Coughing: You may experience coughing due to a dry throat and nasal passages. Allergies: Your allergies may act up due to allergens, such as dust and pollen, being blown into your air. Headaches: You can suffer from migraines and sinus headaches due to clogged sinuses and smells from mold, fungus, and dust.
If your furnace is not burning properly or if the exhaust vent is blocked or damaged, CO can leak into your home and build up to dangerous levels. CO can cause a range of symptoms, such as: Headache. Dizziness.
Carbon Monoxide: If you're using a gas heater, improper ventilation can lead to carbon monoxide buildup, which is dangerous and can cause symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and nausea.
Signs of poor indoor air quality may include excessive amounts of dust or increased difficulty breathing in your home. People with allergies or other breathing problems will often be some of the first to experience the effects of poor indoor air quality. Sometimes you might even smell the problem before you can see it.
For most people, Lizarzaburu says that, for most people, heater illness symptoms shouldn't last more than a few days.
Central heating can also irritate the nose, which can exacerbate sinus infections. "If you have sinusitis, central heating dries out your sinuses, which can lead to a worsening of the condition," says Jarvis. "Normally the lining of your nose and sinuses has a layer of mucus on top of these little hairs called cilia.
Purchase an indoor air quality monitor
They do, and they are the easiest option on the market today for consistently checking your Indoor Air Quality. What is it? An always-on electronic device that consistently tests and reports on the levels of pollution inside your home.
Immediate Effects. Some health effects may show up shortly after a single exposure or repeated exposures to a pollutant. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable.
As dust, pollen, pet dander, mold, and other contaminants build up in your heater, the only thing your system can do is cycle those allergens around your home. This is especially true if you've got filthy ducts or a dirty air filter, as your system is forcing clean air through dirty areas.
Bacteria, viruses, the flu virus, pollen, and mold can also enter your home. Since HVAC systems do not bring in fresh air but just circulates the air, this can be problematic for your health and equipment. You may experience respiratory infections, sinusitis, bronchitis, ear infections, and throat infections.
If you're feeling sick when you start the furnace, you may want to open a window to get fresh air. You should also have a furnace specialist visit to make certain you are not getting sick from carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide.
Signs of a Furnace Carbon Monoxide Leak
These signs may include frequent pilot light blow-outs, soot accumulation in the fireplaces, smears of yellow/brown stains near appliances, duller than normal flames from their fires as well as noticeable smells like stale air and burning.
Constantly breathing extremely warm, dry air that may contain fungi, mold and mildew from the vents can affect your skin, nose, throat and eyes. Breathing these air particulates and smelling the bacteria may cause sneezing, congestion headaches, coughing and drying out your eyes, nose and throat.
Allergens also lead to bouts of coughing, colds, and sore throats. Sick Building Syndrome – Dirty ducts also cause “Sick Building Syndrome,” which occurs when dust, pollen, pet dander and other allergens build up inside of the ducts.
You can use a 3M LeadCheck Swab (found at most hardware stores) to do this; be sure you swab any children's products and imported goods. Conduct a lead risk assessment by a certified inspector before any home remodel.
There are many indoor air monitors available on the market, including the Airthings Wave Plus and the uHoo Smart Air Monitor. Alternatively, you can buy another type of smart device that has air quality monitoring functionality, such as a tech-enabled air purifier, smart thermostat or indoor home security camera.
Can Your Furnace Make You Sick? Yes. In fact, many of the symptoms of seasonal illnesses are mimicked by the body's reaction to breathing in allergens (even if you are not prone to allergies) and sitting in hot, dry conditions.
Pollen, dust, pet dander, dust mites, mold, fungus, and mildew are always floating around outside the home and inside, even with a particularly good HEPA filter. Likewise, fumes from building projects and strong chemicals with irritating scents (such as formaldehyde) could also cause problems with the sinuses.
"The mucous membranes can dry out, crack a little, allowing viruses to seed and produce disease," said physician assistant Lou Melini. That is what can happen in a hot home. "To crank it up to 86 degrees, I think that's a bit excessive. It's drying and counterproductive," Melini said.