A single mother called us from an advertisement and special we had on Yelp.  As a single mom she had some special needs. She was concerned about her family and the performance of her furnace as well as price.

She wanted to make sure that the furnace was not producing carbon monoxide in such a way that it could be mixed into the air she was breathing.  If you weren’t aware carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless and the symptoms mimic the flu.  What that means is that you feel not quite right, headache, stomach ache, nausea, dizziness, you want to take a nap.  Well that would be one of the worse things you can do if there is a poisonous gas in the air.  There are a lot of different levels of carbon monoxide issues, the higher the concentration the worse the symptoms are including death.

As a side note, if you think you are covered because you have a carbon monoxide detector, you may be very wrong.  Very recently a hotel in the Silicon Valley area that had carbon monoxide detectors installed – that were likely more sensitive than the home model had a boiler issue, actually it could happen with any combustion appliance.  The carbon monoxide alarms sounded and the hotel was evacuated because of thre high levels of carbon monoxide.

When I heard that news story it seemed that that was a carbon monoxide alarm success story and I was happy because I like this particular hotel chain.  Unfortunately, even with detectors, a few months later I saw a news article that stated a pilot from the local airport staying at that hotel that night was poisoned with the carbon monoxide and suffered brain damage as a result.  So yes, the detectors are a good idea and here in CA they are a requirement, they are not the only solution.  Regular inspection of combustion appliances is a must to stay safe. We are not stating here that there was any sort of neglect here, just that prevention is the best solution.

You may wonder how this happens, well there are several ways you can have a carbon monoxide problem, like a blockage in your flue backing up the exhaust, this can occur in any age system.  The more likely culprit is a cracked heat exchanger or any other wear or damage that allows the exhaust to cross into the conditioned air.  This problem usually but not always occurs in an older furnace (over 10 years old).

Back to Wendy, the single mom, well she was a savvy shopper and she got a deal for us to come out at a discount to have a certified technician inspect her furnace.  After we explained what we found wrong with her furnace she opted to replace the furnace which we did promptly and we gave her a good deal. Now her family is safe and warm.

Please read her testimonial about her experience.

Cold Craft was professional, knowledgeable, fair, honest, neat, and pleasant to work with. I hired them to check our furnace and to install a new one. Both times they arrived before their scheduled time. The technician explained things clearly and the work was done well.

Wendy-

If you need help with temperature, contact Cold Craft, Inc.

408.374.7292 or [email protected]