Correct location of CO detector

Lee_3

My gas fired furnace and boiler are in the basement, There is an outlet between t6hese two devices near the ceiling.
Is this OK or should it be lower for better detection?

Jim Davis

Detector location

A CO detector should always be mounted at eye level. CO is slightly lighter than air and comes out hot which causes it to rise. Hot air lingers at the ceiling therefore CO tends to be higher at the ceiling. The question is can you hear it from your bedrooms if it is in the basement? Near the bedrooms is the best location if you only have one detector. Other things can cause CO in the home such as ovens, vehicles, fireplaces etc. Have seen alarms plugged in low at wall outlets and not detect any CO from appliances within 6 feet, even though these appliances were making over 2000 ppm of CO.

Jo Jo

are those first alert

combo smoke and CO detector any good?

Jim Davis

First Alert

Not the best, just the cheapest

Mark Hunt

good for


letting the EMT's know why you are on the floor and that's about all.

If you want REAL protection, go here:

www.coexperts.com

Do not buy a false sense of security. 70ppm of CO could be deadly to some, yet the detector you mention will not alarm at that level for several hours, if it alarms at all.

This is one product you DO NOT want to skimp on.

Mark H

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Jim Davis

CO EXperts

You probably cannot buy this direct, so you will have to see if one of these contractors will be nice enough to sell you one!!

jerry scharf

here's where to buy the CO Experts direct

Jim,

They can be had on the net at http://www.aeromedix.com/. This is an aviation medical site, and probably one of the best out there. Brent Blue has been doing for the general aviation world what you folks are doing in the heating world.

His interest is even harder to sell, the compromise of mental ability from CO at altitude. Not only can't you see or smell it, the accident may well be just chalked up to pilot error. All this to pilots who are convinced of their superiority. Fortunately, my flight instructor was serious/fanatical about safety.

jerry

Jim Davis

Prefer HVAC Cont

I prefer homeowners buy the alarm from someone that can respond correctly to its alarm levels. Otherwise when it goes off they will be told the alarm is too sensitive or it is defective.

kk_2

Unfortunately half of the HVAC contractors out there are gonna say the same thing.

jerry scharf

go to your contractor???

Jim,

I respectfully disagree. We have to push on all fronts.

If you say the customer should get it from the contractor, do you really expect to get people to change to a contractor that cares about CO?

Most contractors will tell them to go to HD and buy any UL rated unit and plug it in somewhere. Why should we leave customers poorly protected until the contractors are retrained. It may well be the customers converting the contractors rather than the other way around.

just MHO.

jerry

Jim Davis

I would assume that a homeowner on this site would want to have a contractor at this site handle it. Are you saying 50% of the contractors on this site don't care or don't want to bother?

kk_2

No - I think the contractors that frequent this site are much more interested in staying current on such things than the contractor you're likely to find in the phone book. What do you think the percentage of contractors are that have ever even seen this site? Maybe 1%? 5%? I don't know what the number is, but I'm sure it's low.

My 50% number, which was completely pulled out of the air, was in no way meant to slam the many knowledgeable people here.

jerry scharf

50%

Jim,

I didn't say anything about percentages, but I'll throw in my conjecture. What I think is that 90+% (maybe 99%) of the homeowners visiting this site do not have a contractor that is active on this site. Dan recently posted some numbers, and if I remember them right there were over a million visitors per month to the site.

I truely belive in what you are doing and have the utmost respect for you. I'd rather every HO that reads this go out and get a high quality CO alarm. If there's a problem, they call a contractor. If the contractor doesn't take it seriously and doesn't test (where's you certificate,) they should find one that does! That would drive the contractors like no amount of preaching could.

DanH: perhaps you could put up something prominently on the front page of heatinghelp.com that links to an area that talks about CO for both the contractor and the homeowner and maybe other segemnts as well (building inspectors??). With your traffic through that page, it could make a big difference. Things for each group to think about themselves, things for each to share with the other... I bet there are a few people who would help with the copy!

It's great being an armchair quarterback.

jerry

Jeremy_2

Are there CO detectors that interconnect like a lot of smoke detectors do, so that if one goes off all connected alarms do?

Jim Davis

Real expensive and set at high levels-70ppm