You might have heard about the dangers with carbon monoxide, but are you aware of how it is formed? Carbon monoxide is created when fuel burns with insufficient oxygen supply. Exposure to carbon monoxide could be lethal in as little as 5 minutes, so it is important to avoid. Unfortunately, most homes have some source of carbon monoxide, so the danger is always there. Usually the exhaust from burning fuel will be vented outside your home, but when something goes wrong there is a possibility that gas will be sucked into your home. The term for this is backdraft.
Backdraft can happen when you have lower pressure inside your home than outside, and it could be a side effect of poor ventilation. The problem with carbon monoxide is that it is invisible and odorless, so if it is leaking into your home, you might not realize something is wrong until it is too late. A good testing tool for backdraft is a puffer or a smoke pencil that will let you see which way the air travels in your home.
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