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How should I install and use a carbon monoxide detector?
Home » Home Security » Carbon Monoxide Detectors » How should I install and use a carbon monoxide detector?Carbon monoxide detectors are common home items sold in home improvement stores, general retailers, and online. In most stores, these detectors will be in the same section as fire safety units. If you have any problem distinguishing between different types of detectors, ask a store employee for help. The U.S. Fire Administration recommends purchasing a UL (Underwriters’ Laboratories) carbon monoxide detector, so look for UL approval on the box.
Install your carbon monoxide detectors near sleeping areas and at least five feet above the floor. If your home has more than one floor, experts recommend putting a carbon monoxide detector on each level. Choose a spot that is clean and out of the way so that the detector will not suffer from dirt trafficking and people knocking into it. Do not install a detector near bathrooms, furnaces, or oil burning heat sources. The humidity and fuel by-products that escape from these areas will interfere with the operation of your detector.
Once you have installed your carbon monoxide detector, test it to make sure it is working properly. If you have more than one detector, test each one individually. First Alert, Inc., a leading producer of carbon monoxide detectors, recommends testing your detector each week. Don’t test your alarm, however, by placing it in the path of car exhaust, as car exhaust permanent damages your alarm. Once you have tested your alarm, test your family: make sure that everyone in your family both recognizes the sound of the alarm and knows what to do when the alarm goes off.
If the alarm sounds, first silence the alarm, and then check to see if anyone in the house is experiencing the flu-like symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. If no one is feeling sick, turn off all appliances that might be burning fossil fuels, and then open doors and windows to ventilate the house. If you or someone in your family, however, is feeling nauseous or fatigued, do the above steps, but also call 911 and move outside to fresh air. Don’t return to the house until the responding authorities have assured you that it is safe to do so.
In some cases, your carbon monoxide detector will sound an alarm unnecessarily. You may need to move your detector further away (at least ten feet) away from a furnace or other carbon monoxide source. In many cases, however, you may simply need a new detector or new batteries. Most detectors last at least five years, but continue to test yours to make sure it is still operational.
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