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First:
You should have a CO alarm on every floor atleast if not multiple ones for each floor.
Second:
Winter air is dry as opposed to summer air. When it mixes with your homes conditioned air the humidity drops way below what you normally see in the summer. You may notice you have to keep the t-stat turned up a little higher in the winter than you would in the summer. (Summer 72º.....Winter 74-75º)
It's because your body cools itself by evaporation and when the relative humidity is lower your body is able to evaporate (cool) itself faster/easier.
The dry air leads to stuffy noses, dry lungs, red eyes...ect....ect....
Check your CO levels and get these CO monitors (LIFE saving) alarms. Then if that checks out get a humidifier....
I was sick for the first few cold weeks till I started watching my relative humidity better.
Can anyone give some pointers on what to look for in a humidifier, one that goes through the central heat? If I go to Lowes will there be a huge selection? Or should I go to a heating/air conditioning company?
Your best bet would go to a pro and have them analyze what size you will need and what will fit your application best. It may be a bit higher in price but then you know it's installed correctly.
If you want to make sure this is the problem before you make the plunge you can always boil water on the stove for a few days and see if it makes you guys start to feel better. It will be more expensive to do than a humidifier but you'll know if it will solve your problems. While your boiling water keep your fan to the on position to circulate it through the home.
he had a fireplace that he doesn't use. Last year he had people hammering away. Here, something inside the fireplace broke. I am going to cut and paste what he wrote to me in his email: "We had a guy come out yesterday to clean the chimney. When he opened it up all of the Terra cotta sleeve had disintegrated and was in tiny pieces at the bottom of the flue. It was blocking the heater and gas hot water heater vents. If we started the heater the house would have filled with carbon dioxide. It already was from the hot water heater. I am still shaken thinking of it. You always read about those idiots and I often wondered how can a person let that happen.
I think from all the work in the kitchen the contractors causing vibrations with hammering caused the 110 year old Terra cotta to finally give. Heater guy coming out today. SO, an $85 chimney sweep job turned into an $800 installation. But we will sleep well AND wake up."
My dad was always constantly sick, and now I think it was because of that. If you had your chimney swept, perhaps whatever my dad had...if you have it...maybe it didn't disintegrate yet, which is why the sweepers didn't find out about it...but maybe it is about to do so....I would definitely get the carbon monoxide checker. I don't know why my father wrote "dioxide"... I am pretty sure he meant monoxide
Last edited by Mrs.Bewitched; 12-01-2007 at 07:25 PM..
Reason: wrong word
No one should be without a carbon monoxide detector.
I'm thinking you may have a problem with MOLD. If you have hot air heat the blast of air may be circulating mold spores throughout your house. The symptoms you describe would be in line with a problem of this sort. Your local hardware store may have a mold test kit you can try. Mold can make you really sick with allergy type symptoms, burning eyes, etc. Call your county health department.
It would be black mold. We had the same problem. Come to discover our supply lines had pin hole leaks which caused me to ur problem. Most symptoms for us went away.
I have one of these that I use to check the venting on the furnace and water heater. The household co detectors are grea warning signs, but this handheld unit will tell you how much you actually have present.
The thread was almost 11 years old when y'all brought it back!!! I'm pretty sure they have worked out the problem by now!
But other people may have the same issues now. If an 11 year old thread saves even 1 life or improves the health of even 1 person, it is well worth resurrecting.
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Happened to my dad...the carbon dioxide
