Carbon monoxide rises more slowly and can be deadly before it reaches ceiling height. A CO detector is usually placed lower on your wall. CO poisoning often feels like the flu, food poisoning, and other common illnesses. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, a light- head, and headaches. Gas cooking stove tops and ovens should not be used for supplemental heat. Follow all instructions from the CO manufacturer for placement, upkeep, and maintenance.
The alarms you purchase should have a label proving recognition by a credible testing laboratory, and be UL certified. Schedule time for a skilled technician to inspect your fuel-burning appliances each year. This includes a fireplace, water heater, boiler, or chimney. If you must warm up a vehicle, always remove it from the garage after immediately starting it.
Never run a vehicle or any device with a fuel engine indoors, even if garage doors are open. However, our carbon monoxide detectors can. Brinks Home Security offers families connected CO detectors that monitor the air in your home. When dangerous levels of CO are building up, the carbon monoxide detector alerts you and your loved ones to take action. Our life safety products also include smoke detectors.
Interested in home security? Krista Bruton is a DFW-based writer who covers smart home security and consumer protection. Detectors powered by batteries typically use a passive sensor technology which reacts to the prolonged exposure to CO gas. Regardless of the type of sensor used all detectors sold on the market today should conform to minimum sensitivity and alarm characteristics. These characteristics have been defined and are verified by Underwriters Laboratory in their standard for CO detectors UL This standard was most recently revised in June of and went into effect in October of This revision specified additional requirements regarding identification of detector type, low-level nuisance alarm sensitivity and alarm silencing.
Under no circumstances should one purchase a detector that is not UL listed. Detectors with built-in digital readouts seem to be the most reliable. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends a detector on each floor of a residence.
At a minimum, a single detector should be placed on each sleeping floor with an additional detector in the area of any major gas burning appliances such as a furnace or water heater. Installation in these areas ensures rapid detection of any potentially malfunctioning appliances and the ability to hear the alarm from all sleeping areas. In general, CO detectors should be placed high near the ceiling for most effective use. Detectors should also not be placed within five feet of gas fueled appliances or near cooking or bathing areas.
Consult the manufacturers installation instructions for proper placement of a detector within a given area. There are many conditions which can cause a CO detector to alarm. Most are preventable and few are actually life threatening. Ideally through proper placement of the detector and education of the users the number of preventable calls can be minimized and activation will only occur in the more serious situations. While many causes can be prevented others can not and may occur unpredictably.
Not only are these problems harder to predict but they also tend to be more serious in nature. Examples of these type problems are:.
Minimizing preventable events allows everyone to take other less preventable and predictable events more seriously. First and foremost, stay calm. As mentioned previously most situations resulting in activation of a CO detector are not life threatening and do not require calling To determine the need to call , ask the following question of everyone in the household: "Does anyone feel ill? Is anyone experiencing the 'flu-like' symptoms of headache, nausea or dizziness? If the answer to the above by anyone in the household is true, evacuate the household to a safe location and have someone call Failure to evacuate immediately may result in prolonged exposure and worsening effects from possible CO gas.
The best initial treatment for CO gas exposure is fresh air. If the answer to the above by everyone in the household is no, the likelihood of a serious exposure is greatly diminished and one probably does not need to call Instead, turn off any gas burning appliances or equipment, ventilate the area, and attempt to reset the alarm.
What to do if you suspect you have carbon monoxide poisoning? Open doors and windows to let in fresh air, turn off gas appliances and leave the house. See your doctor or go to hospital immediately — tell them you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, so they can check by doing a blood or breath test. Call the Gas Emergency Helpline on if you think there is imminent danger. Arrange for a Gas Safe registered engineer to check your gas appliances, flues and pipes. What is a carbon monoxide detector?
Ensure your carbon monoxide alarm has a battery life of five years Test your alarm weekly Fitting a carbon monoxide alarm is not a substitute for having your appliances regularly serviced Smoke alarms do not detect carbon monoxide Don't forget to take a portable audible carbon monoxide alarm on holiday with you.
For ultimate protection, place a carbon monoxide detector in every room you spend time in when awake and in bedrooms where you sleep. Do not fit detectors in enclosed spaces, like in cupboards or behind curtains or furniture. Don't place the carbon monoxide detector near windows, doors or fans, or in damp places such as bathrooms or next to extractor fans and cooker hobs.
If you are installing the alarm in the same room as the appliance, make sure it is between 1 metre and 3 metres horizontally from the appliance. You can fix the alarm to the wall or place it on a shelf or a bookcase, ideally above the level of any doors, windows or vents in the room and at least 15cm from the ceiling.
If you decide to fix it to the ceiling, make sure it is at least 30cm away from the walls or any light fittings. If you are installing the alarm in a room without an appliance, make sure it is about at head height your breathing level. You could stand it on a table or shelf.
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