Carbon Monoxide Alarms FAQ

What is carbon monoxide?
Carbon monoxide or CO is produced by the incomplete combustion of the fossil fuels — gas, oil, coal and wood used in boilers, engines, oil burners, gas fires, water heaters, solid fuel appliances and open fires. CO has no smell, taste or color, and is not irritating to the lungs.

Dangerous amounts of CO can accumulate as a result of poor installation, maintenance, failure of or damage to a gas-supplied appliance; when fuel is not burned properly; or when rooms are poorly ventilated and the CO is unable to escape.

In today's world of improved insulation and double glazing, it has become increasingly important to have good ventilation, maintain all appliances regularly and to have reliable detectors installed that provide warning immediately when there is a build up of CO to dangerous levels.

What is the difference between carbon monoxide alarms and smoke alarms?
They are not the same product. Smoke alarms respond to particles of combustion. Carbon monoxide alarms respond to gases. For fire situations (i.e., smoke detection) time is of the essence. Smoke alarms will trigger much quicker in a fire situation than a CO alarm triggers when CO is present. Smoke alarms are designed to alert when threat of fire is immediate and you have minutes to react. With CO alarms, you have considerably more time, often hours, because CO alarms are designed to alert so that you can react before you exhibit symptoms of CO poisoning.

How do carbon monoxide alarms work?
A CO alarm is an acute lifesaving device, not an indoor air pollution monitoring system. A CO alarm monitors the environment for CO. Since CO poisoning is a time-based issue, the alarm makes a determination regarding the amount of CO in the air and will provide an audible signal at a level that will require immediate action.