The safety of you, and yours, is our first priority
An unsafe condition is that which, if left to continue, may lead to property damage, injury or death. And pursuant to Gas Safety Regulations 54(1) our Gas Fitter Contractor is obligated to place the equipment out of service until repaired or replaced to safeguard property damage, injury or death of you and yours.
Gas Leaks are one of the most common issues our contractors find and if serious enough may lead to the shut down of your appliance until repaired.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, tasteless, invisible gas that is produced by burning fuels such as: propane, natural gas, oil, wood, charcoal, alcohol, kerosene, or gasoline — all of which are commonly used in your home, RV, boat, or business.
Exposure to carbon monoxide can be deadly. Carbon monoxide interferes with the body’s ability to absorb oxygen, which can lead to serious illness, severe side effects, or death.
To buy a Home Carbon Monoxide detector click here
As carbon monoxide builds up in the bloodstream, symptoms change and will magnify. Look out for:
Metal fatigue of a furnaces heat exchanger is the most common cause that leads to cracks or holes forming which allows products of combustion (Carbon Monoxide) to leak from the heat exchanger and enter the air being blown into your home by the furnace blower. There are many other ways Carbon Monoxide from gas appliances can entre the home, such as poor seals or broken glass on gas fireplace doors, disconnected, blocked or rotten exhaust flu’s, blocked heat exchanger etc…
For indoor settings, the acceptable level of carbon monoxide is stated by WHO (World Heath Organization) which recommends 9-10ppm (ppm = “parts per million”) for no more than 8 hours, and 25-35ppm for no more than 1 hour and 90-100 ppm for no more than 15 minutes.
Technical Safety BC recommends “annual appliance inspections” and for good reason.
Checking for Carbon Monoxide is one of the key points in ProGas and Heating’s Services safety inspection and can not be understated. If our contractor has found carbon monoxide in your home, he may have turned your appliance off pursuant to sec xx of the Gas Safety Regulations (The Act), because your appliance is in an “unsafe condition” until repaired or replace.
You can get a free 2nd opinion of our contractors findings by contacting Technical Safety BC 1 866 566 7233 and ask for a safety officer to check things out.
When your furnace is well-maintained and working properly, it doesn’t pose any safety risks to your home. However, if your furnace is poorly maintained, experiencing operational problems, or reaching the end of its operating life, it can encounter some safety issues that can be of serious concern.
When your furnace is turned on, its burners emit steady flames that are supposed to be confined inside of your system’s combustion chamber. Under certain conditions, inflammable combustion gases can build up inside the combustion chamber and starve the flames of oxygen. When this happens, the flames grow larger and larger in an attempt to receive oxygen, eventually causing the flames to “roll out” of the confines of the combustion chamber.
You can detect a furnace flame rollout if you notice signs of blackening or a general discoloration on the exterior of your furnace’s combustion chamber (generally at the front of the appliance) or other nearby parts. You might also be able to see the rollout occurring if you inspect your system at the right moment.
What causes a furnace flame rollout?
As we mentioned above, flame rollouts occur when inflammable combustion gases build up inside of the combustion chamber. This can happen for several reasons:
Why is flame rollout so dangerous?
When flames are rolling out of your furnace’s combustion chamber, they will heat the temperature around parts of your furnace which are not designed to handle such high temperatures. This will not only damage some of your furnace’s components, but also possibly cause something nearby to catch fire.
In addition, flame rollout might be an indication that your heat exchanger is cracked, which would suggest carbon monoxide is getting into your home’s air.
How can you protect your furnace from flame rollout?
Your furnace has a safety device that is designed to detect flame rollout. It’s called a flame rollout switch, and it cuts off the
gas supply to your furnace when it detects higher temperatures than normal outside the combustion chamber. The best way to ensure that this device is working properly, and to prevent flame rollout in the first place, schedule a tune-up every year so that we can look for signs of rollout and take care of issues before your system becomes a safety hazard.
If your heating system is producing loud and explosive sounds, it’s a natural cause for concern.
Here is some important information about furnace delayed ignition and whether you should reach out to a heating contractor in Riverside to take a look at your heating system.
When excessive gas builds up in the combustion chamber of your furnace, the delayed ignition will cause a small explosion. This results in a loud bang or boom that can be startling for homeowners. A similar sound can also be caused by expanding and contracting ducts.
