Holiday Tragedy of '03

Merry Christmas and happy Solstice everyone! The days are getting longer, now! In the spirit of the holidays and the ghosts of Christmas past, I was hoping I could use this opportunity to raise awareness about America's number one poison-induced death--Carbon Monoxide. "Why now?" you ask, "Why bring attention to such a stupid/boring topic?"

 

Well, it's because I love you...and because the holidays usually means guests, and that means doors opening and closing, lots of showers running, loads of laundry, and lots of people cooking on stove-tops, ovens, and fireplaces-- all changing the pressure balance of the home. Simply put, it's a recipe for a ventilation disaster! If you're not fascinated by carbon monoxide, then just scroll down to the pictures of my Christmas breakfast. But if you care about indoor air quality and home performance, then read on and learn a bit about combustion safety. 

Back in 2003, the city of Chicago ran a huge campaign to get home's equipped with carbon monoxide detectors. It was a new technology and the manufacturers' standards weren't very established yet. So, when the holidays rolled around and folks spent their whole day in the kitchen cooking turkey with un-vented stoves, everybody's carbon monoxide alarms went off and everyone called 9-1-1 and EVERYBODY lived-- fortunate for the survivors... but unfortunate for us, because of our current CO-detection thresholds.

You've probably heard me say, "there is no such thing as a home that is too tight; but there is such a thing as in improperly ventilated home." Improperly ventilated homes and their appliances can cause super-serious health issues, not to mention energy performance problems. Carbon monoxide, or CO, is an odorless, tasteless bi-product of burning carbon-based fuel with insufficient oxygen. Normally, hemoglobin in the bloodstream transports oxygen to the cells of the body, but if one breathes in CO, it forms an even stronger bond with hemoglobin, and so oxygen doesn't get to the cells. Worst case scenario is you suffocate and die before you realize what's happening. It's no wonder they call it the silent killer. But few people realize that even small amounts of CO in the home can cause chronic head aches, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, and a whole host of unpleasant health problems. Of the 200+ homes that I energy audited this year, about 3 had very dangerous CO levels when their homes were in a "worst-case-pressure" situation-- a realistic scenario during a busy day at the home.

Today, Carbon Monoxide detectors are designed to alarm at ~70 ppm (parts per million), way before death would be caused. However, they were also redesigned with the help of aggressive lobbying from over-loaded emergency responders so that they do NOT alarm below ~30 ppm. But non-zero ambient CO levels in homes are quite common and so low dose exposure over many hours can cause extensive health problems...and did I mention intergalactic diarrhea? 

The moral of the story is-- get yourself a carbon monoxide detector for 2011.  Then eat your persimmons in comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

Persimmons were on super sale this week and they are my FAVORITE food in the whole wide world. Thanks Santa. They'll be gone tomorrow for a 1400 calorie breakfast after a nice run in the snow.