Hi. Do any of you recommend a particular brand and model of CO detector? I bought one last fall, but now I hear that the kind I bought is not that good. I was going to buy a few more anyway, and I will replace the one I have. Any suggestions?
Dont know which country you're in but you want 1 with long term stability of CO cell; many don't. The HSE (UK Govn't body} only found 2 satisfactory.
1 was "SF" brand, 1 "Kidde"; latter available both sides of pond.
Hi. Thanks for your reply. I'm in the United States. The brand I bought is a Kidde, but apparently Kidde makes many different models. The one I bought is a combined carbon monoxide and smoke detector. Now I hear that it is not advisable to have the two combined in one device. Supposedly, the carbon monoxide detectors should be intalled at a much lower level than the smoke detectors. The smoke detectors should be installed on a ceiling, whereas the CO detectors should be at about the level of an electrical outlet or not more than five feet above the floor. I was told that CO may not rise as high as the ceiling fast enough to be detected. By the time the CO reaches the ceiling-mounted detector, a person will have breathed in a substantial amount while lying in a bed that is much closer to the floor. The one I bought is only battery operated. I hear that they make CO detectors that can be plugged into an electrical outlet but they have battery backups in the event that there is a power failure.
You have very good detectors Co spreads out , your unit will detect it. I use a Nighthawk Co- Ng leak detector digital display, 120- battery backup. The nice thing about digital display is the memory high level function, it allows you to monitor low level peaks that won`t alarm the system but are a danger sign that something is going wrong. What you have works. Low levels that don`t alarm will indicate Co from cracked exchangers, blocked chimneys etc . You can get headaches from low level even though it won`t alarm.
I have heard this one both ways. While I would think that most sources of CO will be be heat producing sources and as such the warm air would force the CO to rise quickly. CO is lighter than air and will tend to rise.
I have had one personal encounter with CO. In that case the CO concentrations were decently greater at five feet than at four feet and greater at four feet than one foot. We had a number of people. Many sleeping on the floor, some sitting upright, some standing. Those standing where first to be effected and suffered the most during the next few days. Those sitting also experienced problems, but not as severe. The first couple who were sitting stood up and were quickly effected. The others seeing that did not stand up but got to their hands and knees and were less effected and were able to help the others and alert those sleeping. In the end there were no lasting injuries.
I have mine mounted about five foot up just outside the bed room area on the second floor and another mounted at outlet height on the first floor.
BTW the one upstairs is of a new design and can record and display levels that are too low to set off the alarm, but may be a good early warning.
'nuff said.
look. you are being duped into buying things you dont need. if you keep researching it you will eventually be convinced you need 30 different types of CO detectors for your house to cover any and all 'possible' scenareos, plus one you wear around with you everywhere.
buy any CO detector, or better yet since you already have one, dont buy anything. install it as per the instructions that came with it, maintain it as per instructions, and get on with your life.
randy
sure. all the propaganda you need to scare the hell out of you in one convenient location.
if you bother to read those references you will come to two conclusions:
1) you need one in the garage far more than in your house. 2) some people are just too stupid to stay alive.look, im not saying you shouldnt have a co detector in your house. i have one. but in the greater scheme of things, the risk is far overrated. why? because it sells product. same as burglar alarms, hand sanitizing wipes, and flu shots.
randy
Thank you for your insightful comments.
I really don't think chemqueries is being duped. It appears he is doing his research in a logical way, not accepting advertising at face value.
Maybe a simple comment stating the obvious that the referenced web page is a commercial site and as such is not likely to provide a balanced view would have been more helpful.
This is correct...
.. but this is not. The density of air is 1.29 grams/liter; that of CO, 1.25. This is not a significant difference: the density of nitrogen is *also* 1.25 grams/liter, and air doesn't separate with nitrogen at the top, and oxygen (1.4 g/l) at the bottom.
Undoubtedly because it was warmer than the air, and hence less dense.
