Where There's Soot, There's Danger

I was out conducting an energy audit the other day and came across this serious, potentially life threatening hazard.

I knocked on the door and the owner greeted me and let me in the home. I went to put my tools down on a table near the front entry and immediately noticed the heating register on the opposite wall. There was a black smoky stain around the perimeter of the register. Seeing a stain like this raises a big red flag.

I have often seen these stains during home inspections and mostly they have been due to dirty ductwork. The furnace will have no filter installed or the filter is so clogged with dirt it has collapsed allowing the dirt to freely flow through the ducts. But sometimes it is a much more serious problem, a cracked heat exchanger.

The furnace was running when I entered. As soon as I approached the register I could smell burnt oil fumes.

I said to the owner, "do you smell that?"

He says, "the oil smell, its been like that for a while. We just had the furnace serviced and it hasn't gotten any better."

I told him to shut it down and not to use it at all. I explained that the furnace was no longer good and was unsafe to operate. The fumes he smelled contain carbon monoxide. He fortunately has a pellet stove and uses that most of the time instead of the oil furnace.

Whenever you see soot around a heating register, it is reason to call for an HVAC technician immeadiately to check the heat exchanger for cracks. It is best not to use the system until it can be determined if it is safe to operate.

James Quarello
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC