Installing a Carbon Monoxide Detector is as important as installing a house security system. Carbon monoxide is a very harmful gas, and it is very hard to detect if there is a leak within your house or the garage.
Gas can be present anywhere in your house, leading to any mishap. This gas is odourless, colourless, tasteless, and very different from smoke.
You need to have proper knowledge about the installation of these detectors. The article discussed the carbon monoxide detector placement for better safety.
Where Is The Best Place To Put A Carbon Monoxide Detector?
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The weight of carbon monoxide is lesser than in the air and can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Such poisoning is fatal.
Since this gas is lighter, it rises upwards, so the suitable height for placing the alarms is 5 feet above the floor or ceiling.
The next part is checking the location. Ideally, the places for installing the Carbon Monoxide detector would be:
1. Bedroom
The bedroom is the first place where you need to set up a CO detector. This is because you rest and sleep there. You now know that Increased levels of carbon monoxide are even harder to detect while you are asleep.
When the levels of the gas increase beyond acceptable levels, it causes carbon monoxide poisoning in your body, and you won’t even recognize the symptoms. At the same time, you are asleep, which could be fatal.
You should place the CO detector near your bed so that you can wake up as soon as the alarm starts blaring and leave the place as soon as possible.
Ensure that the heater in your room is far from the wall where you have installed the CO detector. You can also place the detector on the ceiling since carbon monoxide is lighter than air and rises.
- Installing carbon monoxide is a very easy task. The base of a carbon monoxide detector is provided with a removable mounting base. This circular base has two holes from where the screws will be inserted.
- Place this base at the spot where you have decided the set the carbon monoxide detector and hold it firmly with your hands. Make two small markings on the surface where you have placed the base with the help of a pencil.
- Now, remove the base and drill two holes over the marking with the help of a cordless drilling machine. Insert wall anchors of appropriate size inside the holes you just drilled.
- Now place the mounting base again on the surface with the wall anchors just below the holes and screw the bolts in with a screwdriver. Once you are sure, the mounting base is properly fixed, place the detector device over the mounting base and twist it to align both.
Make sure to check that the device is working correctly. Keep checking the detectors’ batteries regularly and change them when required.
2. Kitchen
Since Carbon Monoxide is gas, it spreads quickly in the atmosphere. When you are in the kitchen, you have several appliances present there, which could contribute to increasing the level of carbon monoxide without you even knowing about it.
Appliances like refrigerators and grills release carbon monoxide while working. Hence, there is a higher chance of increased gas levels in the kitchen.
Therefore, a carbon monoxide detector is very important in your kitchen. The instructions for installing the CO detector as the same as mentioned above.
The important thing you have to keep in mind here is that place the detector at a safe distance from your grill and refrigerator.
3. Living Room
Now, suppose you have a fireplace (either gas or wood-burning) in your living room and a window from where many pollutants can enter your house, carbon monoxide being one of them.
Such factors can also contribute to increasing the level of carbon monoxide inside your living room. To get alerted about the rising levels of carbon monoxide, you need to place a CO detector in the living room also.
The instructions for installing a CO detector are already mentioned above. The thing you need to take care of is that the detector you are setting should not be near the heater or your fireplace.
4. Basement
Having a CO detector in your basement is very important because you have appliances like a washing machine, clothes dryer, furnace, etc., there. Such appliances can significantly increase the levels of carbon monoxide in the air inside your house.
The instructions for installation are already given above; please refer to that. Now here, you need to keep two things in mind while placing the CO detector in your basement.
First, the detector you are placing should not be close to any carbon monoxide-emitting appliances like your clothes dryer.
The second thing is that your CO detector should blare the alarm loud enough to hear it loud and clear even if you are not in the basement.
Places to Avoid
There are some places in your house where placing the detectors could lead to a false alarm. So, these places should be avoided for installing the detectors.
- Bathroom: The bathroom has geysers and sometimes washing machines too if the room is big enough. The steam and heat can tamper with the sensitivity.
- Direct sunlight: Direct sunlight for long periods can damage the apparatus
- The heat-generating appliances: heat-generating appliances release heat and radiation that is not usually harmful in smaller amounts but the detector can still blare the alarm
- Stove and Gas furnace: Lots of heat production
- Within the reach of children: Small children could break the device or worse, have choking hazards so it is better to keep the detectors out of the reach of children if there are any in your house.
- Behind drapes or any other obstacles that could block the carbon monoxide to reach the sensor.
Does Carbon Monoxide Rise Or Stay Low?
Carbon Monoxide is a gas lighter than the air. It tends to rise higher. That is why it is recommended to place the carbon monoxide detectors at a certain height or better on the ceilings.
In this way, it gets easier for the detectors to check on the levels of increasing carbon monoxide, alarming you of it.
How Many Carbon Monoxide Detectors Are Needed In A House?
You do not need to place hundreds of detectors in your house. Just one detector on each floor is enough to alarm you regarding the carbon monoxide gas levels.
Yet, if you live in a big house, you can place more than one detector depending upon the room size. Just one thing you need to keep in mind is that you do not place direct flame very close to heaters, furnaces, fireplaces or washing machines.
Does Carbon Dioxide Rise Or Fall In A Room?
The levels of CO2 (Carbon dioxide) are very low in the atmosphere, but the gas is heavier than the oxygen. It tends to form a layer beneath the molecules of oxygen.
Since the gas is heavier, it falls, unlike the carbon monoxide gas, which is lighter in comparison and rises higher.
Should You Put A Carbon Monoxide Detector In Your Garage?
You can, and you should set up one of the detectors in the garage where your vehicle is parked. Vehicles are a significant source of carbon monoxide emissions.
Starting your vehicle’s engine and turning it off might seem normal, but still, it emits gas which goes undetected, and you cannot take the idea of its increasing levels without a detector. Please refer to the instructions above regarding the installation of a CO detector.
Final Talk
Having carbon monoxide detectors in your house is necessary to protect yourself from relatively undetectable increasing levels of carbon monoxide. Going through this article will undoubtedly clear your doubts regarding the carbon monoxide detector placement.
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