How bad is my gas stove?
carbonswitch.co
How bad is my gas stove?
1–10 of 541 posts
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#2So the gas stove wasn’t causing elevated NO2 levels, but rather the furnace was? I’m confused as to what the conclusion is. Gas stoves ok, but furnaces not?
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#3Newer building codes require a separate air supply for gas stoves as well as venting outside.
With a high efficiency furnace the combustion air comes from outside and is directly vented outside.
That leaves water heaters which are vented either up the chimney (mostly these days with a liner) or a forced air vent.
A mid or low efficiency furnace vented to a chimney without a liner could well result in combustion products leaking through the chimney into the house.
Heat exchanger leaks could also be a factor, but usually the duct space is higher pressure than the vent which has the chimney draft. Leakage can still happen before the draft develops after ignition.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#4If anyone is worried about combustion byproducts in their living space, I highly recommend looking into upgrading your furnace and hot water heater to direct vent models. Both appliances have sealed combustion chambers, and there are two pipes coming down from the roof that supply air in, and two pipes that vent exhaust gasses out.
I did this because I live in a converted industrial loft, so my furnace and hot water heater are essentially in the same space as my bed, and having open flames in the same space seemed risky.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#5I'm curious what improvement, if any, is seen from using the fan on the range hood while using the gas stove/oven. Since I heard about this issue, I've been using it every time I use the stove or oven, and it does make a different to the subjective gas smell around the house, but I don't know if it impacts actual NO2 levels.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#6Newer building codes require a separate air supply for gas stoves as well as venting outside. With a high efficiency furnace the combustion air comes from outside and is directly vented outside. That leaves water heaters which are vented either up the chimney (mostly these days with a liner) or a forced air vent. A mid or low efficiency furnace vented to a chimney without a liner could well result in combustion produ…
The newest building codes (in New York, Seattle, and a few other places) simply ban gas hookups. You don't want that NO2 outside in a dense city, either.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#7I'm curious what improvement, if any, is seen from using the fan on the range hood while using the gas stove/oven. Since I heard about this issue, I've been using it every time I use the stove or oven, and it does make a different to the subjective gas smell around the house, but I don't know if it impacts actual NO2 levels.
I agree, a discussion of ventilation seems like a critical omission from the article. Do vent hoods help, and to what degree? Is installing more effective / higher CFM hoods a productive avenue to explore, vs replacing the whole stove? What about the impact of air purifiers? Or opening a window? I hope these things are covered in part three.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#8So the gas stove wasn’t causing elevated NO2 levels, but rather the furnace was? I’m confused as to what the conclusion is. Gas stoves ok, but furnaces not?
I'm confused about the source of the NO2 product. From trace amounts of nitrogen compounds (NO2 and N2O) in natural gas? What conflates the trace amounts to dangerous concentrations?
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#9A truck hit a pole near our house and we lost power overnight. It was running 2 burners with water on our gas stove all night long that kept our house from freezing, as it was 15 degrees F outside and 49 degrees inside. (Old house, no real insulation)
I was glad to have it as a backup plan.
Re: How bad is my gas stove?
#10So the gas stove wasn’t causing elevated NO2 levels, but rather the furnace was? I’m confused as to what the conclusion is. Gas stoves ok, but furnaces not?
I'm confused about the source of the NO2 product. From trace amounts of nitrogen compounds (NO2 and N2O) in natural gas? What conflates the trace amounts to dangerous concentrations?
NOx are formed from the atmospheric air during the combustion.