoon Furnace experts and they can also help you with all your Saskatoon plumbing needs!

If your heating system is beyond repair, or if you just want to upgrade or update, our team will be more than happy to provide you with an estimate for any home comfort improvement that you have in mind. We are an independent Lennox Dealer and we offer training classes at your personal site for maintenance and home heating tune-ups. We can also help you with all your Saskatoon plumbing needs too! You can be assured that JOB Heating & Air Conditioning will be there to help. In this Saskatoon furnace article, Jeff Bolton, owner of JOB, highlights how important it is to be aware of the threat of carbon monoxide and he shares some winter safety tips for your home.

Winter Safety Tips For Your Home From JOB Heating & Air

What does that do and why does it matter?

I was recently in two Saskatoon residences with gas inspections to investigate the source of carbon monoxide in the homes. Thank heavens both homeowners had carbon monoxide detectors, that in my opinion, saved their lives. Both days I went home and checked my CO detector.

When was the last time that you checked your CO Detector?

Go do it now then come back and finish reading…
So how this works is usually the fire department or Sask Energy get a call, then they visit the home with their carbon monoxide meters to assess the level and then, if reading show and issue they red tag the furnace unit and shut off the gas. The Red Tag program provides a consistent means for gas utilities, propane distributors, gas contractors or others deemed appropriate by the chief gas inspector to report unresolved gas-related deficiencies or identify reoccurring design flaws. The issuing of red tags is only done by a licensed gasfitter.

What to do when you have a red tag.

The homeowner should then call us to come to correct the problem. We will go through the furnace and water heater with a fine-tooth comb to attempt to find the source of the carbon monoxide.

Sometimes it is a crack in a heat exchanger, however, sometimes the furnace and water heater are working exactly as they should. It is then incumbent upon us to investigate why the carbon monoxide is present in the home. In these locations we often find that the homes are drawn into negative pressure, what that means is that the homes are exhausting more air than fresh air coming into the home. As you may remember from science class, areas of high pressure always go to areas of low pressure. So what happens is the high pressure outside finds a way into the area of low pressure (inside the home) through any possible route. If the doors and windows are closed then the only other hole in the home is the chimney. Air begins to flow down the chimney to replace the air that’s being exhausted out of the home. So why is that an issue? This becomes a problem when the furnace or water heater begins to fire and there is no draft up the chimney. This then results in the products of combustion (carbon monoxide) being vented into the home.

What can homeowners do to prevent this from happening?

There are items in your home to prevent this from happening. In most cases, the insulated vent that runs from the outside of your home into the furnace room brings what we call combustion air. The combustion air helps to regulate the pressure of your home preventing your home from getting into a negative air pressure situation. This is also the air that is used when the furnace or water heater are firing up and sometimes this air supply can become blocked. On occasion, we have found that homeowners will purposely block the intake because they don’t like the cold air coming in.

I need to stress how important this is and that by blocking this you are putting yourself and your family at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. So please don’t block this or if you have, open it up immediately.

Another more common problem is that the air intakes themselves become blocked. These intakes appear from the outside like exhaust vents but when you bend over and look up inside them they are in fact air intakes with a screen that needs to be clear of all debris. A good rule of thumb is to walk around the perimeter of your home and look for these vent/intake hoods. Look up inside them and clean them up. This is a simple 10-minute job and this will help to protect you from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Do your intakes look like this?

Go outside today walk around your home and clean these intakes.
Check your carbon monoxide detectors
Check your smoke alarms.

These 2 devices save lives every day you just don’t hear about it. If you don’t have a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector buy them and put them in your home today. I promise you they save lives.

Then have us come out and do a furnace tune-up. We test the furnace and ensure it is functioning as it should be, in addition, we clean the parts of the furnace that you cannot.

Contact Jeff and team at JOB Heating today. Jeff Bolton. Owner- JOB Heating and Air Conditioning

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