5 Apr
2005
5 Apr
'05
3:08 p.m.
Not discounting fresh air but, the state does NOT require air exchangers in
all new homes. I hate to see erroneus info passed on without facts.
In the states infinite wisdom, they mandated tightly sealed houses as an
energy saving factor. Unfortunately, this backfired when people started
getting sick from all the allergens, moisture, and just plain bad air. To
fix? this, they now mandate a certain amount of airflow, or air exchange,
with an even tighter seal that helps control the air. This can be
accomplished by constant operation vent fans, or the expensive air
exchanger, neither of which will pull/exchange any more air than their rated
capacity.
Excessive moisture from hot tubs, showers, combustion, farting, etc. will
require additional ventilation. Opening the windows is the cheapest and
safest thing you can do in a newer home. Older homes are not as sensitive
since they're full of cracks and air leakage.
I think the state should have mandated efficiency in appliances, rather than
the shrink wrap vacuum seal method.
My .02
Mike Moranz
-----Original Message-----
From: mba-bounce(a)thebarn.com [mailto:mba-bounce@thebarn.com]On Behalf Of
allan.boyce(a)usbank.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 11:29 AM
To: mba(a)thebarn.com; mnbrewers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: Fw: Home brewing and carbon monoxide
From the Boreal Brewers email list....
----- Forwarded by Allan V Boyce/MN/USB on 04/05/2005 11:27 AM -----
"Mike Norden"
04/03/2005 09:47 PM
To
cc
Subject
Re: Home brewing and carbon monoxide
Carbon Monoxide is very common from household gas ranges although the
level is usually less from natural gas ranges. Any time you have a non
vented appliance you run a good risk of CO. We never want to see any CO
in a home, but it is not uncommon to see 5 PPM form people who smoke.
50 PPM is not good and you should be venting your home while you brew,
or any other long cooking session. Fresh air is always good in a home
and is one of the reasons the state of Minn. requires Air Exchangers in
all new homes. I have had one in my home since 1989 and would not live
in a home with out one (one of the good government requirements).
"Dilution is the solution to Pollution".
That being said, it is great
that you have a CO detector. Especially one with a digital readout
which will tell you the exact level in your home. 50 PPM is not that
uncommon and you can have 200 PPM for less than on hour, according to
OSHA, with no concern. The time weighted average for a worker with no
concern is 8 PPM over an 8 hour period. As you can see the levels of
concern are somewhat dependent on time and levels. CO builds up in the
system and takes many hours to be removed from the body. It also
affects children much worse than adults.
As with all "indoor air
quality" problems, ventilation is the best place to start. IAQ
according to the EPA and American Lung Association is one of the
greatest health concerns in America today. Both web sites are very
informative with tons of info. Mikey
Harvey & Frannie Tjader wrote:
I have a carbon monoxide detector in my dining
room. It reads "0" all
the time, except this morning while I was cooking up a batch of IPA,
when I noticed it read 56 ppm.
I brew on the kitchen gas range in a 20 quart kettle. My guess is
that the wide base of the kettle and the fact that the heat is turned
up to the max results in incomplete combustion.
I opened a few windows and turned on the exhaust fan over the range
and the detector reading went down into the high 30s to mid 40s. A
few minutes after I shut the heat off, the reading returned to zero.
I'm going to look for a way to raise the brewpot a bit higher from the
range top and see if that solves the problem.
A CO level of 50 is the highest permissible level for an adult to be
exposed to over an 8 hour period, according to OSHA.
Harvey
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