Chimney Care Company's Blog
The dangers of carbon monoxide
During the cold winter months, your primary concern likely is keeping your home and family warm. But the same appliances that keep your home cozy can pose a danger to you and your family: carbon monoxide. More than 200 people die in the United States each year from carbon monoxide poisoning. An additional 4,000 people are hospitalized each year, and 20,000 visit the emergency rooms suffering the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
To keep your family safe, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms and causes of carbon monoxide poisoning, what to do if you suspect that the levels of carbon monoxide are dangerous within your home and how you can prevent dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
Causes of carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of combustion. That means it is produced by any burning appliance in your home, including furnaces, fireplaces, heating stoves, clothes dryers and space heaters. When those appliances aren’t vented properly — due to improper installation, damage to the ventilation system or dirty or clogged vents — carbon monoxide can build up to dangerous levels in your home. This buildup can be exacerbated by our focus on energy efficiency. Newer homes are built to be more air tight to conserve energy. Owners of older homes often “weatherproof” to prevent drafts. While that efficiency prevents warm air from escaping our homes, it also means that carbon monoxide put off by a faulty appliance can’t escape the home.
Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning
The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be subtle. Often described as flulike, those symptoms include mild headaches, dizziness and fatigue. As carbon monoxide levels increase in the blood, however, those symptoms can become more severe. At more advanced stages, carbon monoxide poisoning can cause confusion, disorientation, nausea, weakness, blurred vision and loss of consciousness. If anyone in your home begins to suffer these symptoms, your home should be evacuated, and that person should be taken to the hospital immediately. If left untreated, carbon monoxide poisoning can cause brain damage, organ failure or death.
Preventing carbon monoxide poisoning
The best way to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning is through the regular maintenance and inspection of fuel-burning appliances. It’s recommended that your chimney, clothing dryer, heating stove, fireplace and furnace should be cleaned and inspected by a professional each year. When your appliances and vents are serviced, your technician will clear any debris from the vents, and inspect the appliance and duct work for any malfunctions, clogs or damage. Freestanding appliances, such as generators or space heaters, should never be run in unventilated rooms.
Even with annual cleaning and maintenance, it’s important to exercise precautions against carbon monoxide. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that carbon monoxide detectors be installed on each level of a home and outside sleeping areas. The batteries in those detectors should be tested regularly. Everyone within the home should know what to do if those detectors go off: Evacuate the home and call 911.
If you’re concerned about your home’s carbon monoxide risk, The Chimney Care Co. can help. We clean, inspect and repair chimneys, stoves, fireplaces and dryer vents. Schedule an appointment to keep your family safe today!
Top 10 Reasons Not to Clean Your Chimney
There are certain dangers in operating your fireplace without having it cleaned and inspected annually.
Keep this information in mind when thinking about your chimney.
All About Carbon Monoxide
More and more each day we hear reports in the news about people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. Of course these tragedies occur less frequently during the summer months but are all too common during the winter, especially when people first fire up their stoves or fireplaces in the fall. This is why Chimney Care Co. recommends performing any needed chimney maintenance in the summer before your chimney sweep’s schedule gets jam-packed.
Your home is an investment, and those of us at Chimney Care Company want to help you protect that investment. Do your part to protect your home and family from the devastation of fire and structural compromise by keeping up with your annual maintenance services.
If you’re not familiar with carbon monoxide beyond the rudimentary schooling you got when you learned about the periodic table in high school, you’ve come to the right place. In fact if you have a chimney, fireplace, and/or stove that you use even periodically, it’s even more important that you fully understand what carbon monoxide is and how to prevent it from venting into your living space. Awareness is the first step toward preventing what could be tremendous and irreversible tragedy.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of how easily their deaths could have been prevented,” says the relative of a family of four who died from carbon monoxide poisoning as the result of a blocked chimney flue.
About Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide is called the “silent killer” because it is odorless, tasteless, and colorless; breathing it can kill you or cause the sudden onset of flu-like illness. Its familiar symptoms make it difficult to diagnose, and in fact people sometimes die in their sleep from CO2 poisoning without any forewarning.
CO2 poisoning happens rapidly because the human body mistakenly will begin to replace the oxygen in the body with the CO in the air, effectively blocking additional oxygen from getting in. Those who don’t die from CO2 exposure may suffer permanent brain or tissue damage.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning each year, more than 20,000 visit the ER, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized. Americans 65 and older are most likely to die from CO2 poisoning; infants are also more susceptible.
CO2 is created by combustion, which means that owners of fireplaces and stoves—both gas- and wood-burning—should be especially careful to ensure that their heating appliance is connected properly and venting correctly and that their chimney flu is not blocked by nests, debris, or the buildup of creosote.
How to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
A chimney inspection conducted by a certified sweep should reveal any areas of concern. We also strongly recommend installation of a carbon monoxide detector. And, finally, awareness itself can be incredibly powerful.
If you live in southwestern Ohio or northern Kentucky and want to put your mind to rest about how safe your chimney or heating appliance is, contact Chimney Care Co. to schedule an appointment today.
Spring Checklist for Your Chimney
As days grew shorter and the weather got colder, many of us retreated indoors to the warmth of our homes and hearths. For those homeowners who made used their fireplace(s) during the colder months, spring is a great time to schedule a chimney inspection to make sure your chimney system is in good working order. If your assessment uncovers any issues that give you pause, call in a chimney professional to diagnose the problem before it gets big, expensive, and potentially dangerous. Deterioration of mortar joints, broken or spalled bricks, and water penetration are all signs that your chimney may need repair.
Homeowners who used their fireplace during the colder months should view spring as the perfect time to schedule an inspection to ensure their chimney system is in peak operating condition.
My Mortar is Crumbling
Open mortar joints and cracks in the mortar also cause water to penetrate your brickwork. A good repointing job, using proper materials, will enhance your chimney’s lifespan and will enhance its appearance, too. Repointing is far more than simply forcing some new mortar into your chimney’s cracks. The process requires different skills than traditional masonry, and even brick masons with years of masonry experience might not even have significant experience repointing chimneys.
My Bricks are Cracking and Breaking
Brick is known for its durability, but time and the elements can cause bricks to crumble or flake, a condition commonly referred to as spalling. Spalling is caused when the masonry absorbs too much moisture from rain/snow and is subjected to freeze/thaw cycles. Spalling bricks have cracks and breaks in the surface and often large, crater-shaped chips. The best way to avoid brick spalling is to eliminate the moisture. If the area around your chimney crown is cracked or the cap itself is defective, this allows water to seep into the brickwork below.
Water Penetration is Destroying my Chimney
Chimneys are notorious for leaking; the flashing is a common culprit of these leaks, as it lies at the point where the chimney rises above the roof. It keeps water out of the chimney, protecting both the flue and roof. Flashings are made from a variety of materials—aluminum, copper, galvanized steel, and/or tin. You’ll want to have new chimney flashing installed if yours is missing, rusted through, falling out, or completely covered with roofing tar (a common short-term fix that could be hiding a bigger problem).
An annual inspection of your chimney by a qualified chimney professional should include a thorough examination of the external structure to look for signs of deterioration or weakness, as well as a visual inspection of the flue inside your chimney to ensure that it’s in proper working order, too. The chimney professionals at The Chimney Care Company are fully prepared to meet all of your chimney inspection and repair needs. Give us a call or stop by our showroom today!
The Science of Combustion
What goes on inside your chimney when the fire is roaring in your fireplace? Basic chemistry and physics play a critical role in the effectiveness and safety of your heating system.
Three ingredients are necessary for combustion to take place – fuel, heat and oxygen. If there is an imbalance, there will be performance and safety issues.