Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine November 2025

HVACR NewsMagazine November 2025

State National Chapter News

and the familiar snap disc limit located strategically at several points in the appliance. All are designed to keep the fuel and air flow coordinated. These steps are to simply keep the appliance safe and have little to do with efficient operation . Most fire deaths in the U.S. are the result CO poisoning. Burns are the consequence of an unconscious victim. Breaking down the cause of CO poisoning outside of residential fires is another matter entirely. Accidental equipment failure and improper use of auxiliary equipment are major secondary causes of poisoning. CO safety awareness in fall is important, as the chart below shows that heating equipment use is a leading factor in CO poisonings.

The Big Deal About Combustion Analyzers

Tom Turner, Air Evangelist

Every fall and winter, contractors and technicians hear the same words. Safety, carbon monoxide, and combustion. All the terms roll back to the first one, “ Safety” . A contractor's primary responsibility is to assure proper equipment operation during seasonal checkups. While there are general steps to take to ensure the environment around combustion appliances are conducive to proper operation, an analyzer is required if technicians are to truly tune for efficient operation and safety. Without a combustion analyzer you are wasting your customer’s time and money, pushing aside safety and liability. Finally, your service is substandard. In its infancy, gas furnaces had a two step safety to prevent fire. Step one was to make sure the blower came on as the heat exchanger temperature rose. And the second was to make sure the duct temperature did not exceed 250 degrees. Either a restable snap disc limit and or a fusible link would shut off low voltage gas supply. That was it. Today’s equipment is far superior to those installed in the early days of central heating systems with forced air. Electronic control module, timed ignition safety, roll out sensors, flame sensors, Safety

Figure 2: Estimated Number of Product-Related Carbon Monoxide Deaths by Month of Death 2007-2017

Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission