What Does a Carbon Monoxide Detector Do and How Does it Work?

John Carlsen

Staff Writer, Security & Smart Dwelling

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It might seem like a fourth dimension-saver to run your car in the garage before a long commute, peculiarly on a cold winter's morning. But the emissions from your vehicle can fill your garage with carbon monoxide (CO)—a dangerous, silent threat—even if the garage door is open up.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas that claims over 430 lives a year.1

Information technology's a byproduct of burning carbon fuel like the natural gas in your stove and the gasoline in your car. Even small doses of carbon monoxide can cause permanent harm or decease.

What does a CO detector do?

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Nigh carbon monoxide

What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide gas is a simple molecule: i office carbon and i role oxygen. Carbon monoxide comes when carbon fuel—like wood, gasoline, coal, propane, natural gas, and heating oil—fails to burn completely (incomplete combustion).

These energy sources aren't dangerous when you lot burn them in an open area with plenty of ventilation. Simply carbon monoxide is chancy in confined spaces—like basements, kitchens, garages, or campers.

Carbon monoxide is hard to discover without a sensor, which is one of the reasons it'south so dangerous.

Sources of carbon monoxide gas

chart-common-causes--of-carbon-monoxide-poisoning

Epitome source: safewise.com

Why is carbon monoxide dangerous?

Carbon monoxide is deadly because information technology binds with your red blood cells and starves your body of oxygen afterwards passing into your lungs.

These are the early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning:

  • Headache
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Dizziness
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue

Perchance about troubling is the similarity to cold or influenza-like symptoms that are easy to ignore—shortness of jiff, nausea, and mild headaches. Disorientation and unconsciousness can occur when levels of carbon monoxide reach 150 parts per meg (ppm).2 Eventually, the symptoms plow lethal without treatment.

How can I preclude carbon monoxide poisoning?

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious run a risk, but fortunately, information technology's preventable. Here are 5 tips for avoiding exposure, including installing sensors throughout your home.

  • Never heat your habitation with a gas range. Gas stoves produce carbon monoxide and can fill up your abode with the unsafe gas.
  • Don't run your auto in the garage. If you lot want to warm upward your vehicle in the winter, pull out of the garage kickoff. Carbon monoxide is a common byproduct of vehicle exhaust and builds up quickly in a closed (or even open) garage.
  • Ever take proper ventilation. It'southward extremely dangerous to run gas-powered tools (like generators, space heaters, and force per unit area washers) in an enclosed surface area like a basement or garage without adequate ventilation.
  • Exercise cooking condom while camping ground. You should enjoy the wilderness safely. Don't employ a charcoal grill, hibachi, or camping stove inside your dwelling house, tent, or camper. Besides, open flames and fabric tents don't tend to get along.
  • Install a carbon monoxide detector. The best carbon monoxide detectors are affordable, easy to install, and tin can salve your life. We recommend installing one on every level of your home, near each bedroom, and near your garage.

Detecting carbon monoxide

How do you observe carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide detectors are the fastest way to foreclose CO poisoning. You can install a carbon monoxide alert (or multiple detectors) in your home. They work much like your fire or fume alarm by sounding a siren when they detect carbon monoxide.

You tin can find simple models similar the Kidde Nighthawk that set off a siren, or smart detectors like the Google Nest Protect* that connect to your smartphone or home security system.

Mid-2021, Kidde voluntarily recalled two of its combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Our recommendation isn't 1 of those alarms.

How do carbon monoxide detectors work?

Carbon monoxide detectors sound an alarm when they sense a certain amount of carbon monoxide over time. Different sensors set up off dissimilar types of alerts:

  • Biomimetic sensor: a gel changes color when information technology absorbs carbon monoxide, and this color change triggers the alarm.
  • Metal oxide semiconductor: when the silica flake'due south circuitry detects carbon monoxide, it lowers the electrical resistance, and this change triggers the alert.
  • Electrochemical sensor: electrodes in a chemical solution sense changes in electrical currents when they come into contact with carbon monoxide, and this alter triggers the alarm.

Once the carbon monoxide detector alert sounds, it must be in a carbon monoxide-free surroundings to silence the siren.

When will my carbon monoxide detector go off?

The CO alert sounds if your sensor detects a buildup of carbon monoxide in your abode—usually before you lot start sensing symptoms. With a low CO level (50 ppm), it may take upwardly to 8 hours for the alarm to go off. Higher levels (over 150 ppm) can trigger an alarm within minutes.3

Act quickly when an alarm sounds considering low doses over long periods tin can be just equally dangerous as sudden carbon monoxide exposure in ultra-high doses.

What do I do if my carbon monoxide detector goes off?

  1. Commencement, don't panic. Gather everyone in your house and move outside for fresh air.
    • On the way exterior, open every bit many doors and windows as possible to help air out your home. To reduce exposure, don't become out of your mode to open every door and window, just the ones along the mode.
    • Know the difference between an actual alert and the detector's "end of life" alarm, which has a dissimilar sound.
  2. Survey anybody'due south wellness and cheque for any influenza-like symptoms that could suggest poisoning.
  3. If yous notice any symptoms, telephone call 911 immediately.
  4. If possible, do non reenter your domicile until the warning stops sounding or emergency responders deem your home rubber.
  5. Contact a professional to evaluate every fossil fuel-called-for apparatus (specially furnaces, boilers, h2o heaters, and stoves) and whatever other possible source of carbon monoxide to prevent a hereafter incident.

Regular maintenance and inspections can aid foreclose condom hazards in your home, similar a faulty furnace or fireplace.

Choosing a carbon monoxide detector

What kind of carbon monoxide detector should I go?

Overall, carbon monoxide detectors sense CO fast and alert you as soon equally they practise. Merely in that location's a surprising amount of variety in today's carbon monoxide sensors.

Some unproblematic models plug into outlets or apply a battery and alert you with a loud siren, like the one on your smoke detector. These models are cheap and suitable for multi-room buildings that need several units spread throughout.

Many models include sensors for both smoke and carbon monoxide. These are an easy option that you tin can swap out your existing smoke detectors for. They also reduce the number of sensors on your walls or ceilings.

Y'all can also discover smart models that connect with your domicile security organization or alert you of danger through a mobile app. These models are expensive but can be a wise investment if you desire extra condom for kids and pets at habitation.

Where should I place a carbon monoxide detector?

Ensure everyone in the house can hear when an alert goes off by placing a CO sensor in or near each of three critical locations in your domicile:

  • At least one on each level—including the basement and cranium
  • Near each bedroom or sleeping space
  • By doors that atomic number 82 to fastened garages

Follow your local laws and the manufacturer's instructions for additional guidance beyond these 3 locations (for case, some states require sensors in utility rooms). You can also check out our guide on the best places to install CO monitors for more information.

How many carbon monoxide detectors exercise I need?

First, discover out if your local laws require carbon monoxide detectors inside every enclosed sleeping area in a dwelling unit of measurement. In these cases, you lot need a sensor for every sleeping room.

Almost states require sensors within a certain distance of bedrooms, and so a single sensor in a shared hallway tin encompass multiple bedrooms. This overlaps with the "1-sensor-per-level" rule.

Compare the all-time carbon monoxide detectors

*Amazon.com list cost as of 10/13/21 at 1:00 p.thou. (MT). Read full disclaimer.

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Sources

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (CO)," March 2021. Accessed October 13, 2021.
  2. United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, "Carbon Monoxide Questions and Answers," September 2008. Accessed October 13, 2021.
  3. Kidde, Fire Prophylactic, "What Are the Carbon Monoxide Levels That Will Sound the Alarm?," October 2019. Accessed October 13, 2021.
  4. National Fire Protection Association, "Carbon Monoxide Alarms," June 2013. Accessed October xiii, 2021.​

Disclaimers

Production prices and availability are accurate as of the appointment/fourth dimension indicated and are subject area to change. Whatever toll and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of buy will employ to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided "as is" and is subject area to change or removal at any time.

†Google, Google Nest, Google Assistant, and other related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.

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Information as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are bailiwick to modify. SafeWise uses paid Amazon links.

†Google and Google Nest Secure are trademarks of Google LLC.

John Carlsen

Written by

John Carlsen

John is a engineering journalist specializing in smart home devices, security cameras, and home security systems. He has over nine years of experience researching, testing, and reviewing the latest tech—he was the Smart Home Editor for Superlative 10 Reviews and wrote for ASecureLife before joining SafeWise as a Staff Author in 2020. John holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism emphasis from Utah Valley Academy. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, photography, cooking, and starting countless DIY projects he has withal to consummate.

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