Ice Castle Heater Giving me Headaches

2013 6×12 v-front ice castle with a suburban 16k btu furnace in the front. I just bought it, and decided to hang out in it in the driveway. After about an hour i went inside and realized i felt like poop and had a bit of a headache. The GF said she felt a little someting too after being in there for about 10 minutes.

I peaked in the exhaust and intake ports from the outside of the house, looks all clear. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this and how they fixed it. I think my next step is to take the furnace out of the house and run through it.

I just had a post on my experiences.
I would suggest putting a CO/gas detector in the unit if you have not. I use the Kidde Nighthawk, same that we use in our house.

I tore my furnace apart and found about 200 Asian beetles all crammed into mu burner tube that were all burnt and blocking air flow.

all ice castles have co detectors, i dont think theres an LP detector tho.

Asian beetles huh. i was looking for a mouse nest, but beetles are just as likely i guess.

brian lieder wrote:

all ice castles have co detectors, i dont think theres an LP detector tho.

The detectors that are wired to the furnace in most factor ice castles are a LP detectors and not a CO detector.

CO is barely lighter than air, CO detectors should be placed around eye level. LP detectors should be placed as low as possible because LP is heavier than air. My Firebrand was built as an rv and came with a LP detector mounted low. I installed a CO detector on the wall about 5 feet up.

Brian, it’s “Boots!”

Those heaterst can get finicky. In addition to Asian beetles, mice etc I’ve seen mud wasps make Lil nests too. I’d be worried if you don’t have a house vent you could accumulate excess CO Givin ya a head ache or a Lil nausea. Get a CO detector and see if it trips, it’s a good idea to have one in there anyway.

Otherwise my next guess is that it is leaking excess LP somewhere or your exhaust pipe isn’t in securely an it’s leaking a bit back into the house.
Shoot me an email and we can hook up to and check it out.

Carbon dioxide has one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, and a molecular weight of 44 grams per mole ( a certain number of molecules). The oxygen in the air is actually O2, or molecular oxygen, with a molecular weight of 32. Hence, carbon dioxide has a higher density, or is heavier than oxygen.

Just for info, my last post was a cut and paste, heaven knows I’m not that smart! I’ve always seen CO2 detectors mounted low, not eye level.

The main problem isn’t CO2(carbon dioxide) though, but rather CO(carbon monoxide) when there is a venting problem on a heater. Although CO2 and CO are both byproducts of combustion, CO is the gas that will kill you first. It’s a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that you can’t detect without a monitor of some kind.
CO is actually a bit lighter than air and CO has a molar mass of 28.0, and air has an average molar mass of 28.8. The difference in mass is so slight though that CO is found to evenly distribute itself indoors so an eye level CO detector is fine.
It can kill you because when you breathe in carbon monoxide, it gets into your blood stream and prevents your red blood cells from carrying oxygen by replacing oxygen in your blood with CO. When your brain starts becoming starved for oxygen, you’ll experience headaches and eventually you’ll pass out from lack of oxygen.

Boss, the concern here is CO (carbon monoxide) not CO2 (carbon dioxide).

But what we breath is not pure oxygen. How does that figure into the equation? Plus that furnace is forced air so mixing is going to happen. Just get a CO2 detector and follow the instructions. Every fishhouse and dwelling should have one.

Even though what we breath isn’t pure oxygen (the atmosphere is 21% oxygen), it’s not lack of atmospheric oxygen that will kill you. It’s the presence of high levels of CO.

You’re right, I was trying to read too early in the morning. I was however wrong in that I still thought CO detectors were placed low on the wall, so you guys are right about the placement. I learned something today.

Travis wrote:

Brian, it’s “Boots!”

NICE boots..

Well i took the heater apart last night and shes clean as can be in there. It’s also actually the 20000 btu heater not the 16 like i thought they put int here. Thinking maybe it’s just eating some of the oxygen even though it’s vented.. 20k seems a little big for a 6×12 house. ive been running the house with the hole covers on and windows shut, so perhaps itll be diferent on the ice. Getting a new CO and LP detector beceause the one in there is “EOL”. They only have a certain life before they arent effective, then need to be replaced.

I was hoping that this would be a common issue in Ice Castles or others with this furnace, and there would be some trick to fix it, but that doesnt seem to be the case.

Not familiar with the heaters at all but does it have a forced draft, which is controlled by a power vent or is it just a pipe extended up above the roofline? If the pipe is not high enough it can cause a down draft. Also with the winds we have had the past while, it could have caused the same affect.

20k is the intake or potential BTU

You have loss through heat exchanger and such. The actual BTU to blows out of the furnace vents is most likely about 13-15k.

I have a brand new Ice Castle that has both detectors in it and work quite well. Your best bet (even with detectors) is to crack a window to allow ‘some’ air movement in and out of the house. Most everyone knows the smell of LP, but there is “zero” smell or detection of CO except a CO detector!

Your issue sounds like a CO problem and if you felt a little dizzy and light headed that would be the culprit! Fresh air movement is key and getting a solid CO detector for your house.. I hope this helps and have a great and safe season!

Suburban and Atwood furnaces pull air from outside via the outside vent inlets and exhausts the combustion air out through the center port. Inside clean air is heated and then forced into the enclosure. A cracked heat exchanger can allow combustion gasses to mix with circulating warm air. Also check the inner exhaust port. An rv dealer can also test the unit for proper operation.

Any updates on this?

The other day i took the heater out and checked everything out. The combustion chamber is fine, intake and exhaust was clean. Put it all back together and ran the house for like an hour and i felt OK. So while i cannot pinpoint the issue, i think for now i am just going to run the house and see what happens. The house has only been used a couple times, so maybe theres something with the heater being new that threw me off… hard to say.

I got a new CO and LP detector for safety, so now we just need some damn ice so i can use and test this setup out.