Accurate Home Inspection of Atlanta
Most forced hot air systems are fossil fueled.Most common used in residential homes are hot air forced system as a cabinet mounted furnace installed in attic,or basements,or crawlspace.Proper venting is very important in the fuels combustion process the by products are removed from the heat exchange area and in to the venting flue and out of the building enevolope.
There are WAY too many new codes coming up for trades people to
keep up with which is why you need an inspector that stays up to date
with code changes.
International Building Code,not the ICC, the International Code council,
which now says adding a air conditioning to a home without getting an
Electrician to install smoke detectors in each bedroom on each level of
the home.These smoke detectors must be hard wired and can't be battery
operated.
There are new codes coming regarding the venting of bathroom fans and clothes dryers.
Combustion air vents are required in your furnace room. Also many homes have had a
larger water heater installed or furnances and the flue connector was never upsized.
Any company that says these matters are not important are either mis informed or are
being less than truthful with you and will probably surprise you at the end of their
job with an additional bill.
I'm writing this to inform the consuner. A household furnace is major appliance that
is permanently installed to provide heat to an interior space through intermediary fluid
movement, which may be air, steam, or hot water. The most common in the United States
is natural gas.If you have a furnance change out it would be of little cost to assure
the installation meets standard international residential code standards.
As a inspector see so many very dangerous venting concerns to many times to count that
could save lives with proper inspections.
A cracked heat exchanger in your furnace can make you sick or can prove deadly! Headache,
sinus problems, dizziness or sick feeling could be signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Todays code requires homes being built with tightly sealed windows and doors,
cutting the amount of air to fired water heaters, fireplaces, ranges and gas furnaces.
Also, bathroom fans that are required remove's air from the home.A fireplace running and
a water heater operating as normal to keep it's temperature up the home has exhausted it's
supply of air which is available to these appliances!When this happens the home is in a
negative pressure situation.This means the flue pipe that is attached to the fireplace, furnace
and water heater begin to pull fresh air DOWN the flue pipe to supply air for combustion.This
may cause carbon monoxide to spills out of the draft hood and into the home.A fireplace which
burns wood it releases carbon monoxide could be filling the room. With fireplace burning gas
you will never know since carbon monoxide is odorless. The same thing can be
happening to your furnace, water heater and any combustible fuel burning appliance.A duct
should be run into the fireplace itself from out doors to supply it with air for combustion.
They are not selling you anything and are only there to protect the public.
Other agencies to call would be your gas or oil supplier, and the E.P.A.
Dirty burners in a gas furnace or improper operation of an oil furnace result in high fuel
bills and create carbon monoxide which is an odorless, deadly gas. This can cause carbon monoxide
poisoning, which many people shrug off as symptoms of the flu.Some people close
their indoor rooms thus cutting how much air is being supplied to the furnace or water
heater burners! This whole problem can be solved by having adeqaute 3/4 inch clearance on doors
to allow air flow from disruption.
