Indeed. Fire bad. In this specific case we're going to combust Methane ("Natural Gas") and when we do that we'll make either Carbon Dioxide, or, if there's not enough Oxygen for that reaction, Carbon Monoxide (in practice usually a mixture of both depending on how much Oxygen is available) and produce heat. Both gases are poisonous to humans, but Carbon Monoxide is more dangerous because humans have a built-in Carbon Dioxide level sensor as it is normal for some CO2 to be present - you breathe it out, if you are in a room with too much CO2 (so long as it's not far too much†) you will feel it's "stuffy" and try to open windows or go outside where you are no longer being poisoned. In the same level of Carbon Monoxide you just lose consciousness and likely never wake up.
Anyway, for a long time now we've known that we shouldn't poison ourselves and so we deliberately exhaust gases from burning methane to the outside environment where they'll mix with the air and - other than eventually destroying our climate - they're not a huge problem. But while the burner won't work if there's literally no air flow, it absolutely will continue to work if the air flow is partly blocked or the gases escape into the home rather than the outside air, and if you don't have alarms or don't notice the alarm you may die from the poisonous gases. It's not a terrible way to go, you get sleepy and then never wake up.
† If humans enter a room literally flooded with CO2 they are breathing toxic gas for too long before they sense the problem and will likely just lose consciousness, since they're in a room filled with toxic gas they then die. This happens if you use CO2 fire extinguishers indoors without proper breathing apparatus and training, or if a mistake leads to CO2 build-up in a closed space which is then entered by an unsuspecting human.
its not just that. carbon monoxide will bind to your blood the same way oxygen does, but it takes magnitudes more energy to unbind that oxygen. co2 doesn't do that.
In a closed room co2 can build enough to make you feel tired headaches etc.
The same amount of carbon monoxide in the room would just kill you
For example - our household has forced hot water heating through pipes to radiators in each room.
However - there is a "boiler" which heats that water - it runs on natural gas.
When we moved in, I installed some air quality sensors - and noticed high levels of carbon monoxide - I was concerned, and searched and searched - and finally found that at some point, a service technician must have needed to do some testing on the output exhaust levels, so they drilled a hole in the pipe that carries that to the exterior...
It had been leaking for years before we purchased the home...
> Born in 1930, he joined the marines in the late 1940s, and decided to study acting in the late 1950s. Hackman befriended Dustin Hoffman at the Pasadena Playhouse and the two were voted “the least likely to succeed”. With various bit parts on TV and stage under his belt, Hackman made his big screen debut opposite Warren Beatty in melodrama Lilith in 1964.
This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 42.9 ms ] threadAnyway, for a long time now we've known that we shouldn't poison ourselves and so we deliberately exhaust gases from burning methane to the outside environment where they'll mix with the air and - other than eventually destroying our climate - they're not a huge problem. But while the burner won't work if there's literally no air flow, it absolutely will continue to work if the air flow is partly blocked or the gases escape into the home rather than the outside air, and if you don't have alarms or don't notice the alarm you may die from the poisonous gases. It's not a terrible way to go, you get sleepy and then never wake up.
† If humans enter a room literally flooded with CO2 they are breathing toxic gas for too long before they sense the problem and will likely just lose consciousness, since they're in a room filled with toxic gas they then die. This happens if you use CO2 fire extinguishers indoors without proper breathing apparatus and training, or if a mistake leads to CO2 build-up in a closed space which is then entered by an unsuspecting human.
In a closed room co2 can build enough to make you feel tired headaches etc.
The same amount of carbon monoxide in the room would just kill you
However - there is a "boiler" which heats that water - it runs on natural gas.
When we moved in, I installed some air quality sensors - and noticed high levels of carbon monoxide - I was concerned, and searched and searched - and finally found that at some point, a service technician must have needed to do some testing on the output exhaust levels, so they drilled a hole in the pipe that carries that to the exterior...
It had been leaking for years before we purchased the home...
RIP for them all. A hell of a career.
-Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums
Apologies for impolite formating.
https://www.target.com/p/first-alert-2pk-co400cn2-battery-po...
This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
Maybe add the words "then get one" after "Detector"?
I'm mostly joking, but I can see a non-native-English speaker misunderstanding you