Carbon Monoxide Monitors

Think having carbon monoxide monitors inside your home is an extravagance?  Think again.  According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 200 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with home fuel-burning heating equipment. 

Carbon monoxide is present in almost every home in small concentrations.  The culprit?  Your very own appliances and/or fireplace.  Carbon monoxide can leak from faulty furnaces or fuel-fired heaters, or can be trapped inside by a blocked chimney or flue. Even running your car's engine in an attached garage can bring carbon monoxide into your home. 

Because carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, tasteless and non-irritating, it is very difficult to detect, which is why it's often called the "silent killer."  Once it becomes absorbed into the blood stream it can reduce the amount of oxygen that flows to your brain.  Even inhaling small amounts of it can lead to neurological damage or possibly death.  For these very reasons the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that each home have carbon monoxide monitors in the areas outside individual bedrooms. They also believe that carbon monoxide monitors are as important to home safety as smoke detectors.

What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, and what should you look for in a carbon monoxide monitor?  The following article sheds light on these important questions.

Carbon Monoxide Detector - Do I Really Need One?

What Is Carbon Monoxide?

Did you know that carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of deaths related to poison in the United States? Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and it can kill you before you even realize that something is wrong.  Carbon monoxide comes from generators, stoves, water heaters, and cars.  Carbon monoxide come in both a liquid and a gas form, and when lit, has a violet flame.  The poison bonds to your hemoglobin at the spots where oxygen usually bonds, and then it essentially cuts of the oxygen to your brain, heart, and other vital organs.  A Carbon Monoxide detector can protect you and your family from this dangerous poison.

What Does A Carbon Monoxide Detector Accomplish?

A carbon monoxide detector will alert you to a problem with the poison before anyone experiences symptoms and will protect you from inhaling this deadly chemical.  The Carbon Monoxide detector will beep to alert you of excess poison in the air.  The detector will allow you to immediately clear your home of people and/or pets.  You will have the opportunity to ventilate the home, and then hire a professional to find the specific source of the leak.

Symptoms Of Carbon Monoxide Exposure

Confusion, blurred vision, muscle weakness, light-headedness, vomiting, nausea, severe headaches, and ultimately unconsciousness.  Children, elderly, pregnant women, and people with respiratory difficulties are more sensitive and will be affected more quickly than others.

What To Look For In A Carbon Monoxide Detector:

Buy a UL standard brand, and install your Carbon Monoxide detector at least five feet from the floor.  You should do this because carbon monoxide is lighter than air, so it rises.  Do not install the Carbon Monoxide detector near any gas producing device, such as a gas heater or stove.  It is highly recommended to install a detector in the bedroom or sleeping area of your home, so the alert will be loud enough for everyone to hear it, wake up, and get to safety.  Make sure the Carbon Monoxide detector is not installed behind furniture or near draperies.  You can buy a Carbon Monoxide detector at nearly every home improvement store.  Other department stores, such as Target and WalMart, will carry a variety of brands as well.  There are detectors now that offer protection detection from both smoke and carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide is also known as a silent killer.  Take the steps and precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones.

About the Author:

Margarette Tustle writes for the home and the family. Find more important detector resources at factdetector.com.

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Synonyms:  Onoxide, omnoxide, mnoxide, mnooxide, mooxide, moonxide, monxide, momoxide, monxoide, monoide, monoixde, monoxde, monoxdie, monoxie, monoxied and monoxid are typos for "monoxide."