Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#1

Post by mkeespiet » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 7:48 PM UTC

He there!

During evenings we burn quit some candles in our living room. Our house is well isolated (we have a heat pump for heating our house), so we have to ventilate a lot. During evenings we notice we got sleepy very early in the evening. When we go to bed we stay awake for quit some time. This made me wonder if there was a coloration with the candles and us feeling sleepy early, so I bought a CO2 meter.

After a few test it became clear that after burning the candles for like 1,5 hours the CO2 level was already 2 to 3 times higher than before the candles burned.

Maybe an open door: if you burn a lot of candles or are with a lot of people in a smaller room, don’t forgot to ventilate! This will make you stay awake longer!

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#2

Post by mindcrime » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 7:52 PM UTC

If you do anything that involves having an open flame indoors (and I'm including the flame inside a gas / propane fueled furnace, water-heater, etc., or a gas stove) you should have one or more CO alarms in your home as well. CO2 has its own issues, but CO is a very powerful asphyxiant and can very easily be deadly.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#3

Post by throwawaynay » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 7:53 PM UTC

not an expert, but isn't the sleepiness part the least of your problems in that situation?

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#4

Post by mkeespiet » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 7:57 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #2

If you do anything that involves having an open flame indoors (and I'm including the flame inside a gas / propane fueled furnace, water-heater, etc., or a gas stove) you should have one or more CO alarms in your home as well. CO2 has its own issues, but CO is a very powerful asphyxiant and can very easily be deadly. https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

Can come CO from candles as well? We do not have any flames inside as we cook with induction, we only use candles as indoor flames. Nice fact: Here in the Netherlands a fire alarm will be obligated starting from this summer

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#5

Post by mindcrime » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:01 PM UTC

mkeespiet wrote: post #4

mindcrime wrote: post #2

If you do anything that involves having an open flame indoors (and I'm including the flame inside a gas / propane fueled furnace, water-heater, etc., or a gas stove) you should have one or more CO alarms in your home as well. CO2 has its own issues, but CO is a very powerful asphyxiant and can very easily be deadly. https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

Can come CO from candles as well? We do not have any flames inside as we cook with induction, we only use candles as indoor flames. Nice fact: Here in the Netherlands a fire alarm will be obligated starting from this summer

Yes, any combustion will produce CO as a byproduct. Candles, fireplace, kerosene heater, the aforementioned water-heater, furnace, etc. And Carbon Monoxide is particularly deadly because it's a "chemical asphyxiant" meaning it binds more readily with the hemoglobin in your blood than Oxygen does.

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#6

Post by ksaj » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:32 PM UTC

throwawaynay wrote: post #3

not an expert, but isn't the sleepiness part the least of your problems in that situation?

If its because of carbon monoxide building up in the room, it's a pretty big problem.

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#7

Post by treeman79 » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:34 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #2

If you do anything that involves having an open flame indoors (and I'm including the flame inside a gas / propane fueled furnace, water-heater, etc., or a gas stove) you should have one or more CO alarms in your home as well. CO2 has its own issues, but CO is a very powerful asphyxiant and can very easily be deadly. https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

Get one that shows actual value.

We had one a new one that just beeps when high. Except it didn’t. Delayed medical treatment for months since it never went off.

Gas company guy showed us how high levels in house was and the alarm was silent. Even with fresh batteries.

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#8

Post by Yerui » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:35 PM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#9

Post by treeman79 » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:36 PM UTC

throwawaynay wrote: post #3

not an expert, but isn't the sleepiness part the least of your problems in that situation?

IQ drops a lot with Carbon monoxide.

Perfectly obvious stuff like “I’m being poisoned”, doesn’t occur to you.

Re: Tell HN: Candles can make you feel tired

#10

Post by benjamir » Thu, Feb 17, 2022, 8:51 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #2

If you do anything that involves having an open flame indoors (and I'm including the flame inside a gas / propane fueled furnace, water-heater, etc., or a gas stove) you should have one or more CO alarms in your home as well. CO2 has its own issues, but CO is a very powerful asphyxiant and can very easily be deadly. https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

I recently bought one of the best CO_2 meters available here (and had a CO alarm since before that): the low temperature boiler (natural gas, 1991) in our kitchen contributes close to nothing to the CO_2 level despite getting its air from inside. Letting it run on automatic a whole workday contributes less than 200ppm in our flat. But an adult and two kids can bring the level from below 500ppm to above 1000ppm in around one hour -- additionally: doesn't really matter if the doors to other rooms are open or not. Ppm fluctuation is (way) less than 100ppm between rooms.

(All time low 380ppm -- 10% above the world average during my birth :-( , highest 1620ppm)