Glad nobody suffered any permanent ill effects.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
and i am offering a logical solution.
why all the research all of a sudden? someone got to him. probably the tv...
randy
yeah, maybe one would be. a simple comment. hmm.. how bout a comment like the one i made... or was it too obtuse for you? you need me to tell you what obtuse means?
is this my old english teacher or something? you still mad because i dont believe in punctuation either?
ok ok, im jumping your ass, but i dont need a net nanny. if you have something to say, say it. if you dont like what i said, or how i said it, restate it in your own reply. you're pissing in my kool aid.
randy
Xronger, Co is not an over rated problem, one instance of several I have seen was my 80 yr old neighbor kept complaining of headaches, I smelled nothing and was fine as were other people, I brought my Co detector over and it read 50 only when the furnace ran, she got out a repairman and found only because he took the furnace apart 3 -9" splits in the exchanger. It would have only gotten worse, but even her illness could have been avoided. Ive had 3 other instances that allowed me to make equipment replacements or repairs before anything serious happened , Im no hvac pro just a home owner and have seen the benefits. Ng leak detectors are not a waste especialy for elderly that do not smell well. My parents recently did not notice the stove was on and not burning when I arrived, or sewer gas from a dry trap that stunk up the house so bad I opened the windows. Yes I got them 2, Co. Ng. detectors. Leaks are common and houses do blow up. The real point is for 50$ you have insurance, ten-20 years ago it would have cost thousands.
smell well> My parents recently did not notice the stove was on and not burning when I arrived, or sewer gas from a dry trap that stunk up the house so bad I> opened the windows. Yes I got them 2, Co. Ng. detectors. Leaks are> common and houses do blow up. The real point is for 50$ you have
Hi mRansley. Can you tell me more about the sewer gas problem? A few weeks ago, I noticed a foul, sulfur-like odor coming from the downstairs bathroom, which I rarely use. I couldn't pinpoint exactly where in the bathroom the odor was coming from. I just knew it was from the bathroom. I flushed the toilet several times because I thought the water might have been stagnant because, as I said, I rarely use that bathroom. I have not noticed the odor since that time. Could that have been a sewer gas problem? I tend to doubt it because I tend to think that if it were sewer gas, the problem would have persisted in spite of my flushing the toilet. Would the sewer gas smell like rotten eggs?
Is there a bathtub? Every few weeks you need to let some water into the drain to keep the trap filled. Same with the sink. Traps under sinks and tubs stop gasses from the sewer only if there is water in them.
I agree with Xronger, don't buy stuff you don't need....
It is pretty common here to see people who installed CO detectors in the all electric houses! Why? stupid TV shows that scare people into thinking they need CO detectors.
Don't take my word for it... Buy detector, run furnace set your detector 2 feet away and look at the reading.
If it reads "0" return detector back and save your money for the furnace inspection every one - two years.
Since you rarely use the bathroon the water in the toilet trap probably evaporated over time alowing sewer gas in, it will happen faster with sinks , tubs or any drain with a trap. If the smell went away it was a dry trap, If the smell doesn`t go away it could be a bad wax ring. The hardest to find and fix is an enclosed cracked vent stack. But since yours went away it was sewer gas comming in from a dry trap, just flush once in a while.
probably
Hi. Thanks again for your help. As you can probably tell, most of this is new to me. Can you explain to me what these traps are for? I'm assuming they act as some kind of "buffer" in between the house and the sewer, but I'm not sure.
Joseph Meehan wrote: I have heard this one both ways. While I would think that most sources
Hi. Thanks for your help. After looking at a number of different CO detector models, it appears as if the differences in price amoung them tend to reflect how sensitive the detectors are at detecting lower parts-per-million levels.
I understand that some posters here think I'm merely responding to advertising, but this past winter alone, I've heard of several instances of local residents dying when animals took up residence in their chimneys, which prevented CO from escaping. I need to put a wildlife cover on the chimney, but I've been told the chimney needs to be repaired first. Drilling into it now will probably cause it to crumble. A few years ago, the co-worker of a friend of mine died from CO poisoning while flying in his airplane. These things happen. While they may happen with much lower frequency than other accidents, like automobile accidents, I would rather be safe than sorry.
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