Hearthlist Digest #221 - Wednesday, November 4, 1998
 
Room vented
  by "John Gulland" <[email protected]>
 

(back)
Subject: Room vented
From: "John Gulland" <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:12:55 -0500 (EST)
 
I subscribe to an indoor air quality email list and currently one of the hot
threads is on room vented gas heaters.  Since there has been a recent thread
here on the issue, I thought some of you might be interested in the post below
by Jim White of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).  I probably
don't have to tell you that Jim is not the gas industry's favorite building
scientist.  FYI, room vented heaters are either not permitted or severely
restricted in all Canadian jurisdictions.
Regards,
John
========================
   Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 09:01:38 -0500
   From: "Jim H White" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Vent-Free Gas Heaters
 
Judy
I have read the final rule that you sent in a following posting and
continue to be dismayed at the actions of both the gas industry and the
regulators in the states who allow use of these appliances. Researchers at
CMHC have studied spillage of combustion gases from vented appliances for
years. We consider that spillage is unacceptable, as others are coming to
believe, so the move to unvented combustion appliances fills us with much
sorrow.
 
By using an unvented combustion appliance indoors we are, in effect,
turning our houses into chimneys and are living in a chimney, not a house.
As cavemen we left caves to get out of the smoke (and away from the mold)
but here we are returning to an environment where (less dangerous, perhaps)
combustion products are a normal part of the indoor environment and mold
will become more common. This makes no sense, just as the use of unvented
gas ranges and kerosene heaters make no sense. Surely we have not devolved
to such a point that we accept living in a chimney as an acceptable way of
life.
 
Three points:
 
1. Every state should use the wording "If you chose to use this product
your house will become a chimney and you will be living in a chimney, in
air filled with combustion gases."
2. The amount of moisture generated by burning gas indoors could be
sufficient to cause serious moisture problems in some houses, with a high
attendant health risk. It is highly likely that more people will be made
sick by mold and dust mites, plus increased insect infestations due to
dampness, than by carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide problem is a serious
one, but the moisture ones will likely be worse.
3. All states allowing use of this product should institute special laws
and taxes that are used to make the seller & manufacturer specifically
liable for moisture damage and increased health care costs that could be in
any way attributable to the use of the product. Part of the funds should be
used to initiate studies of the health of users, and part to fund groups
choosing to sue the sellers/manufacturers for damages.
 
Surely if use of the product is allowed, the responsibility for problems
due to its use should be specifically charged to those responsible for
causing the problem, and that is not the user, who cannot understand all of
the ramifications on its use.
 
Jim H. White
CMHC National Office