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How close have you come to burning your house?

jon f mn

jon f mn

Well-known Member
A couple people said they smelled propane in our house so last night I go to find the leak. Wasn't a leak anywhere but saw this on the furnace. The flame was coming out the front of the fire box. Called a friend in the furnace business and altho he was on a job he talked me through the process of cleaning it out. The exhaust was plugged with soot where it goes through some narrow passages. Got it cleaned and it works fine now, but we will be getting a new furnace since I won't trust this one again.
cvphoto4280.jpg


cvphoto4281.jpg


That's about as close as I want to come to burning down my house.
 
My natural gas furnace burned out the heat exchanger last winter and filled house with smoke. Luckily we were home. It was 25 yrs old and way overdue for replacement.
 
Was sleeping up stairs one night and woke up hearing something falling down the chimney. Went to the basement and opened the cleanout, was a mighty glow coming from inside. Had a chimney fire caused by the tile coming apart inside and restricting the exhaust. Saved the house and had to put a stove pipe in the chimney to use the furnace and stop using the wood stove. Landlord never said a thing.
 
To be safe, I would find out why the gas furnace is producing that much soot, and fix that problem too.

Sometimes soot is the result of not enough air supply to fully burn all the fuel, producing soot and carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide. As new houses are built tighter, it is harder for fresh air to get in, sometime starving furnaces and water heaters for combustion air. Things may seem fine when first checking a new furnace, but turn on a kitchen range hood, clothes dryer or a big bathroom fan and suddenly there isn't enough air supply left for the chimney to draft properly. The air pressure in some houses actually dropped enough that air was moving down the chimney when too many exhaust fans were running at the same time that the furnace was running.

One fix is to add a dedicated combustion air supply to the rooms with combustion furnaces and water heaters. That can also reduce drafts in the living quarters as less outside air is being sucked in through every door and window crack. A professional can measure the air pressure differences in your house and diagnose if there are any problems or not.
 
Air supply is a good idea. Also, is it possible that the furnace is jetted for natural gas instead of propane? That should obvious as it will allow too much propane and should make for an orange/red flame instead of the needed bright blue.
 
Sure glad you caught it !

Mom's house at times we could smell what was not sure if propane or a dead mouse ? This was mainly as you first walked into the breeze way. It is a step lower than the rest of the place. Took awhile to find. Found a leak in the pipe in the furnace room and one outside by the generator. She called the propane supplier. They found the outside one but not the inside one. Then later this year you could smell it at the tank. Took several trips from different propane guys to figure that out.
 
ss55, I agree, something is causing the chimney to back draft.

Simply replacing the furnace is not going to fix it.

Though a new furnace will have roll out protection (heat sensors that detect back draft), that is not going to solve the problem.

Choose your installer carefully, too many HVAC contractors put the quick and easy buck ahead of safety and problem solving! Get several opinions, listen carefully to what they say.
 
(quoted from post at 11:15:17 11/30/18) A couple people said they smelled propane in our house so last night I go to find the leak. Wasn't a leak anywhere but saw this on the furnace. The flame was coming out the front of the fire box. Called a friend in the furnace business and altho he was on a job he talked me through the process of cleaning it out. The exhaust was plugged with soot where it goes through some narrow passages. Got it cleaned and it works fine now, but we will be getting a new furnace since I won't trust this one again.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto4280.jpg">

<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto4281.jpg">

That's about as close as I want to come to burning down my house.
Click to expand...

Jon,

If a gas furnace plugs like that you have life safety issues.

Most likely a broken heat exchanger.

You should have good pro go thru that thing, It is most likely junk at this point.
 
(quoted from post at 13:35:31 11/30/18) ss55, I agree, something is causing the chimney to back draft.

Simply replacing the furnace is not going to fix it.

Though a new furnace will have roll out protection (heat sensors that detect back draft), that is not going to solve the problem.

Choose your installer carefully, too many HVAC contractors put the quick and easy buck ahead of safety and problem solving! Get several opinions, listen carefully to what they say.
Click to expand...

Steve,

Not always a draft issue, cracked heat ex, dirty burners, poor setup, lack of maintenance, etc.

Have even had frozen regulators putting out too much pressure.

Anything that upsets the burn can make them soot, especially if on LP.
 
Memory serves correct you recently purchased that home
in my town Massachusetts all house sales need to get inspection from local
fire dept, they may have seen the trouble but either way required CO2 detectors
every floor and smokes. glad you found it go safe.
 
I didn't know you could get that kind of soot from propane!
I have the exact same furnace in my shop. It was given to me, with a brand new heat exchanger, which had been warranteed. So maybe there was a problem with those original heat exchangers?
Propane boiler in my house was new in 1992. When checked four years ago, it was still just like new.
 
(quoted from post at 15:47:16 11/30/18) I didn't know you could get that kind of soot from propane!
I have the exact same furnace in my shop. It was given to me, with a brand new heat exchanger, which had been warranteed. So maybe there was a problem with those original heat exchangers?
Propane boiler in my house was new in 1992. When checked four years ago, it was still just like new.
Click to expand...

With proper maintenance LP does not soot but will soot quicker than natural when things go wrong.

I have been in the HVAC biz most of my career And carry an unlimited contractors license, you would not believe some of the stuff we see.
 
