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Carbon Monoxide Guide

Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors.

Every home should have one or more CO alarms. This applies to homes with electric appliances as well if you have an attached garage, a fire place, or if you use portable kerosene heaters, etc.

CO alarms are necessary because there is no other way to detect its presence until it is too late. The gas has no odor, no color and no smell. Firefighters need special detection equipment to find the source. Back when CO alarms first hit the market, many fire departments were not trained or equipped to find CO.

Sources of Carbon Monoxide:  Un-vented kerosene and gas space heaters; leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline powered equipment; automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke.  Incomplete oxidation during combustion in gas ranges and unvented gas or kerosene heaters may cause high concentrations of CO in indoor air.  Worn or poorly adjusted and maintained combustion devices (e.g., boilers, furnaces) can be significant sources, or if the flue is improperly sized, blocked, disconnected, or is leaking.  Auto, truck, or bus exhaust from attached garages, nearby roads, or parking areas can also be a source.

It is most important to be sure combustion equipment is maintained and properly adjusted.  Vehicular use should be carefully managed adjacent to buildings and in vocational programs.  Additional ventilation can be used as a temporary measure when high levels of CO are expected for short periods of time.

• Keep gas appliances properly adjusted.

• Consider purchasing a vented space heater when replacing an unvented one.

• Use proper fuel in kerosene space heaters.

• Install and use an exhaust fan vented to outdoors over gas stoves.

• Open flues when fireplaces are in use.

• Choose properly sized wood stoves that are certified to meet EPA emission standards. Make certain that doors on all wood stoves fit tightly.

• Have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune-up central heating system (furnaces, flues, and chimneys) annually. Repair any leaks promptly.

• Do not idle the car inside garage.

National standards recommend that a CO alarm be placed near the bedrooms close enough to hear it when the bedroom doors are closed. If the bedrooms are not together, additional CO alarms will be needed. In larger homes, just one CO alarm may not be close enough to other parts of the home to be heard. For example, if the CO alarm is upstairs and you have a family room on the lower level, you might need an additional unit to be close enough to hear it. If the room in in the basement, there will be two levels separating you from the CO alarm, so it is less likely that you will hear it. In this case, a CO alarm on each level is prudent.  
CO alarms manufactured today only respond to higher levels of CO that are an imminent threat.

Since January 2005, there has been much action taken across the nation to ensure that CO detection becomes part of the residential life safety matrix.  

Return to: Smoke Alarm Part 1, Smoke Part 2,  Carbon Monoxide, Fire Escape Plans, Fire Extinguishers, Fire Sprinklers