Myth #6 - Carbon monoxide issues only pertain to gas appliances.  (Wrong!)

This may be hard to understand, but pay attention!

Carbon monoxide problems are not CAUSED by gas appliances.  It's true that a gas appliance will produce CO, but it is ALWAYS something external to the appliance that creates the problem!

The distinction is hard to grasp, but important. 

An appliance (stove, water heater, or furnace) that has NOT had a mechanical or electrical failure would not normally produce CO.  In all but the rarest of cases, an appliance WITH a malfunction will NOT produce CO, at least in enough quantity to cause a problem.  A furnace may not start or starts with a rumble, a water heater pilot may keep going out or the water heater may not produce enough hot water.  These are all symptoms of a component failure.  The equipment may not operate, but it doesn't produce carbon monoxide.

The issue of CO formation has to do with the incoming and outgoing air for the appliance.  Insufficient combustion air and insufficient venting are the two items that determine if CO will be created and in what quantity.

Anyone who tells you otherwise never tested the gas appliances they worked on.  They simply repeated the baloney they heard from someone else.

Don't forget all the "other" sources of carbon monoxide contamination;

• Engine driven back-up generators inside the structure
• Engine driven power sprayers inside the structure
• Engine driven air compressors used inside a structure still under construction
• Construction or temporary heaters
• Charcoal or gas grills being used indoors for temporary heat or cooking
• Excessive use of candles
• Non-vented, gas-fired space heaters
• Non-vented gas fireplaces
• Automobile exhaust (can permeate a structure even when idling in the driveway.)

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