Residential Furnace ???? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

tonyvlx · 02-11-2008, 06:59 PM

My home/furnace is roughly 23 years old. I recently changed the motor in the furnace. Besides that everything is fine. I had a local HVAC pro come take a look at it.He did a test for carbon monoxide. He came up with a reading of
"2 parts per million". He suggested to get a new furnace. My ??? is is that carbon monoxide reading dangerous, thus having to spend the $$$ to get a new furnace installed. Or is it acceptale/safe level??? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

MechanicalDVR · 02-11-2008, 07:05 PM

Where was he getting that reading? Is there a return inlet close to the burner section of the furnace? No CO level is good but, there is usually a reason for it. Is there enough air to the furnace for combustion? At the age of the unit, it's about time to plan on replacement but, if you know it has a couple more years in it at least you can plan ahead.

neolitic · 02-11-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyvlx

My home/furnace is roughly 23 years old. I recently changed the motor in the furnace. Besides that everything is fine. I had a local HVAC pro come take a look at it.He did a test for carbon monoxide. He came up with a reading of
"2 parts per million". He suggested to get a new furnace. My ??? is is that carbon monoxide reading dangerous, thus having to spend the $$$ to get a new furnace installed. Or is it acceptale/safe level??? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

http://www.carbon-monoxide-poisoning...co-levels.html
It took me about 10 seconds to Google that.

Bet it took longer for you to post!

It's your family!

briandurussel · 02-11-2008, 07:11 PM

23 years old, it is time to invest in a new one man.
It is on its way out, I would guess that it has a standing pilot. That is 23 years of heating and cooling that heat exchanger, a good estimate for the life expectancy of a res. furnace is 10 - 15 years. All it takes is one good crack to develop when you are sleepin and that aint good. I do side work in Michigan, if your local I would be willing to look at the situation for you?

hf05 · 02-12-2008, 08:56 AM

2 ppm thats nothing if u smoke in your house you may get 10 ppm. electronic co detectors need regular calibration if that unit was taken outside it may read 2 ppm.those things should always be turned on outside so if its out a bit at least u know where to start.now if inside it shoots up over 50 ppm,then i'd start looking for a cause.that being said with the age of your unit it's probably time anyway

randomkiller · 02-12-2008, 09:06 AM

A good meter will just about log a fart at 2ppm, so that isn't a real issue. A furnace that's older than 20 is living on borrowed time, budget for a replacement now.

gregj · 02-12-2008, 03:52 PM

Whether or not you replace it at this time I would recomend that you get a good CO detector for your house. I bought one a number of years ago with a digital readout (ppm) and alarm that was quite reasonably priced. One less thing to worry about. I just saw one advertised that is combined with a gas detector that I need to investigate.