Reviewed By Sam: Carbon Monoxide detectors

Do you have carbon monoxide detectors in your home?

Just before the winter season, we had our gas furnace inspected. We wanted to make sure everything was in good working order for the coming cold weather.

During the inspection, the service guy asked if we had carbon monoxide detectors in the house.

Fran and I looked at each other with this blank look on both of our faces because the answer was no we don't.

We've been living in this house for almost five years now and never gave it a thought. I don't know why because we had them in our last home.

What is Carbon Monoxide? Carbon monoxide is orderless, tasteless, colorless, and is not detected easily. It is a product of incomplete combustion of organic matter.

You can learn all you need to know about carbon monoxide here.

You might ask, why do I need carbon monoxide detectors?

Carbon Monoxide is known as the silent killer. There are more than 150 unintentional deaths every year from carbon monoxide poisoning.

You can find the statistics here.

When do you need carbon monoxide detectors:

One interesting fact that I found out is that even if your house is totally electric you may still need to have a carbon monoxide detector. If your garage is attached to the house or you have a wood burning fireplace or stove it is recommended that you have a detector.

I also found that there are different kinds of alarms. Plug in with a battery backup, ones that the battery will need to be changed once a year, and the sealed battery types that will last 10 years.

I bought two of the Universal sealed battery types. The instructions will give the recommended carbon monoxide alarm location for your home.

I placed one in the hallway where our bedrooms are and one in the basement. I got my wife, daughter, and grandsons together and pushed the test button so everybody knows exactly what the alarm sounds like.

Some State Laws require that you have carbon monoxide alarms See States here:

So, if you don't have carbon monoxide alarms in your home please think again.