CO Testing for the Real World Field inspections of gas ranges
and laboratory tests provide the basis for a proposed CO
emissions testing protocol. Gas ranges are probably the most
common unvented gas appliances in use in North America. With
homes becoming tighter, the potential for any type of unvented
gas appliance to set the stage for carbon monoxide (CO)
poisoning is increasing. Ranges and ovens are no
exception.Poorly operating ranges and ovens that have closed air
shutters, damaged orifices, or warped flame spreaders can emit
hazardous levels of CO. CO problems can also arise when
equipment users operate a gas range or oven as a space-heating
appliance, alter the oven by, for instance, lining the oven
bottom with aluminum foil and inadvertently covering the
secondary air ports; or misuse the equipment in other ways (see
“Educating the Client”). In an effort to develop a field
protocol for testing gas ranges,my company, R.J. Karg and
Associates, inspected 25 natural gas and propane ranges in
randomly sele