[Greenbuilding] Question on tight house, carbon monoxide

[KTOT (g)]

The main source of ventilation in winter is me (and my dogs) going in and 
out multiple (I mean multiple) times a day. If I used the wood stove, that 
is connected to outside air but I have used the stove almost none at all as 
passive solar keeps the house incredibly warm, even on very cold days here 
in the mountains of the northern Rockies.

Is C3H8 the soup or the jams? (Sorry--had to ask that!)

Also to clarify the CO alarms are not going off. I don't let the CO get to 
that point. I forgot when the alarms go off, but it's at a higher number (50 
maybe? I'd have to check the booklet) after a certain period of time. The 
digital displays start showing numbers above zero at 30, at which point I 
open windows to vent the house.

-----Original Message----- 
From: RT
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 2:06 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Question on tight house, carbon monoxide

On Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:40:22 -0500, KTOT (g) <ktottotc at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a very tight home built last year in a winter climate.
>
> Every time I make soup or jams (or other canning which involves 
> sterilizing then heat processing the jars in boiling water), both of 
> which involve boiling liquid for multiple hours, my digital CO alarms 
> read above the safe levels so I end up opening doors, even on cold  winter 
> days and nights, to let the CO out.

First of all, it sounds like the ventilation strategy could use revising.

Are means in place to provide the necessary ventilation air changes to
ensure occupant health ?

On the matter of soups and jams and CO levels:

C3H8 + 5 O2 → 3 CO2 + 4 H2O + heat
propane + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water

is what happens when complete combustion of propane takes place


When there is insufficient oxygen available, incomplete combustion occurs:

2 C3H8 + 7 O2 → 2 CO2 + 2 CO + 2 C + 8 H2O + heat
Propane + Oxygen → Carbon dioxide + Carbon monoxide + Carbon + Water

Clearly then, there is incomplete combustion occuring if the CO alarms go
off and it is occurring because of an inadequate supply of oxygen... which
brings us back to my first question.

ie The long-time burning of propane consumes oxygen from the interior air.
If that interior air is not being replenished with fresh air ... well, you
know.





-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
(manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")

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