Debra Lynn Dadd

safety of gas forced air heat

QUESTION:

Hi Debra, the following bit of a note is from a long-time friend who had pretty severe MCS over the years...she is almost totally free of it now after having moved from many years here in Wisconsin to Montana. I had written to her asking about the heat source in the nice condo that they owned here, thanking that surely she must not have had gas forced air heat. Her reply surprised me and offered some encouragement, since I may end up sharing a condo or duplex with my sister-in-law who wants to move back here from Arizona. Was wondering if you would comment on this heat thing for me, too. I once read somewhere that is is so much harder for someone with MCS to recover when they have gas forced air heat. Sounds like there are some exceptions?

Here is my friend's note: "We did indeed have a gas forced air

furnace in the condo. I was apprehensive at first, but Neil assured me that the new 98%efficiency model that we had installed would have no adverse effects on me. And he was right!

All the ignition air came from outside and was returned there...and I never had a bit of problems."

Thanks for your comments on this, Debra.

Ruth/Wisconsin

POSTED BY RUTH RUDDOCK :: WISCONSIN USA :: 06/09/2009 9:14 AM

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

The problem with gas heat is gas leaks and combustion by-products. If the gas is not leaking and is properly combusted, it's not a problem. Sounds like your friend has a new efficient model that is OK. This does not mean ALL gas heat is OK. Things have changed recently with gas heaters being more efficient.

Debra :-)

COMMENTS:

We had a new, super-efficient forced air gas furnace in our home. I, too, thought, "Surely this can't be contributing to my problems." Then I started having periodic heart arrhythmias and and was put on an alerting monitor. We quickly figured out that every time our heat came on, my heart was flipping into an arrhythmia. So we replaced the gas furnace with an electric.

Suddenly, not only were the arrhythmias gone, but the brain fog that I hadn't even realized I was in was gone. My husband was amazed by his new, sharper, with-it wife, and my MCS finally started improving. It didn't solve the whole problem, but it certainly helped.

After that experience, I'll never trust any natural gas in my home again!

COMMENT FROM DEBRA: Again, I'll just say, in my experience, forced air gas heat is often the thing that, when finally removed, improves MCS.

POSTED BY BADGERMOM :: WISCONSIN USA :: 06/10/2009 2:38 PM

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