Combustion & Emissions Testing

Tools Required for Testing

For people working in the building performance, weatherization, or HVAC industries, we recommend you carry and use a combustion analyzer, personal CO monitor, draft gauge, and a smoke pencil. These products help to ensure your client's safety, your safety, and to determine the safe operation of combustion appliances. While you may not be qualified to correct the combustion problems you may find or create, you must, at minimum, know if the problems exist. If you are not qualified, licensed, or trained to make repairs to a heating system, please consult a qualified and trained HVAC contractor, preferably one who has been formally trained in dealing with issues of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and combustion testing.

Tools of the trade:

• Personal CO Meter for your safety before and during testing.
• Combustion Analyzer (with CO and O2) for measuring and documenting ambient CO levels and CO AirFree (COAF) levels of furnaces and boilers.
• Draft Gauge (included in most combustion analyzers) to assure those minimum draft requirements are kept for all vented appliances.
• Smoke Pencil for identifying spillage at draft hoods, and to assist determining the direction of airflow into or out of the combustion air zone (CAZ).