Carbon monoxide poisoning is far more common than most people believe. If you have any type of combustion appliance in your home or building (water heater, cooking stove/oven, furnace, boiler, fireplace, etc.), you should have a carbon monoxide monitor nearby. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, tasteless byproduct of incomplete combustion. The only way to know it’s there is to have a monitor.
We evaluate our clients’ appliances to ensure they’re drafting properly. It’s not uncommon to see signs of flue-gas “spillage.” The most common symptom we see is on domestic water heaters: rust and corrosion on the top of the tank, close to the draft hood.
Most store-bought monitors won’t alarm at low levels. Many require a minimum of 75ppm (parts per million) for up to 3.5 hours prior to alarming. This won’t do you much good, since you’ll likely be passed out on the floor by the time it makes a beep. CO is lighter than air, so it rises to the top of our buildings. Most CO monitors are “plug-in” types, which means that they’re typically installed about 18″ off of the floor. This will do a good job protecting your pets from CO, but to protect you, they should be installed at head-height or higher.
Here is a good video that discussed the benefits of low-level monitors. This one is the NSI 3000, which we install in our clients’ homes. If you’d like to learn more, you can contact us.