Your Health and Safety

Health and Safety? I will check for propane and other fuel leaks using an electronic "sniffer." Sometimes these leaks are not dangerous, but they waste fuel! I also do a lot of testing (furnaces, water heaters, boilers, ovens, etc...) for Carbon Monoxide (CO). CO is gas that is produced by combustion. You can't smell it or see it, yet it can make you sick or kill you. Soon I hope to have some testimonials from people in whose homes I have found CO.

As you start to tighten up your house and insulate it, it will be critical to make sure that nothing is being done to make it unsafe. I will perform a series of tests and calculations to see how safe the house is now and how much “tightening” it can take before an un-safe situation is created.

Everyone should have a low level Carbon Monoxide Detector. I carry CO-Experts because they will detect CO down to 10 ppm, the battery lasts the lifetime of the sensor (about 5.5 years) and they have a memory to provide critical information should there be an incident. They retail for $190, and I sell them for, $130. Call 802-867-5739.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide is a critical threat in every home. It is a clear, odorless gas produced by combustion. It is produced by burning wood, wood pellets, propane, oil, and any other carbon based fuel. Sources found in homes include, boilers, furnaces, ovens, pizza ovens, Russian stoves and vehicles running in the garage or outside the house.

A story with a happy ending: One family called me because they thought they had mold in their basement. For the two years they had owned the house, they had been sick during the winter: headaches, flu-like symptoms. They had Carbon Monoxide poisoning! The problem related to operation of a wood burning appliance. They changed how they operated it and now they are well. They bought a low level Carbon Monoxide monitor to keep watch over their house.

Which CO Monitor? Most monitors available at hardware stores will not signal a problem until CO levels are above 70 ppm for two hours, which is what the UL code calls for (visit http//www.coexperts.com for more info). All sensors, regardless of CO monitor model, do not last longer than 5 or 6 years. Once past that age, the test button will often make the buzzer sound, even though the sensor is dead. To protect yourself from low level CO exposure, like the people above, make sure to use a monitor that will detect CO down to 10 ppm The ones I carry have a battery that lasts the life of the sensor (5.5 years), has a display and a memory, and has a test button that tests the sensor (not just the buzzer.) I carry these at $120 each. They retail at $189. This is a critical item.