Pyne Valley Air

23/04/2025

For years, carbon monoxide (CO) was viewed in black and white: you either survived exposure unharmed or didn’t survive.

But science tells a different story.

Carbon monoxide is a neurotoxin. Even if you survive, exposure can cause lasting damage to your brain, heart, and body. The symptoms may not be immediate, but over time, they can quietly take a toll.

Charon McNabb recently sat down and talked to NFPA about this topic on their podcast.

Listen here: https://buff.ly/0NDVnh9

20/12/2024

A CO Monitor is a device that can help detect unhealthy levels of CO in your environment. Side bar, for smoke and CO alarms (and many other things really), I am a big fan of install it and forget it. This means 10 yr Lithium-ion batteries that never need to be replaced.

20/12/2024

From my last post, CO Alarms are Life Safety Devices. They are NOT injury prevention devices. The 'healthy' maximum CO Levels are MUCH lower than the levels which cause a CO Alarm to go off. Great National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association document here.

07/12/2024

Full disclosure with emphasis, I DON'T DO ALARMISM!!

Also, an effective social media post has no long explanations and no math.

So, the topic of this post is "Carbon Monoxide Levels in your home: how do you know if it is safe?" You see the challenge.

A Carbon Monoxide Alarm is a "Life Safety" device. It goes off to prevent death and/or severe injury.

UL Listed Carbon Monoxide "Alarms" go off at defined and tested levels measured in 'ppm' - parts per million - (not higher and not lower) regardless of brand. The short summary is really high level for a short period of time or really long at a lower level. I've listed these levels below.

MATH WARNING

Those levels are: "No alarm below 30 ppm until after 30 days; 70 ppm for one to four hours (but not less than one hour); 150 ppm for 10 to 50 minutes; 400 ppm for four to 15 minutes."

04/12/2024

If you clicked on the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association link I posted on Saturday, you may have already found this page from their website also. Prevention.

Preventing carbon monoxide poisoning is key. Learn what to do if you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, the symptoms, and what types of treatment you can expect.

30/11/2024

November was National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month.
The National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association has great resources. I'll be posting links to their page as well as some other info over the next week or so. Here is a link to NCOAA's 'What is Carbon Monoxide?'

Learn what carbon monoxide is, its symptoms, sources, and treatment options. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Visit NCOAA for more information.

22/06/2024

I've posted a lot yesterday and today, but I need to post once more today, because June 22nd is National HVAC Technician's Day. I genuinely love helping people be comfortable in their home, and I love the work. The attached picture is about 2 weeks in at my first job in the HVAC industry with Dead River Company in Maine. (It is so long ago that this is actually a scan of the photo that was taken on 35mm film. Back before the world was HD.) I was an Oil Burner Heating Technician. My first day 2 weeks earlier was about 15 hrs. long and my face was entirely covered in soot when I got home. It was so much fun. I still love the smell of diesel in the morning - or any other time of day.

21/06/2024

Tune-up, Maintenance, and Inspect in HVAC. Part 3. So if all you do is hose off the unit and look for broken stuff why should I get a Tune-up, maintenance, inspection, or whatever? And, how do I know that what is broken is really broken? Great questions. First, why, where is the value? That list can be long, but the top 2 are avoid surprises and reduce cost. No surprises, early detection means the part won’t fail on the weekend and you won’t be stuck in a 90 degree house. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but at Pyne Valley Air repairs added to a maintenance are at a reduced price because we are already there and already testing. When it comes to trust, volumes have been written on how and why humans trust. Billions are spent on advertising each year to obtain enough ‘trust’ for consumers to buy something. At Pyne Valley Air we Teach, Do, and Learn. Teach customers in plain language and analogies about their HVAC systems. This stuff is cool and we love to share it. Do, what we say we will do. This starts with showing up on time, and communicating early if something has changed. Learn all we can. Please reach up for a System Inspection ($79) or System Maintenance ($99) today.

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21/06/2024

Tune-up, Maintenance, and Inspect in HVAC. Part 2. If words mean something a “Tune-up” of HVAC equipment isn’t really a thing. In HVAC as customers and contractors “Tune-up” means regular maintenance and/or inspection. An HVAC maintenance should include cleaning something, usually the outdoor unit, to “maintain” it as close to original performance as possible. At Pyne Valley Air we remove the top of the outdoor unit and wash it from the inside. To quote Bryan Orr, we “clean it until it is clean”. We also inspect the equipment visually and test certain components that typically fail over time. We test total system operation, this includes refrigerant pressures and temperatures at the outdoor unit, as well as as air temperatures and pressures at the indoor unit. These tests confirm optimal system operation or indicate that there are other issues that need further investigation to identify and correct.

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21/06/2024

Tune-up, Maintenance, and Inspect in HVAC. Part 1. Words mean something. There are a lot of phrases we use in English that continue to be used even though they don’t truly apply. “Tune-up” is one of those, it comes from auto service back when tuning forks were used instead of onboard computers to achieve optimal operation. Modern fuel injected cars don’t actually need to be “tuned up”, they just have parts that need to inspected and replaced, like spark plugs and air filters, etc. How does this apply to HVAC service?

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13/06/2024

Part 2 - ...Frosty through a straw. But what if you really do need to drink a frosty through a straw? If you are in the car or are otherwise unable to use a spoon? You can get a bigger straw. Some of us really do need highly filtered air to function well. It makes a tangible difference in our health and wellbeing. In our homes a bigger 'straw' is using more filters. NOT stacked on top of each other, but creating additional filter locations, or enlarging the filter grille at the existing location. Some of our homes have a large enough 'straw' to use high-efficient filters, some of them do not. If you're not sure about your home and would like a free evaluation, please reach out to me on Facebook or at 480-679-0598. I don't do math in my Facebook posts, but when it comes to airflow, if you are not measuring you are just guessing (TM NCI). I use tools and data to measure airflow and pressure at your filters and in your system. If your system has enough 'straw' to use high-efficient filters, I genuinely look forward to measuring so you can know it and be able to ignore the home improvement shows when they say don't use high-efficient filters.

13/06/2024

Part 1 - Have you ever tried to drink a Frosty through a straw? On a separate note... Why does my AC guy and all the home improvement shows tell me to only use the cheap air filters and not the high-efficient allergen air filters. Have you ever tried to drink a frosty through a straw? The purpose of air filters is to protect the equipment (furnace, blower, etc.) from getting really dirty. We can talk about why another time, but dirty equipment can't keep your home heated or cooled. I really like using essential human biology analogies (like consuming a Frosty. yes, essential.) to explain HVAC principles. Our nose, throat, and respiratory system is like a cheap filter, it primarily functions to allow our lungs to continue to exchange oxygen/CO2 so we can live and move. It is not designed to prevent cancer, or allergies, or keep out all infectious diseases. Part 2 with a solution in a few minutes.