When it comes to protecting your family from carbon monoxide poisoning, there’s nothing more effective than installing carbon monoxide detectors in your home. The trick is knowing where to install these devices. Follow these tips for the best results.
- Near sleeping areas: A high percentage of carbon monoxide poisoning victims are exposed when they’re sleeping. To make sure they wake you up, install one outside each sleeping area in your home. The hallway is a great place to place a detector, since you want to be alerted before the gas infiltrates your bedroom.
- Near sources of carbon monoxide: Anything that can combust fossil fuels is a source of carbon monoxide gas. This includes gas- or oil-fired furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces, gas stoves and cars running in attached garages. To catch leaks, place detectors on each floor in your home where they’re found.
- On or near the ceiling: Carbon monoxide is usually contained in warm air, which rises above cool air. You can increase the chance of early leak detection by placing carbon monoxide detectors on or near the ceiling.
- On every floor of your home: CO detectors should be placed near sleeping areas, the basement and attached garages. If any level of your home is left unprotected after installing detectors in these areas, add another one for good measure.
- Away from certain areas: To prevent false alarms, don’t install carbon monoxide detectors in the bathroom, in direct sunlight, within 15 feet of combustion appliances, behind curtains, next to windows or drafty areas, or near return and supply registers.
If your carbon monoxide detector goes off, immediately exit the building. Make sure everyone is accounted for. Then, call the fire department. Stay out of the building until the premise is deemed safe to enter by the professionals. Have them find the cause of the problem and fix it without delay.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is serious business, so you’re wise for taking the time to learn how to detect leaks. For more tips on selecting and installing carbon monoxide detectors, please contact Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc. We’ve been proudly serving Dayton residents since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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