With winter coming soon, it’s vital that you have equipped your home appropriately with carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a very serious threat to any home and you need to know immediately if you and your family is at risk.

Carbon monoxide is the odorless and potentially deadly byproduct of the combustion process that is necessary to create heat for your home. Because it is so difficult to detect, the only way to be sure you are safe is with carbon monoxide detectors placed strategically throughout your home. You should have one detector located within 15 feet of each bedroom so that occupants will be woken up in the middle of the night, even if they are in a deep sleep.

You should also keep detectors near your garage and by major gas-burning appliances. You don’t want to keep them too close to appliances, however, as they can give off false readings due to proximity.

There are different types of detectors, the main two being the kind that plugs directly into a power outlet or the kind that is solely battery powered. The former uses solid-state sensors to re-evaluate the CO levels in your air every few minutes and warns you when there is a spike. These often come with a battery back-up in case of a power outage.

The battery powered units use passive sensor technology that gets triggered by prolonged periods of CO exposure. You can put these in more discreet locations, such as on a bookshelf, rather than blatantly on the wall. They also have a warning that is activated when the batteries are running low or if the sensor is malfunctioning.

A third option is the hybrid smoke/carbon monoxide detector. These must be hard-wired into your home’s electrical system and mounted to the ceiling, but they reduce the number of safety devices you need to buy.

For more information on carbon monoxide detectors, contact Bennett Sheet Metal & Heatingtoday. We’ve proudly served the Comox Valley since 1961.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about carbon monoxide detectors and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Bennett Sheet Metal services Courtenay, BC and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Carbon monoxide detector photo via Shutterstock