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Who's got CO detectors

I haven't used one for several years, now I'm thinking it would be a good idea to get another. When I did have one, the only time it ever went off was when the dog farted on it.
 
This just happened a few miles from my NH lake house & is now making national news. How sad.

Christmas tragedy: 4 found dead at vacation home from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning


We have one in the basement along
with a radon gas evacuator.
Don't have one in the garage.
Can't explain the delayed reaction
other than it takes some time for the
bad stuff to reach the sensor when
it's mixed with ambient air. It could
have to do with how the sensor is
adjusted from the factory.
 
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We personally have been involved in two fatal CO events; my best friends uncle and three others in a hunting cabin and two people that we knew in a vacation cabin. There have been a few others that involved strangers but this is two events with people that we knew. It can happen, folks. Be careful.
 
We personally have been involved in two fatal CO events; my best friends uncle and three others in a hunting cabin and two people that we knew in a vacation cabin. There have been a few others that involved strangers but this is two events with people that we knew. It can happen, folks. Be careful.
sorry to hear that. What were the circumstances around how these events occurred? Wood burning stove?
 
sorry to hear that. What were the circumstances around how these events occurred? Wood burning stove?
The hunters it was either a wood burner or poorly vented propane stove, with the couple it was propane light turned down too low. They went to bed and never woke up.
 
Wood even back drafted isn't usually an issue. Oil or gas exhaust not venting, big deal.

My fishing buddy that works for Oracle and flies all around the world weekly carries a portable battery powered CO detector everywhere he goes, even my camp to ice fish in the Winter.
 
What triggers a lot of alarms up here is poorly set up wood and pellet stoves in houses that also use gas or propane. Insuffient wood stove drafting sucks the propane exhaust back into the house.
Why my three fireplaces draw combustion air from outside!
 
Wood even back drafted isn't usually an issue. Oil or gas exhaust not venting, big deal.

My fishing buddy that works for Oracle and flies all around the world weekly carries a portable battery powered CO detector everywhere he goes, even my camp to ice fish in the Winter.
Most of the detectors I see in hardware stores are First Alert brand, about the size of your hand. Do they make smaller detectors with an alarm that are easier to pack?

In my many trips to SE Asia across 3 separate countries, it's very commonplace for people to use propane burning stoves to cook inside. They're usually set up near a window, but still inside. That always made me nervous with the burner inside sitting near a window, but with no fan. When I voiced my concern to friends I was visiting, they looked at me like I was crazy, telling me they've been doing this for decades.
 
Most of the detectors I see in hardware stores are First Alert brand, about the size of your hand. Do they make smaller detectors with an alarm that are easier to pack?

In my many trips to SE Asia across 3 separate countries, it's very commonplace for people to use propane burning stoves to cook inside. They're usually set up near a window, but still inside. That always made me nervous with the burner inside sitting near a window, but with no fan. When I voiced my concern to friends I was visiting, they looked at me like I was crazy, telling me they've been doing this for decades.
There's LOTS of them...
Amazon.com : portable carbon monoxide detectors for travel
 
Going from an old memory CO detector alarms right away when it sees 200PPM and burns off samples every 90 min and if it saw more than 50PPM in that 90 min it will alarm
I googled and could not find specs
That answers the question of why it can alarm later and why it is best not to have in the garage

Just found this

Carbon monoxide (CO) alarm operating specifications include the alarm's response time to different CO levels, temperature range, and humidity range.

Alarm response time
  • Alarms should sound within 60–240 minutes at 70 parts per million (PPM) of CO

  • Alarms should sound within 10–50 minutes at 150 PPM of CO

  • Alarms should sound within 4–15 minutes at 400 PPM of CO

  • Alarms should sound immediately at 500 PPM or greater
It is possible my first part was what they originally worked at then to stop alarming in some large citys they upped range to stop alarming so people did not remove
 
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I took a look at a half dozen of these on Amazon. I've gotta do more research. Reviews show that several examples of these were tested next to CO meters and found in error, showing 0ppm when a more sophisticated meter showed 50ppm. Hard to know which ones are reliable. I guess I'll need to do some confirmation tests if I buy one, regardless of brand.
 
I have one in the garage, only time it went off so far was when roofers had a generator running outside the garage even tho the door was closed. Glad it went off because there was a cat inside there, it went off before I smelled anything.
 
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