Formaldehyde
Q: I’ve heard that plywood has lots of formaldehyde in it, and that’s not good to breathe. Then someone told me that local hardware stores now offer formaldehyde-free plywood. I checked, and the hardware store I contacted said that their plywood has a “safe” kind of formaldehyde in it. Is this true? What are the different types of formaldehyde and where do they occur in building materials?

A: Sources of formaldehyde in the home include building materials, cigarette smoking, household products, and the use of unvented, fuel-burning appliances, like gas stoves or kerosene space heaters. Formaldehyde is also used as a component of glues and adhesives and as a preservative in some paints and coating products.

The major sources of formaldehyde in most homes are from pressed-wood products made with urea-formaldehyde resins. Urea-formaldehyde resins are used as adhesives in materials such as hardwood plywood, particleboard, and medium-density fiberboard (MDF). MDF (found in many furniture products) has been tested to have the highest emissions over the longest period of time.

Other pressed wood products, such as softwood plywood and flake or oriented strandboard, are produced for exterior construction use and contain the dark-colored phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin. Although formaldehyde is present in both types of resins, pressed woods that contain PF resin generally emit formaldehyde at considerably lower rates than those containing UF resin (EPA 402-K-93-007, April 1995). The PF resin is probably what the hardware gentleman was referring to as the least toxic of the two. This is only because of the lower rate of emissions, not because the formaldehyde form is actually safer. This is very important to understand because the healthier choice would be no exposure at all.

Sometimes, alternative options are not always available, so thanks to products like Safety Seal and Hard Seal sealer products, people don’t have to be exposed. Others who can afford to go with solid wood like birch are doing so, but it can be very expensive and the cost depends on the thickness of the wood required for your project.

Audrey Franklin, chemist with Pure Life, Inc. in Norcross, GA lectures and writes frequently on environmental topics. Pure Life, Inc. is a southeastern supplier of environmental products such as paints, stains, sealers, organic bedding, and air/water purification products. Contact Pure Life at 770-493-7688 or visit them on-line at purelifeinc.com for additional information.

Vent-Free Fireplaces
Q: Are vent-free fireplaces really a good idea?

A: Vent-free (better described as “house-vented”) fireplaces are one of the most misunderstood appliances in today’s home building/remodeling industry. Somehow, the manufacturers of these appliances have been able to con the general public into believing that installing these things is actually a smart thing to do. They have heavily focused their marketing around the fact that they are 99 percent efficient. While this is true, it doesn’t make it a good idea. An un-vented wood-burning fireplace would be efficient too…but we don’t see too many of those being installed!

When combustion of a fuel takes place, there are a variety of health-affecting by-products produced, including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, aldehydes, sulphur dioxide, particulates, and water vapor. While most people don’t consider water vapor to be harmful, it does in fact lead to increased levels of condensation and mold growth if not properly managed. One gallon of water is released into the home for every 100,000 btu’s of gas burned. That’s a lot!

Sharing your breathing-air with these by-products of combustion can lead to a variety of consequences. Headaches and nausea are frequently reported symptoms, and in some cases, carbon monoxide poisoning has lead to death. The most common health effects are chronic, low-grade, hard-to-define ailments and health deterioration due to long-term exposure to the combustion gases.

If you read the operating manuals of these “vent-free” fireplaces carefully, you will notice that all of them suggest opening a window while operating. Why do you think that is? Why in the world would you need to dilute your home with fresh air when you turn on the fireplace? Do you think there’s a possibility that it is polluting your air? You bet!

So, if you’re going to install a fireplace (gas or otherwise), it is very important that this device be vented to the outside, and preferably have its combustion air delivered to it from the outside as well. The best scenario is when the combustion air is separated from the breathing air — referred to as “sealed combustion.” This is the safest form of combustion appliance (fireplace, furnace, or water heater).

If you don’t have the luxury of purchasing the safest fireplace on the market, there are a few things to keep in mind this winter as you try to stay warm. We commonly hear homeowners say that their fireplaces don’t draft very well…or they’re smoky…or they’re hard to get started. There are a few things that lead to this phenomenon.

The most common cause of these problems is that the house is competing with the chimney. Yep, that’s right. The house is a better chimney than the chimney. Think of it this way: If you took all of the holes in the top of your house (can lights, electrical outlets, duct registers, etc.) and squashed them all together into one big hole…it may be larger than the hole in your chimney. If this is the case, then the holes in the top of the house will allow the warm air in the home to escape. This, in turn, creates a negative pressure at the bottom of the house, where the fireplace is most likely located, causing your fireplace to work in reverse — sucking air down the chimney and out into the living space, pulling even more combustion byproducts into the living environment. This concept also applies to fuel-burning furnaces and water-heaters that are “atmospherically vented,” which means that they require air from the living space to feed the flame, just like the
traditional fireplace.

By addressing these air leakage and pressure issues, you not only create a healthier house, you also reduce the amount of energy required to keep the house comfortable. As I’m sure you know, fuel prices aren’t going down anytime soon. So, prepare your house for the heating season, make sure your fireplaces are working properly (throw it away if it is a house-vented fireplace), and save some money this winter!

Isaac Savage is president of Home Energy Partners, a Building Performance Contracting firm that is located in Asheville, NC. He can be reached at 828-350-1155 or on the web at www.HomeEnergyPartners.com

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