Carbon Monoxide Detectors

[jttheclockman]

I have asked this question on a few sites now and I am more confused than ever. I am needing to upgrade my my carbon monoxide detectors. I have a couple of older Nighthawks that are 10 years old now and I believe need to be changed out. But i go to the review sites for these things and find what they call the top 5 but look at the reviews and there are startling negative reviews. on some of these. No det. rates out 100%.

So I will post a few questions here regarding these things

First question is what detector would you recommend and is it a digital or not and is one better than the other??

Next question is does it matter what height you mount them at. I see some of them are 110volt with battery back up and usually the outlets are low. Or do you buy battery operated and mount high on the wall or ceiling.

Next question does a carbon monoxide detector store co. In other words if you have a detector and run the car in the garage and the amount of CO is small but do this over a period of time will this accumulate and send a false alarm??

Right now I am on a fact finding mission and getting mixed messages. May have to talk to my town fire company and see what they recommend.

Thanks.

 

[designer]

Yes. Talk to your local fire department for recommendations. They have a ton of info and help for you....and you can rely on it all to be accurate.

 

[TonyL]

This will not answer your question John...so I would like to hear what others have to say. I just replaced all of mine (about 8) because they were all 9 years old. I bought the dual CO and smoke detectors from Costco. Same way, some how, they claim to last a lifetime...I don't know if it is a human lifetime (or remainder of mine) or the lifetime of a hamster. I read reviews and find myself with little guidance/confidence. I even check Consumer Reports top-rated and then find a large percentage of negative reviews online. I am sure CR is subjecting them to more rigorous testing than the majority of Amazon, HD, etc. reviewers are, but I still don't like to see a host a negative reviews. Thanks for the post. PS. I do have several that are powered by house current, but the majority are battery operated.

 

[jttheclockman]

This will not answer your question John...so I would like to hear what others have to say. I just replaced all of mine (about 8) because they were all 9 years old. I bought the dual CO and smoke detectors from Costco. Same way, some how, they claim to last a lifetime...I don't know if it is a human lifetime (or remainder of mine) or the lifetime of a hamster. I read reviews and find myself with little guidance/confidence. I even check Consumer Reports top-rated and then find a large percentage of negative reviews online. I am sure CR is subjecting them to more rigorous testing than the majority of Amazon, HD, etc. reviewers are, but I still don't like to see a host a negative reviews. Thanks for the post. PS. I do have several that are powered by house current, but the majority are battery operated.

Tony, that is the same thing I am seeing. When it counts I want it to work. Smokes are different because they work somewhat different and are much more reliable. It does not seem to matter in the rating weather they are house current or battery. But what I am seeing also is some that are house current but use battery backup, the battery does not last that long and they may draw from the battery too. I was hoping someone did some further investigating of this because it is something that we all need and must have these days.

 

[monophoto]

John

I have had similar questions. Our house is in a development that is now about 14 years old - the houses were built over the course of three years. Our house (from the middle year) has wired smoke detectors, but CO detectors were not required during that year. The house next door was built the following year when CO detectors were required, and the builder (ever mindful of saving pennies) opted for combination units in those houses. Unfortunately, the owners of that house have had two instances so far when their CO detectors reported a false alarm that required that they evacuate the house, call the fire department, etc. Yes, the error was on the safe side, but still stressful.

I've opted for a Kidde plug-in unit. I've replaced our detector once, in the 14 years; the electrochemical detection process has a natural live expectancy that requires periodic replacement. Kidde is advertising ten years life on their current models, but older models were only seven years (so I probably need to replace ours this year).

Smoke detectors should be mounted near the ceiling because smoke is accompanied by warm air that will rise to the ceiling. CO has about the same density as air, so it won't accumulate in layers, but rather will tend to disperse throughout the height of the room. That said, it is prudent to not mount a CO detector at the ceiling because heat from a fire could cause the air in the room to accumulate in layers, and CO will tend to be in the lower (cooler) layers.

In our house, the main sources of CO are likely to be the furnace and the water heater, both of which are in the basement, and the kitchen and gas fireplace, both on the main level. I don't have a detector in the basement, but I do have one on the main level since that's where we sleep. I probably should think about adding one in the basement - something else for the 'to do' list.

Our smoke detectors do get a periodic test - whenever my wife prepares pork chops.

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