What Carbon Monoxide Detectors Will & Won't Do

Carbon Monoxide Alarms

What they can and cannot do

• CAN – sense unacceptable levels of CO in the air
• CAN – provide early warning, before a healthy adult might show symptoms
• CAN – act as round-the-clock monitor of CO
• CAN – only sense CO that reaches it – Where you hang a detector is important
• CAN – breakdown like any other electronic device
• CANNOT – work without electrical power (batteries, AC)
• CANNOT – sense smoke, natural gas, propane, etc. (It is not a smoke detector!)

Where to put (or not put) your detector

• PUT – near a bedroom, or other room where people spend most of their time; where its alarm can be heard.
• READ the instructions that come with your Detector.
• DO NOT PUT – in garage, furnace room, near cooking stove, etc.
• DO NOT PUT – in dead air space, corner of room, near the floor, in the peak of a vaulted ceiling.
• DO NOT PUT – near open windows or doors.
• DO NOT PUT – in excessively hot or cold areas, or excessively damp or dry areas.
• DO NOT PUT – a cloth or plastic cover over the detector.