Furnace Adjustment keeps Carpet Clean?

[Romer]

We had our carpets cleaned and the guy said we needed to get our furnace adjusted based on some of the dirt near the vents. He told my wife that if the furnace is not adjusted right it can discolor the carpet.

Its a gas forced air system about 7 years old.

Sounded like a bunch of hog wash to me. Anybody else hear of this?

 

[T Y L E R]

Interesting .. I'd hang a cotton swatch next to a vent .. and then send it off to CSI for analysis

Go to the source .. the manufacturer of the furnace .

TY

PS : I wonder if even a fire inspector would know such things ...

 

[toddslater]

Yep it is BS...natural gas burns real clean and even if it didn't you wouldn't see it at your air vents. However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take the vacuum to the air vents (supply and return) to get rid of some of the airboure dusts, crud etc..

 

[Cards81fan]

You know, I could see how if it was grossly misadjusted that it may have some soot. But with Natural gas / propane, I find this VERY hard to believe.

Impossible, no. Unlikely, VERY.

 

[Riley]

I don't think he's talking about the fuel burning causing the dirty carpet, if he is then he's BSing you. None of the combustion chamber gases interact with the heated air (unless the heat exchanger has a hole in it, which is another story).

All/most forced air systems get a little dirty on the carpet near the vents ect... keeping the filter clean, vents clean and perhaps an electronic air cleaner is probably the best defense.

I'm no expert but that's my 2 bits.

R

 

[toddslater]

"None of the combustion chamber gases interact with the heated air (unless the heat exchanger has a hole in it, which is another story). "

If this were the case....he'd either be complaining that he and the family suffer from severe head aches (during the heating season) or worse....no post at all.

 

[brownbear]

Ya if your combustion is leaking into the heated air you'd be bye bye. no waking up. or if lucky headaches. and you'd catch it.
what would make a carpet guy an expert? tell him to scrub a little harder and mind his business.

 

[Riley]

Reread the first post... it was the carpet guy stating this.

I bet he's thinking that if the fan speed was too high or the system isn't balenced correctly that the warm air could be pushing out around the vent grill instead of through it. Once you get the air pushing out around the vent the carpet acts like a filter and it will get discolored from dust. This can also happen on the cold air return side (I think).

 

[nuclearlemon]

buy your own carpet shampooer and tell him where to shove his.

btw...i just finished shampooing the front room

 

[Scamper]

Riley is correct on this.

It is possible that the heat exchanger has a small leak--small enough that you wouldn't be passing out or having headaches from the CO. For peace of mind, you should probably get a CO detector if you don't already have one. Significant soot from a gas flame will only be present if you are running very rich, but can happen if the furnace is way out of adjustment, or if the air intake is somehow restricted severely.

But if it's just dirt, it could be dust blowing thru the system. Change the filter. If it's really bad, you may want to get one of those duct cleaning services in to vaccum out the ducts--they tend to accumulate dirt over the summer when/if the system is not being used (i.e., if you don't use central air).

 

[landtank]

sounds like the guy thinks that he see's a condition that might indicate a harmful condition in your household. Right or wrong I'd thank him for caring enough to at least mention it to you. Maybe he's only on target 1 in 50 times but even then I bet that 50th family is sure damn glad he said something.

 

[stayalert]

I love the internet...The carpet guy makes a HVAC diagnosis and the homeowner asks the Landcruiser nutbags what they think....Believe it or not I'm not dissing you I just think its amazing....Anyhow...CO detector is a great idea. Cracked Heat exchanger can be a bad thing. I lived in a house heated by an oil fired forced air sytem. My wife and I (before kids) smelled something funny, saw soot around the registers and slept in a tent in the backyard as a result The landlord replaced the furnace and was very happy that he didn't find out about the cracked heat exchanger the hard way (delayed receipt of rent)....

get it checked out. 7 yrs can be a long time depending on maintenacne....

if the furnace/burner checks out, dirt or particulate near registers is often not from the heating system but rather from the heated space. eddies in the airstream caused by airflow over the register/diffuser can cause partuclate to be spun out of the room air and deposited in lower airflow areas not "scrubbed" by the airstream.....I'm confident there is a better way of describing this but I'm not currently up to it...Good luck. Rob M

 

[toddslater]

Oh yea, listen to stayalert...he had an oil furnace once waaaa???? ...nutbag par excellent !!! If you have any concern put in a CO detector.

 

[dylan]

is it a flame master furnace?

 

[LukeZero]

I'm a plumbing and heating contractor (NATE certified, licensed, bonded, insured, manufacturer trained, etc.).... I would call either your local fire department or your trusted heating contractor to come out and check for CO in the house. Never hurts to be safe when dealing with stuff that can kill you... That said, the carpet guy probably doesn't know what he's talking about... Sounds like maybe the filter could be changed more often, however. My $.02. Luke

Also, go buy a CO detector and install it where you spend most of your time in the house (the bedroom).

 

[stayalert]

Oh yea, listen to stayalert...he had an oil furnace once waaaa???? ...nutbag par excellent !!! If you have any concern put in a CO detector.

Touched a nerve? gas/oil doesn't matter.....the common component is the heat exchanger in a forced air system......Now that you mention it I'm thinking of getting an oil burner to heat water for a hot tub & backyard rink.....I'd like to research/try running it on waste veggie oil (WVO)