Q: My Carbon Monoxide Detector is alarming. What should I do?
A: A
Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector reading warrants looking at all of the factors involved,
which include the gas log set; the environment in which the gas log
set operates; the CO detector; and other sources of CO in and around
the house.
Please view the attached troubleshooting information.
Additionally, please look at and consider the following:
Please
ensure that the installation instructions have been followed,
especially with regard to the cleanliness of the firebox, the size
of the firebox, the placement of the logs and the installation of
the glowing embers (small, loose pieces).
The
national unvented heater standard (ANSI Z21.11.2) to which all
Chillbusters are certified, has the strictest limits for Carbon
Monoxide (CO) of all gas burning appliances. The CO limit for a gas
burning kitchen range (also an unvented appliance) allows four times
the CO permitted for an unvented heater. The ANSI standard allows up
to 25 ppm of CO to be present in the combustion gases of an unvented
heater.
Carbon
monoxide will be present in all types of burning. A person inhales
2000-6000 ppm of CO with each puff of a cigarette. I have measured
candles giving off up to 25 ppm of CO. Government guidelines allow
up to 35 ppm exposure in an eight hour period.
A
new Nighthawk CO detector needs a seven day warm-up period before
reading will have any accuracy. They have a stated accuracy
tolerance of +/- 35% for readings from 0 to 150 ppm. They can be
unduly influenced by vapors from petroleum, alcohols, household
aerosols or increased indoor humidity (of which a vent-free gas log
set contributes one quart of water every hour when burned at 40,000
BTU/hour).
The
most common cause of elevated CO readings in a house is due to
automobile exhaust from attached garages. The second most is
cigarette and cigar smoking indoors.