Yes. A furnace that burns gas or propane can put out carbon monoxide, and you cannot see it or smell it. If an alarm goes off, or if anyone feels sick, get everyone outside into fresh air and call 911 from outside. Do not go back in until emergency responders tell you it is safe.
Inside your furnace, a part called the heat exchanger keeps the burning gas on one side and the air that heats your home on the other. As long as that wall is solid, the fumes go up the vent and out of the house. Carbon monoxide trouble starts when that separation, or the venting that carries the fumes out, stops working right.
A cracked heat exchanger can let fumes slip into the air you breathe. You cannot judge that by eyeballing the flame or taking one reading, which is exactly why it takes a proper inspection to know for sure.
Venting matters just as much. A blocked, rusted or loose vent pipe can trap fumes inside. And the furnace is not always the source. A water heater, another gas appliance, or a car left running in an attached garage can all give off carbon monoxide too.
Do not wait for a particular symptom pattern or for everyone to feel ill. A CO alarm or suspected exposure calls for fresh air and an emergency call from outside. A quiet alarm does not prove the building is safe.
Leave immediately for fresh air if an alarm sounds or exposure is suspected. Help others leave only as you can do safely. Do not stay inside to investigate or operate the furnace.
Call 911 from outside and explain the alarm or suspected exposure. Follow the emergency responders instructions. A contractor call does not replace the emergency response.
Stay outside until emergency responders say you may return. Do not re-enter to open windows, collect belongings or turn equipment off.
Keep affected equipment out of service until it has been assessed and cleared by qualified professionals. Permission to enter the building is not necessarily permission to restart the furnace.
You cannot tell a heat exchanger is safe just by looking at the flame. Some of it is tucked out of sight, so the way we inspect it depends on the furnace and what we suspect is wrong.
A real check combines a careful look, the manufacturer's procedures, and actual carbon monoxide readings, done only when it is safe to run the furnace. No single tool catches everything, so we work through it properly rather than guessing.
Ask us what we checked, how, and what the limits were before the furnace goes back into use. We assess gas and propane furnaces. Oil furnaces stay with your oil provider. And being cleared to walk back into the house does not mean the furnace is cleared to run, those are two different things.
A working carbon monoxide alarm is the one thing that warns you when you cannot see or smell the danger yourself. Put one on every level of the home, including the basement, and one near each sleeping area so it will wake you. Keep them a little away from the furnace itself rather than right on top of it, since normal startup can set a too-close alarm off and tempt someone to move it.
Test each alarm about once a month with the test button, change the batteries when the clocks change if yours are not sealed, and replace the whole unit roughly every seven to ten years, because the sensor wears out even when the light still blinks. If an alarm ever sounds for real, treat it as the emergency it is: get outside and call 911 from outside.
No. Get outside first and call 911 from there. This is an emergency, and that comes before calling us. We handle the furnace afterward, once everyone is safe.
No. Wait until the fire department or emergency crew tells you it is safe. An alarm going quiet does not mean the air cleared, and carbon monoxide gives you no warning.
No. Appropriate professional inspection and testing are needed. Do not open the furnace to investigate.
Keep affected equipment off until qualified professionals clear it for use. Mora Heating & Air assesses residential natural-gas and propane furnaces. Your oil provider handles all oil-furnace assessment and service.
Not always, and not always at a level an alarm catches right away, which is exactly why you cannot judge it by feel. A crack can leak only when the metal heats up and flexes. That is why a suspected crack gets a proper inspection and testing, not a wait-and-see.
A careful look at the heat exchanger and the burners, a check of the venting, and actual carbon monoxide readings taken only when it is safe to run the furnace. No single step catches everything, so we work through it properly and tell you what we checked and what the limits were.
For an active or suspected carbon monoxide emergency, leave for fresh air and call 911 from outside. After emergency responders clear the home, contact us about checking the heating equipment.
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