Propane from water heaters leaves three unconscious in Phetchabun

[webfact]

Propane from water heaters leaves three unconscious in Phetchabun

By THE NATION

 

 

Three people fainted while bathing in two Phetchabun resorts last week, and public health officials said on Monday that the reason was found to be propane gas.

 

The incidents took place on October 20 and October 23. 

 

Sarasin Saetao, 23, said he had turned on the heater to take a hot shower, but five minutes later he started feeling dizzy and turned off the shower. However, he fell unconscious as he tried to leave the bathroom and then woke up to find himself in hospital. He admitted to not turning on the exhaust fan while bathing.

 

The second case involved two children aged four and 12. Their mother, 30, said when it appeared her son and daughter were spending far too long in the shower, she decided to look in and found them unconscious on the bathroom floor. They were then taken to hospital and revived.

 

Officials visited the two resorts on Monday and learned that the second resort had no exhaust fan installed in the bathroom. 

 

Upon measuring the level of gas in the air, the officials found that the quantity of propane in the bathrooms rose as soon as the water heaters were turned on, which explains the reason why the three people had fainted. 

 

Propane is commonly used for heating water, but when the level of this gas rises beyond oxygen, then people can suffocate and faint. 

 

The resorts have been advised to install exhaust fans in both bathrooms and bedrooms as well as prepare oxygen canisters for accidents.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30396862

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-27

 

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[RichardColeman]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

He admitted to not turning on the exhaust fan while bathing.

Guess it would be too much trouble to fix the fan to the bathroom light circuit

[perconrad]

It is not propane in the air it is CO that makes peoples faint and even die because of poor ventilation. 

CO forms in combustion when there are not enough oxygen in the air.

[digger70]

It is common knowledge among experienced inspectors that gas-fueled water heaters are prohibited in bathrooms. ... Water heaters are prohibited in bathrooms for two reasons: 1) Faulty exhaust venting can contaminate the air, causing asphyxiation; 2) Inadequate combustion air supply can reduce the oxygen level in the room.Jun 1, 2010 

 

Hey who cares in Thailand ?  Care Factor? ,,,, Zero in Thailand,,,, 

 

Normally they are Outside the bathroom on a  Outside wall so No  problem. 

[Sydebolle]

You cannot fix stupid - not even in Thailand. Contrary to the article in The Nation, propane is NOT commonly used for heating water. I found 20 suppliers for electric water heaters and two, namely Rinnai and Mazuma, manufacturers of propane gas heaters. Vaillant etc. disappeared completely from the Thai scene. 

These propane fired heaters need a separate air venting duct, made of inflammable material with inflammable fittings straight through the roof and any instruction leaf/manual makes that crystal clear, in Thai language.

What I saw though (and I have two of those extremely economic heaters producing endless hot water at temperatures you cannot reach with any of their electrical brethren) is the normal standard. The "engineer" rips open the cardboard packaging, throws any paper, plastic and printed matter on the floor and starts "installing". They NEVER look for an installation sheet to start with ...... 

Arguably, the installation is more expensive and takes more time than an electric heater but the running costs  of four to six daily hot showers and extensive home cooking on a Western stove costs less than THB 1'000 a year. 

 

Never went for electric solutions as I've seen too many in guest houses etc. without ground wire and cables put together with scotch tape - go figure!