Excess C02 in home?

melev

melev

Well-known member
Hi Randy,

Remember I told you my tanks have been suffering from lowered pH for some time now, although last year it wasn't a problem? Spring and fall, pH stays nicely around 8.3 when I can open doors and windows, but not in winter or summer (Texas weather is less than mild at those times).

3 weeks ago we pumped a bunch of new insulation into the attic, covering up the 30 year old insulation. Pretty much buried all the rafters. However, when it was pumped near my HVAC furnace, a ton of this stuff fell into the hallway (when I opened the door). It turns out when they replaced my furnace last year, the left a 8" x 30" gap. My guess is that the trapped air in the attic has been coming into the house, depleting oxygen or increasing CO2 possibly. Would you agree that this might have been part of the problem, or did I just fix my electric bill but not the tanks? :lol:

The pH in the tanks hits around 8.15 without kalk during the peak lighting period. It was running at 7.85 to 7.9 before.

I'm sure my heavily stocked tanks don't help. ;)
 
My guess is that the trapped air in the attic has been coming into the house, depleting oxygen or increasing CO2 possibly. Would you agree that this might have been part of the problem, or did I just fix my electric bill but not the tanks?

How would the air in the attic get low in O2 or high in CO2? Mice? :D
 
:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

Shame on you for pickin' on Marc. Are you and the wife today tipping the bottle :D

Marc, CO2 is heavier than O2, it would sink unless the attic was 100 % air tight and I don't think so :D It may have been squrirels, as their respiration rate is much greater than mice or that new furnace is expelling less CO2 and using less O2


It turns out when they replaced my furnace last year, the left a 8" x 30" gap.

Who are they, I don't want them working on my house ;)
 
What do I know? I was thinking about the trapped heat in the attic space would be condusive to oxygen levels dropping or at least elevated CO2 levels?

I still can't explain the lowered pH in my tanks, nor the fact that they are starting to rise up again finally. Especailly since we pretty much try to keep the house sealed with ~100F days.
 
Boomer, I don't know who "they" are now. I'd have to dig up the receipts. Basically, Home Depot had a vendor in store that offered to handle A/C needs, and I showed some interest. About two months later, they called me up again with a great price so I went for it. But the gap up there was unknown to me until I did the recent insulation job.
 
Keeping the house sealed is exactly the wrong approach. As the song says, "every breath you take...." :D

Anyway, you're breathing out CO2, and in a closed home it builds up. Most folks do see the problem worst in winter and summer (if they air condition). Some folks with leaky old homes like me never see a problem (except in heating bills :D ).

Here's an article that describes CO2 buildup:

Indoor CO2 Problems
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/apr2002/short.htm
 
Marc

I don't know what happened but at higher temps both O2 and CO2 drop as they are a function of temp.
 
No - no - no. Not at all. As you know, I've got a decent sense of humor. I'd just like to resolve the low pH I've been encountering, and I really don't like the kalkwasser solution.

I need to go read your article now, but it seems reasonable in a heavily populated tank that O2 is consumed more rapidly vs a lightly stocked tank. So with the 02 being used, C02 must be building up and thus the pH is lower.

I tried pumping air from an airpump in my garage into the intake of my Aqua C EV-200 for about a month, but my guess is that C02 is greater in the hot garage because removing that from my tank seemed to allow pH to rise up a little bit further in my 55g reef.

I wonder how long a small bottle of medical grade oxygen would last. ;)
 
Okay, now you've got me wanting to see about bringing in fresh air via my HVAC system. I don't know how that is done, nor if my system even has that already incorporated.

My home is all electric, brick on a slab foundation. The windows are leaky, especially when the winter's northern winds kick up. Then they howl. :rolleyes:

I don't own a Radon Detector, but just for kicks do you know if that affects CO2 levels as well? I need to stop breathing so my fish can!
 
It isn't the added O2 that's important for pH, although O2 is important for for other reasons. It is just the excess or deficiency of CO2 that is important for pH. If you bubbled pure nitrogen gase the pH would rise (although O2 would drop and that would not be a good plan :D ).

Any gas appliances, llike a gas stove?
 
Well, it isn't like the East Coast, so I know you got us beat. We only get about 24 to 48 hours of snow a year, if that. However, Dalla / Ft Worth have been labeled the "hail capitals" of the U.S.

We can get down to the teens though.
 
It happens. We get freezes, but nothing like yours. People here tend to have no idea how to drive on the stuff, unfortunately. We are more used to hot and humid. ;)
 
Randy, I'm baking me some baking powder. After all, that's its name. ;)

I'm going to use that for now to help push up my pH each day. :(
 
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