[Greenbuilding] Question on tight house, carbon monoxide

[George J. Nesbitt]

     Congratulations on having CO detectors and paying attention to 
them. They are now code (even in existing homes here in CA).
     All fuel burning appliances should be vented to the outside. The 
mechanical now requires kitchen exhaust hoods (or continuous fan). In 
the old days ovens could be vented with a pipe to the outside, but now 
they vent to the stovetop. You installed a recirculating fan, which may 
remove some smoke / grease with the filter(s), it will not remove moisture.
     As you have learned you have a potentially dangerous situation. And 
CO detectors only last so long, so you don't want to rely on them alone. 
You need to vent the stove / oven to the outside by installing a fan in 
a wall, or through the ceiling. You can also open up windows, but in 
winter you loose a lot of heat, especially if you can't isolate the 
kitchen. You need to get the moisture out as much as the CO, before you 
rot out the house.
     You have not said if you have a HRV/ERV in the house.
     It's interesting that you don't get CO when you use the oven. 
Having tested hundreds I can tell you they are usually worse than the 
stovetop burners. Your burners probably need cleaning & adjustment using 
a CO detector as a guide, color is not always the best guide.



On 2/17/2012 1:31 PM, KTOT (g) wrote:
> Hmmm, sounds good that 1) I don't fry and 2) I bought an inexpensive 
> vent, figuring I'd rarely use it so why pay a lot for an 
> energy-efficient one? That said, this one draws very little power, 
> fortunately. I do think it helps take moisture out, however, as 
> without it my windows do fog up.
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Anne Judge
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 2:11 PM
> To: Green Building
> Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Question on tight house, carbon monoxide
>
>> On Feb 17, 2012, at 2:23 PM, Reuben Deumling wrote:
>>> I've never understood the purpose of those vent hood fans that have 
>>> no provision to connect to the outside?
>>
>> As far as I can tell, they're supposed to suck in & filter out the 
>> flying grease from your frying pan. . .
>> Anne
>
> On Feb 17, 2012, at 3:54 PM, KTOT (g) wrote:
>
>> In which case I'm accomplishing nothing by using it when boiling 
>> liquids? Since I don't ever fry, that use isn't relevant to me. Being 
>> 100% off-grid, I'd prefer saving the electricity and not using it if 
>> I'm accomplishing nothing with it.
>
> I can't think of anything it would do then. It does just seem a waste 
> of energy.  Does anyone else know of a reason to keep it on?
>
> The ones I've dealt with aren't even that useful for grease - the fans 
> appear too weak & don't suck in the exhaust, so every time I fry meat 
> I end up with droplets of grease all over my stove - and me (as I can 
> tell from my glasses).
>
> Anne
>
>
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-- 
George J. Nesbitt, Environmental Design / Build, Building Performance 
Contractor HERS I Verifier & HERS II Rater, GreenPoint Rater new & 
existing SF & MF, CABEC CEPE (Certified Energy Plans Examiner), 
Certified Passive House Consultant, BPI Multifamily Analyst, 
www.houseisasystem.com, (510) 655-8532 office, (510) 599-5708 mobile