Frosty Chimneys

FTLComm - Tisdale - January 11, 1999

Almost all homes in small town and urban areas of Saskatchewan are heated with natural gas furnaces and the results of combustion is mostly water vapour, carbon dioxide and if your furnaces is not burning properly it will produce some carbon monoxide. Modern exhaust systems for our furnaces are designed to keep the temperature down and tend to be efficient safe devices but with these cold temperatures it is a good idea to take a look and see how your system is coping.

In the picture on the right you can see that the build up of
ice around the top of St. Matthew's Anglican church chimney is excessive as the water vapour from the burnt natural gas cools forming ice around the top of the chimney.

The chimney below has a metal top and though this image is not clear, the ice has built up and hangs down around it like wax from a candle much like the image on the left, even though it is clear that these are not similar exhaust systems. Any restriction in the flow of exhaust gases from your house can have very dangerous consequences, the most dangerous being the build up of the odourless deadly carbon monoxide. Check your chimney to see it is clear and to be on the safe side get yourself a carbon monoxide detector to warn you should dangerous levels of the gas develop.