(quoted from post at 08:15:17 11/30/18) A couple people said they smelled propane in our house so last night I go to find the leak. Wasn't a leak anywhere but saw this on the furnace. The flame was coming out the front of the fire box. Called a friend in the furnace business and altho he was on a job he talked me through the process of cleaning it out. The exhaust was plugged with soot where it goes through some narrow passages. Got it cleaned and it works fine now, but we will be getting a new furnace since I won't trust this one again.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto4280.jpg">


That's about as close as I want to come to burning down my house.
Click to expand...

what's the story on the silver duct at the back of the unit which has tape over it?

Agree with all the others, there is something wrong with air flow, or gas nozzles. Propane and nat gas burn amazingly clean. They have to burn well and not produce significant free carbon deposits like that. Get someone who's got a cert in HVAC so they can do all the right baro pressure tests as it's installed, or when the new one is installed.
 
my backyard neighbor in Simi Valley actually did burn his whole house down, with the family inside. 3 adult smokers, and three kids under 12. By the time I woke up at ~1am, I couldn't get within 20 feet of the house it was so hot.
 
I was heating with wood had an airtite wood coal furnace. I would wake up in the morn with just coals left. I would throw a piece of dry cedar on top of coals and stack the rest oak and crack the damper a little. Well my sister was staying a while we went to church came home I went to feed the cows came in the house and hour later it sounded like a blast furnace. I go to the furnace all the damper and air are full open and it's glowing red. Sister said it was cold in house I said it was about to get really warm when the house burnt down.
 
I'm not sure on that duct, it went
outside at one point. I think they had
an outside wood heater and that was how
the warm air got into the furnace. It's
blocked off on both ends now.
 
New co2 and smoke detectors we're on the list of things to get. They are now on the list of things to pick up on the way home today.
 
That furnace looks pretty old...80s vintage perhaps, and no more than 80% efficient.
I'd do the same thing as you said and just replace it. Most new furnaces run 92-95% efficient, should notice a little drop in gas usage, but the peace of mind is worth more than anything.
 
Wife bought a huge box of candles at a garage sale for 50 cents . Those candles tried to light my house up a couple of times. No more candles . The thing could be on a plate and the base will melt off and float the lit wick onto the floor . Or I fell asleep on porch and tossed blanket onto lit candle. Don't let your kids light any candles [or wife] .Even the ones in the glass jars start fires.
 
My house in Mass has to have smoke detectors outside every bedroom and they have to be interconnected--also battery backup for the 110 volt circuit feeds
 
You may have come close to Carbon Monoxide poisoning as well.....good idea to replace the furnace...and get a detector, they are mandatory here.
Ben
 
I agree, and like centash mentioned get a carbon monoxide detector, I have had one for several years, good investment.
 
(quoted from post at 19:29:52 11/30/18)
(quoted from post at 16:14:08 11/30/18)
We were out on this just last month......


mvphoto27426.jpg


Total loss & some stuff nearby was smoldering.
Click to expand...

Yikes!!! :shock: :shock:

What caused that?
Click to expand...

We found a control wired wrong, it all started when the feed pump failed, safety did not stop the burner so it dry fired.
 
(quoted from post at 17:09:27 11/30/18) Got 2 companies coming out to give
estimates on a new furnace today.
Click to expand...

The price is exponentially higher with the higher the efficiency rating. It may take the life of the unit to see any real benefit in spending the extra $$.
Plus the more efficient it is, the more expensive it is to repair.
 
(quoted from post at 20:26:00 11/30/18) Don't ask, it's too embarrasing
Click to expand...

Well.......we did not make the mistake!!!!

We were called in to secure that boiler and start the back up boiler in the plant.
 
Jon, the God of Fire is haunting you!! First the smoke in your work 20, and now in your home.
You better get a big hammer and a sharp wooden stick and drive the stick through to chest of the demon.
Loren
 
You guys all make me glad to have an outside would furnace, no chimneys, fuels, or fire inside the house. Just the hot water pumped inside to the heat exchanger.
 
Glad everyone is ok jon. That s to close for comfort. Love seeing pics of the case equip. and the KINGDOM. RB
 
My son in law just went through this with his propane furnace/boiler with base board heat. He had problems last winter and had 3 different service people work on the furnace and it never operated right and was causing soot problems. I had a guy come out today to work on the furnace and he found the boiler sections were almost plugged with soot. All the previous furnace people that worked on it before never checked or cleaned the boiler sections, I know because I was there when they were.

Shop carefully
 

The first time we used our oil burning heating boiler we had a bad smell coming from the basement. I found it blowing exhaust and flame out the sight hole. My hvac guys said the heat exchanger was plugged badly and looked like it had never been cleaned, which fit with other lack of maintenance things we found on the property. Since this boiler appeared to be about as old as the house, we replaced it. Now it is cleaned completely every 3-4 years and serviced every year.
 

I’ve got a Lennox 96% furnace. It exhausts outside, thru a pvc pipe. It is that efficient, takes all the heat out of the combustion. I have the CO monitors up and downstairs.

I guess this is why your up at 0 god thirty?
 
I had a fire in the chimney one of the first days after I bought this place. I had not even moved in yet and not gotten used to the furnace. Just filled it with wood and left the house. When my father came a few hours later he could see flames rising from the chimney. There was a screwdriver lying on the channel from the furnace to the chimney and half of its plastic handle was melted away. I think we just removed the rest of the burning wood, checked the roof construction around the chimney, and just let it burn out.
 
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