It has been reported that a large number of people die every year due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and many of them are due to the ignorance and carelessness of people when dealing with fuels inside their houses. People are unknowingly absorbing this odorless and colorless and harmful gas while doing their daily chores in their body systems.
But in recent times such ignorance is not acceptable anymore and stringent regulations have been made in many countries towards installation of a carbon monoxide detectors. One can either find it in the smoke detector aisle in stores or buy these carbon monoxide detectors online.
The first line of defense for any home is precaution by the owners and then one can depend on CO detectors for any unforeseen occurrences. There are basically three kinds of CO detectors. These are metal oxide, biomimetic and electrochemical. Though these detectors might differ in their functioning a little bit but essentially each of them are tested and approved for their operation. Their costs also vary depending on the features they offer.
Metal-oxide-semi-conductor is original technology for sensing the presence of CO. The appliance use heated tin oxide which reacts with CO to find out the levels of the toxic gas. The second type are the biomimetic detectors which have gel-coated discs that darken in color if CO is present and the change in color cause buzzing of the alarm. The third type the electrochemical detectors are very sensitive and provide correct readings at all carbon monoxide levels.
A perceptible carbon monoxide alarm is an excellent way to make sure you’re instantly warned in the presence of any carbon monoxide inside the home. But one should be very clear that smoke alarms or fire alarms cannot sense the presence of CO in the same manner as the CO detector can perform the task of a smoke alarm.
An efficient carbon monoxide detector should have an audible alarm and not just a color change or back spot indicator tool which will sound an alarm when it detects carbon monoxide. The detectors must also comply with security standards like CE mark or British Standard EN 50291 mark or equivalent testing approval mark.
Proper installation of carbon monoxide detectors is also very crucial for its efficient functioning and thus fitting instructions should be carefully followed. The alarm should be positioned in a central location, like a hall or corridor and not in an enclosed area or close to an outside door. The alarm should be fixed to a wall at head height, or it can also be placed on a table or bookshelf. CO detectors should be fitted at least a meter away from boilers, fires, cookers or heaters, but it is most advisable to place it in the room where appliances are located but not directly above a source of heat or steam. If purchasing the carbon monoxide detectors online, it should be properly tested before installation. Batteries should ideally be replaced annually or when the low battery signal is observed.
thanks for the tips. This is really helpful because I’m going to by a fire alarm.
Wow i never heard of that detector before interesting.