The Importance of Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Heating Season
Carbon monoxide poisoning kills hundreds of people in the US every year and sends more than 100,000 people to the emergency room for treatment. The biggest issue with carbon monoxide is that it is entirely odorless and colorless, which is why you often hear it referred to as the silent killer. While carbon monoxide detectors generally aren’t necessary if you have an all-electric home, you should make sure you have them if you heat your home with a gas furnace. In this article, we’ll explain how a gas furnace creates a risk of carbon monoxide exposure and everything else you need to know about carbon monoxide detectors including where they should be installed, and which type is the best.
How Heating Can Create a Risk of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning is always a risk if you have a gas furnace, gas fireplace or any other type of gas-burning appliance in your home, such as a water heater. There is also a risk if you have a wood-burning stove since any type of organic fuel source can produce carbon monoxide when it burns if it doesn’t combust completely. Incomplete combustion normally happens when the flames produced by the burning fuel don’t receive sufficient oxygen, which can occur if a furnace isn’t properly maintained or is incorrectly working.
Even if you have a gas- or wood-burning appliance that produces carbon monoxide, it normally shouldn’t leak out in your house. Combustion fumes should normally flow straight outside through the exhaust flue or chimney. The issue is if the flue or chimney is clogged or not properly designed, which can result in the fumes backing up and leaking out. Another potential issue with a gas furnace is that the heat exchanger can end up developing a crack or hole that allows the combustion fumes to leak out. This creates the biggest risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Since the fumes will end up leaking into the home’s ductwork, the heating system then circulates them into every part of the house.
Depending on the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air, the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can start occurring within just a few minutes of exposure. After this point, it is only a matter of time before a person will lose consciousness if they don’t get outside and start breathing fresh air. A high percentage of the fatal cases of carbon monoxide poisoning occur when a person is sleeping and unable to recognize the first symptoms like dizziness, nausea, headache, etc. The result is that the person ends up passing out and eventually stops breathing. Therefore, carbon monoxide detectors throughout your house are important so that you’ll quickly know if carbon monoxide is present and can immediately get everyone and any pets outside before they lose consciousness.
An Overview of Where to Place Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air, which means it slowly rises to near the top of a room. Experts recommend placing each carbon monoxide detector on a wall at least five feet above the floor or directly on the ceiling close to the middle of the room or hallway.
The fact that so many cases of carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning occur at night is why you should make sure you have one detector inside each bedroom or out in the hallway within 10 feet of each bedroom door. If you have multiple bedrooms located together in the same hallway, one detector in the hallway will suffice if it is still no further than 10 feet away from all the bedroom doors.
You also need to make sure you have at least one unit on every floor of your home as well as a unit approximately 15 feet away from each potential source of carbon monoxide, i.e., your furnace, water heater, fireplace, etc. In many homes, the furnace and water heater are located right next to each other and share the same exhaust flue. In this case, one detector will suffice for both appliances.
When building a new home, building codes require you to have carbon monoxide detectors installed in all the places we just mentioned. You’re also usually required to update your home so that you have detectors in all the necessary places when performing extensive renovations. Existing homes are essentially grandfathered in and don’t have to be updated to meet the requirements. Nonetheless, it’s something you should still do if you currently don’t have carbon monoxide detectors as well as smoke detectors in all the places you should.
Why Interconnected Carbon Monoxide Detectors Are the Safest Option
Battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors are relatively inexpensive and work just as effectively as hard-wired detectors. Nonetheless, hard-wired detectors are always going to be the safest, most reliable option for two different reasons. The first is that they are wired to your electrical system while also having batteries as a backup in case the power to your home is out. The fact that the detector has two different power sources means you have a failsafe that should ensure the alarm always goes off if carbon monoxide is present. You still want to test each detector in your house every month to make sure that the batteries still work, but the chances of the batteries in a unit being dead and your power being out at the same time are extremely slim.
The other reason why hard-wired carbon monoxide detectors are far safer is that every unit in the home is interconnected instead of each one being a standalone unit. This interconnectivity ensures that the detectors in every part of your house will all immediately set off their alarm if any one of them detects carbon monoxide. This gives you an extra level of protection since you don’t need to worry about not waking up if a detector in the opposite part of the house goes off at night. While hard-wired detectors are more expensive and need to be installed by an electrician, the added safety and reliability they provide make it more than worth paying a bit more. It’s also worth it to pay a bit extra for combination carbon monoxide/smoke detectors since then you’ll have half as many detectors that you need to test every month.
Crystal Blue Plumbing, Heating & Air is a locally-owned company that has been serving the Sacramento County area for nearly 50 years. We offer expert heating maintenance services and can inspect your furnace to ensure it isn’t producing carbon monoxide and is properly venting outside. We can also handle all your repair needs to ensure your heating works all winter or help if you’re looking to upgrade to a new furnace or switch to heating and cooling your home with a heat pump. Our certified HVAC technicians have years of experience working with central and ductless mini-split heating and cooling and are ready to help with all your home comfort needs. Whether you need to schedule a fall heating tune-up or need any other help with your HVAC, indoor air quality, or plumbing, contact us to get the expert service your home and family deserve.