What Carbon Monoxide Detectors Will & Won't Do

Carbon Monoxide Alarms

What they can and cannot do

• CAN - sense unacceptable levels of CO in the air
• CAN - provide early warning, before a healthy adult might show symptoms
• CAN - act as round-the-clock monitor of CO
• CAN - only sense CO that reaches it - Where you hang a detector is important
• CAN - breakdown like any other electronic device
• CANNOT - work without electrical power (batteries, AC)
• CANNOT - sense smoke, natural gas, propane, etc. (It is not a smoke detector!)

Where to put (or not put) your detector

• PUT - near a bedroom, or other room where people spend most of their time; where its alarm can be heard.
• READ the instructions that come with your Detector.
• DO NOT PUT - in garage, furnace room, near cooking stove, etc.
• DO NOT PUT - in dead air space, corner of room, near the floor, in the peak of a vaulted ceiling.
• DO NOT PUT - near open windows or doors.
• DO NOT PUT - in excessively hot or cold areas, or excessively damp or dry areas.
• DO NOT PUT - a cloth or plastic cover over the detector.

Used with permission from the author David G. Penney, PH.D