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I love a fireplace


arogers

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THIS REALLY ISN'T NEW - I JUST NOTICED IT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED AND IT WAS FROM JANUARY 28TH. JUST A LITTLE DRAMA IN THE LIFE OF BILL AND ANN!!!

 

I've been enjoying our fireplace. I've had one complaint though. It seems like if it wasn't on "high" I could smell gas. I was told once that if you can smell gas when there is a fire everything is fine. The danger lies in a leak without odor. It's been quite cold, so I've lit the fireplace, turned the flame down and just let it go.

 

Friday afternoon our neighbor knocked on the door. He said he'd called the gas company because when he walked in their front door the odor of natural gas was so strong. They hadn't been burning their fireplace so he was real concerned. Of course our fireplace was burning, although the flame was low. When the technician came in to check our fireplace he discovered there was no leak - however, the carbon monoxide reading was 7 ppm - 8 pm......I guess that's high because he said that if it had been much higher we could go to sleep and not wake up.

 

Now, Bill had to go to the doctor Friday morning because of an ingrown toenail. When he came home he went to sleep in his LazyBoy in the living room and really slept ALL day. He was awake when the technician was there, but real groggy. I was thrilled (NOT REALLY) with the thought that I may have killed my husband because the fire logs are made so that they are not safe unless the flame is high.

 

Yesterday I went to the office to discuss my problem. I was thanked because as the leasing specialist said, they hadn't been educated at all about the fireplaces. The only education they'd received was about lighting the fireplace - that's it. I've got to admit, I didn't know there was a difference in logs (if the natural gas technician knows his stuff). I imagine there will be some sort of letter sent to the residents now about this danger, or they will check our fireplace to see why we had such a high carbon monoxide reading - why was there no ventilation?? And so, the fireplace I love is going to be a decoration now. When the fireplace is on high we can't breath, and if the flame is adjusted low - well, we might not breath permanently!!!

 

Now, if this is the biggest problem I have to face in 2007, life will be good.

6 Comments


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Guest lwisman

Posted

Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? It is the same idea as a smoke detector. If the carbon monoxide level is high it beeps.

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Wow Ann:

 

I am glad you published this entry, we do have gas fireplace but due to safety hazard never turned on, but now learnt another hazard, so it's going to be decoration in our house too..

Asha

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we have a gas fireplace and use it as a source of heat all the time. I think that you should have it checked by a fireplace company or some one else that knows something about gas fireplaces.. It seems to me there is not enough ventilation in the unit or there must be a gas leak somewhere in the house..I would get a gas inspector to come and look at it and also ask him why your carbon monoxide monitor registered so high...and maybe check your furnace if it is also gas.or any other appliances that may use gas...hope this helps... don't wait, gas leaks are dangerous...

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we have a gas fireplace and use it as a source of heat all the time. I think that you should have it checked by a fireplace company or some one else that knows something about gas fireplaces.. It seems to me there is not enough ventilation in the unit or there must be a gas leak somewhere in the house..I would get a gas inspector to come and look at it and also ask him why your carbon monoxide monitor registered so high...and maybe check your furnace if it is also gas.or any other appliances that may use gas...hope this helps... don't wait, gas leaks are dangerous...iIncidendly the logs are over the gas outlet and have nothing to do with the gas outlet... it is like a gas barbecue and then they put logs on it for decoration... maybe you have a different type but I don't think so????

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Thanks all for your replies. I agree that there is something going on with the fireplace - Since we rent our apartment it is really their responsibility to take care of these things. I've notified the office of course. I didn't buy the gas company's contention that it was the logs - it could have been alot of things! Maybe the overall construction of the property?? Things can look good without being top quality. The office did furnish us with a carbon monoxide detector. I'm sure they don't want any problems with residents getting sick - or passing away - due to the constructions of their units.

 

I would have thought that the fact that two other residents in the building right across from us called and compained of the same thing the same week-end we had the problem would have alerted them to a problem, but so far I haven't heard a thing - so the look of the fireplace is great and I guess I'll use it with a door open!

 

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sorry to be repeating this again,BUT,, it is very important to get this gas problem fixed.. If they the apt. owners of caretakers won't do any thing just refuse to pay the rent till you get a clean bill from and approved inspector that all is well in the fireplace and it tis safe to use it..

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