What problems result from sulfur compounds in an oil furnace?
” While we commonly think of a masonry chimney as a permanent structure, practically impervious to damage, that’s not the case. Without a proper liner and annual maintenance, the toll can be a heavy one. Some common symptoms of problems in an oil furnace chimney: Inside • Silt in chimney Soot floating in the house • Soot coming from • barometric damper • Odor • Flaking plaster • Damp patches Outside • White stains on brick • Eroding mortar joints • Deteriorating bricks When the oil you heat with is burned, a sulfur soot is formed on the inner wall of your chimney. This sulfur-laden soot combines with moisture in the flue, a natural byproduct of today’s highly efficient furnaces. This forms an acid mixture which attacks your chimney, eroding your flue tiles and mortar joints. This leaves dangerous voids and allows the sulfuric acid mixture to attack the brickwork, your last line of defense against deadly sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide poisoning. Additional danger exists as the chimn
