How can "potato gas" ruin a country house or dacha?

Hello! Have you heard such a combination as "potato gas" in your childhood? Since the 18th century, this simple name in Russia has been called a set of substances that are released in cellars and underground houses due to rotting of the potatoes stored there.

In fact, these are sulphide aldehydes or thiols of carbon dioxide, but the point is not in the chemical name, but in the harm that this gas can cause to your home.

The bottom line is this: for the winter, air vents in houses are always closed: it is warmer this way, and the snow does not sweep through the holes into the underground. And the potatoes start to rot, giving off gas. And when in the spring the owner of the house climbs into the underground in order to finally open the air, a terrible thing can happen: only 3-4 gulps of air containing thiols, and the person loses consciousness.

A long stay in a "potato gas" underground is almost always a sad outcome.

Another option to "grab" a portion of potato gas is when you go down to the underground in order to take the same potatoes for food, or take a couple of cans of pickles. The temperature in the underground is always positive, and many people like to keep jars of tomatoes and cucumbers there.

Surely you also felt a slight discomfort more than once when you descended into the underground. Most likely, you attributed everything to a change in the pressure and temperature of the air in the underground - there is also "stale" air - so it could have been a light dose of potato gas.

Be careful and thoroughly ventilate the underground and cellar if you notice traces of at least slight rotting of potatoes!

#garden and cottage#repairs#construction#underground#cellar