You are most likely to notice a delayed ignition when you turn on your furnace, especially if you haven’t used it for a while. This is why delayed ignition usually happens in the fall or late spring when you don’t use it every day.
But why does it happen? In general, furnaces experience delayed ignition because a build-up of corrosion, dust, or sulfur blocks gas-feeding ports and prevents the burners from lighting properly. Here’s how it happens:
Moisture buildup
Over a period of furnace inactivity, moisture tends to build up inside your system, corroding its firebox over time. If the moisture-caused corrosion builds up enough, it can block the ports feeding gas into the furnace burners. If this happens, the burners won’t be able to ignite immediately after you turn the furnace on.
Dust and lint
While moisture and rust are one of the most common causes of delayed ignition in furnaces, dust and lint can also accumulate and cause problems. This can be easily remedied by having your furnace inspected and cleaned by professionals before each heating season.
Sulfur buildup
Your furnace can also experience delayed ignition due to a sulfur build up caused by burning natural gas. If your burners or pilot light are covered in a white layer, you may be dealing with built up sulfur.
Electronic ignition problems
If your furnace has an electronic ignition system, the delayed ignition may be caused by built up combustion gas in the chamber. While your furnace is most likely equipped with a safety mechanism to prevent this, the igniter may not come on promptly and shut off the flow of the gas, causing build-up. If this is the case, you’ll probably have to have the igniter replaced in order to ensure the proper functioning of your furnace.
A delayed ignition does not just sound like an explosion, it is one. If you choose to ignore these small gas combustions, it may become quite dangerous.
It may cause damage to your furnace
Unless properly addressed, the delayed ignition explosions are likely to get larger over time. The greater the vibrations are, the higher the chance of the stack pipe getting loose and soot ending up all over your home.
The excess flames caused by delayed ignition can also crack the heat exchanger, one of the most expensive components of your furnace. When this happens, most homeowners choose to replace the furnace instead of replacing the heat exchanger as the latter option is cost-prohibitive and the installation process may result in carbon monoxide leaks.
It may become a safety hazard
Constant gas build-ups in your furnace’s combustion chambers can not only damage your furnace, but may also let the flames out of the chamber and cause a fire. However, modern furnaces are built with mechanisms that uphold high safety standards. Essentially, the risk of explosions and fires will be slim if you properly and regularly maintain your furnace.
Luckily, preventing delayed ignition is not difficult. All it takes is to have a ProGas and Heating Services experienced HVAC technician inspect and clean your gas furnace before each heating season, typically in the fall. This will prevent corrosion and dirt from accumulating inside of your furnace and minimize the risks of gas build-up. Here’s how professionals will clean your gas furnace:
A furnace limit switch is a component of a forced-air furnace that is responsible for turning on the furnace blower once the desired heat has been met inside the furnace. Without a functioning furnace limit switch, a furnace would not be able to regulate the temperature in conjunction with a thermostat. Typically, a furnace limit switch consists of an exterior plate and a temperature probe that lives inside the furnace housing.
When the heat is turned on or up, a signal is sent from the thermostat to the furnace, turning on the unit. Once the furnace heats up, the furnace limit switch closes, connecting the circuit and turning on the blowers. Once the home or business reaches the desired temperature, the furnace burners will shut off—but the blower will keep running until the temperature inside the furnace decreases to the lower limit (the coolest air temperature permitted as set by the thermostat).
Depending on the air temperature inside the home, the unit will cycle and re-start or stay off for an extended period. The furnace high limit switch helps to increase furnace efficiency.
As the home cools, the thermostat sends a signal back to the furnace to kick on, initiating the cycle once more.
A furnace limit switch isn’t just important to the cycling of your furnace it also will shut off the furnace blowers and burners if the unit overheats. An overheated furnace is a safety risk that can lead to serious furnace damage.
It’s important for homeowners to know that furnace overheating most often occurs when the blower fan malfunctions and fails to operate, or when a furnace filter is excessively dirty, causing the unit to strain and overwork. Homeowners should not rely on their furnace limit switch to prevent damage and overheating but instead should take an active role in maintaining their HVAC system with regular furnace maintenance including air filter replacement.
Technical Safety BC 1 866 566 7233
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