What Carbon Monoxide Detectors Will & Won't Do
Carbon Monoxide Alarms
What they can and cannot do
- CAN - sense unacceptable levels of CO in the air
- CAN - provide early warning, before a healthy adult might show symptoms
- CAN - act as round-the-clock monitor of CO
- CAN - only sense CO that reaches it - Where you hang a detector is important
- CAN - breakdown like any other electronic device
- CANNOT - work without electrical power (batteries, AC)
- CANNOT - sense smoke, natural gas, propane, etc. (It is not a smoke detector!)
Where to put (or not put) your detector
- PUT - near a bedroom, or other room where people spend most of their time; where its alarm can be heard.
- READ the instructions that come with your Detector.
- DO NOT PUT - in garage, furnace room, near cooking stove, etc.
- DO NOT PUT - in dead air space, corner of room, near the floor, in the peak of a vaulted ceiling.
- DO NOT PUT - near open windows or doors.
- DO NOT PUT - in excessively hot or cold areas, or excessively damp or dry areas.
- DO NOT PUT - a cloth or plastic cover over the detector.
Used with permission from the author David G. Penney, PH.D