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Pools & Spas Plumbing Basements

carbon monoxide/pool heater/water heater

4 years ago

carbon monoxide alarm in furnace & hot water closet going off. This is in the basement/ground level walk out. We are not down there often because that’s more for guests staying. 2 weeks before low battery on that alarm was beeping but we got busy with end of school year stuff for kids and forgot. Then alarm sounds and fire Dept come out. We change battery but it keeps going off. They do detect carbon monoxide levels in that area and then outside by our pool heater against house next to sliding glass doors outside of basement. ??? Soo confused! They said detected near hot water heater. Furnace is off/it’s summer. But then they said it’s pool heater and getting pulled in. We were in bed, it’s happening around 4am till 6am. They had my husband open door to closet on both side of hot water heater room and it’s not going off now but they are saying it’s pool heater getting pulled in. Well they detected it on/by hot water heater in closet, and then outside in pool heater/pump closet closet connect to outside basement wall by sliding glass doors. Well we aren’t even up at 4-6am so doors aren’t being opened to pull that in. We put up enclosure last year, no problems! So is it the hot water heater or the pool heater ? And why did none of this start till low battery in detector finally draining?? Of course pool people say we’ll sell ya a new pool heater/install and it’ll fix it ! Hot water heater people saying we will sell ya hot water heater/install & it’ll fix it! WHAT ?!?! Anyone experience this before ? How can I get down to the bottom of this for the safety of my family & get whatever it is fixed the 1st time !
Please help
Thank you in advance for your opinion & help

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Comments (3)

weedmeister
4 years ago
gas water heater. It requires combustion air. This means that there is a penetration somewhere so that fresh air can come in. It also means there is an exhaust vent somewhere. And one of these may be leaking. The pool heater is the same..
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
4 years ago
This is something not to wait on fixing. One are all of the gas appliances is not venting properly when the door is closed.

These gas fired appliances you have, require a certain amount of fresh air to draft naturally. The moment the fresh air is cut off/reduced in that closet, those units will not draft properly.

Either a plumber or HVAC contractor should be called to determine the requirements for those combined units. Sometimes a specifically designed power vent can be used to aid in venting.

We had a similar situation on a indoor pool whereas the pool equipment, house boiler and hot water heater shared the same space indoors in the basement and the same chimney. In order to properly vent ALL the of the gas fired units, a certain roof top power vent was installed. Also, a dedicated duct was installed to bring fresh air to the room.

When pool heaters especially do not vent properly for a period of time, soot can be produced on the heater exchanger and further deplete venting. The heater should be checked for this before any fix.

A solution may be a simple as making the door louvered. But, do hire someone to determine the needs. CO2 is deadly.
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sktn77a
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Get a new CO (Carbon Monoxide detector). These things don't last forever and the battery may not be the only problem with it. Don't mess around with carbon monoxide - it's deadly (carbon dioxide isn't pleasant either but usually the worst thing you will get is a bad headache). If this doesn't fix the problem immediately, then get all of your gas buning systems professionally checked (the fire department isn't always the best place to go for this).

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