Carbon monoxide detector keeps beeping when furnace turns on

[AndrewR]

It's only ONE beep when the gas furnace turns on (been monitoring it for 30 min or so), and it doesn't beep again until the furnace shuts off and restarts. The "Move to Fresh Air" light is blinking but very faintly, almost invisibly if the lights are on.

I'm going to call maintenance here in a few minutes, but I'm curious if anyone else has run into a similar problem. One of our neighbors apparently did, but it's a little early to go ask them about it!

We're in a 2-story townhome.

 

[SLU MD]

You should immediately leave the building and call your maintenence people. CO poisoning is painless, odorless, and you wont realize it till your dead. You just kinda drift off and die. Dont take any chances with it.

 

[iamwiz82]

Is the battery fresh? That's the firs tthing to check.

 

[SVT Cobra]

hmmm your furnace might be releasing CO...

I doubt it though

check the battery and if you really have any doubts call the fire department (not the 911 number) and get them to come out and take a look...I would not trust someone from maintenance or my neaighbor with this type of thing

open your windows now btw!

 

[SVT Cobra]

seriosuly man now!

 

[herbs97]

and you wont realize it till your dead.



I don't think he will realize it then.

 

[Rapidskies]

Funny I have the same thing happen here and I just ignore it, I don't think half the poa;;;;oles knoww w/aht al;tjat........................................................................
.....................................................................

 

[sao123]

if you have any type of heat that is not pure electrical, your furnace is giving off Carbom Monoxide. Stop using it & have it serviced immediately

 

[mercanucaribe]

Isn't the furnace supposed to heat air, rather than blow its smoke and CO into your house?

 

[apoppin]

don't all flames give off CO2? Is your detector strictly for CO or also C02?

C0 is deadly; C02 is OK in small amounts up to arounf 5x the levels in the atmosphere.

 

[randomlinh]

hrm... should probably get a detector one of these days.

 

[NascarFool]

Get your furnace checked ASAP. Open two windows about 2 inches to allow fresh air to come into the house or turn the furnace off. How old and what brand is your furnace ?

EDIT
I highly recommend CO detectors. The best on the market is a NightHawk. In my professional opinion, the worst is First Alert.

 

[BD2003]

Am I the only one that thinks its funny that the CO alarm is going off, and the first thing he thinks is, "it must be broken"?

 

[Saint Nick]

you need to either change the batteries or have your furnace checked.

seriously. CO is colorless and odorless...and deadly.

 

[shopbruin]

there was a family in CA that was hospitalized for CO poisoning because of their heater that made the news maybe earlier this week or late last week. get it checked ASAP.

 

[AlienCraft]

The cracks in the manifold are cause ing incomplete combustion.
Call an HVAC guy to #1 clean the thing and #2 check for cracks. If it's newere model fix, if it's old.... replace heater.

Carbon Monoxide will kill your ass, do it now.

 

[montanafan]

My mom had this problem once. I remember we opened her windows a little, like some have suggested, until we could find out what was causing it. It had something to do with her having the return blocked. I'll ask her exactly what it was later today.

And guys, it's not that unusual to have these detectors give off the occasional odd beep. When they really do detect something though, you know it, they are LOUD and persistent.

 

[NascarFool]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
The cracks in the manifold are cause ing incomplete combustion.
Call an HVAC guy to #1 clean the thing and #2 check for cracks. If it's newere model fix, if it's old.... replace heater.

Carbon Monoxide will kill your ass, do it now.

Look for a cracked heat exchanger not manifold. If the manifold was cracked you would smell the odorant from natural gas.

 

[MasterAndCommander]

Originally posted by: NascarFool

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
The cracks in the manifold are cause ing incomplete combustion.
Call an HVAC guy to #1 clean the thing and #2 check for cracks. If it's newere model fix, if it's old.... replace heater.

Carbon Monoxide will kill your ass, do it now.

Look for a cracked heat exchanger not manifold. If the manifold was cracked you would smell the odorant from natural gas.

Great advice - happened to me a few years back...CO montior went off - had the furnace checked - lots of cracks - it was nearly 30 years old so it was time to replace it anyways.

 

[MX2]

Originally posted by: NascarFool


EDIT
I highly recommend CO detectors. The best on the market is a NightHawk. In my professional opinion, the worst is First Alert.

And how have you come to this conclusion?

 

[Ornery]

Does yours have an LED readout? If it does, you can get an idea how dangerous the situation really is. If you don't own one of those, I'd buy one. There may be a bird's nest, or dead animal in the chimney.

If your maintenance doesn't get there quick, tell him you're calling the fire department. They'll get you accurate readings, and try and track down the source. Not sure if they'll leave the owner a bill or not.

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: herbs97
and you wont realize it till your dead.



I don't think he will realize it then.

Get the exhaust pipe looked at,
you could have bird/squirrel nest blocking the vent/chimney etc.

 

[NascarFool]

Originally posted by: MX2times

Originally posted by: NascarFool


EDIT
I highly recommend CO detectors. The best on the market is a NightHawk. In my professional opinion, the worst is First Alert.

And how have you come to this conclusion?

Ummm . . . . maybe from being an HVAC tech for 15 years. NATE certified and EPA certified.

 

[MobiusPizza]

Originally posted by: NascarFool

Originally posted by: MX2times

Originally posted by: NascarFool


EDIT
I highly recommend CO detectors. The best on the market is a NightHawk. In my professional opinion, the worst is First Alert.

And how have you come to this conclusion?

Ummm . . . . maybe from being an HVAC tech for 15 years. NATE certified and EPA certified.

Nah the best detector is a live hamster. Put it in a cage near the furnace

 

[DrPizza]

You can easily diagnose the difference between a cracked exchange and exhaust (chimney) problems.

Using a lighter or candle or something with a small flame..
when the furnace kicks on, check to see that the vents that draw air into the flames are actually drawing air in. Where the furnace vents to the chimney, make sure it's also drawing your flame in, not blowing it outward away from the chimney. Basically, there will be a very slight breeze - you want to make sure it's going into the furnace and up the chimney, not the other way around.