There’s little quite as scary as being roused from your sleep by a screaming carbon monoxide alarm.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports an average of 170 Americans die each year from CO poisoning produced by malfunctioning fuel-burning equipment like furnace systems, room heaters, ranges, and water heaters; portable generators; fireplaces; and fumes from charcoal burning in enclosed areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate there are several thousand people in emergency rooms every year because of CO poisoning.
While nobody really wants to think about being in an emergency situation in their own home, prior precautions can save lives.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, so you won’t even know it’s there until your detector sounds, or, worse yet, you start to have symptoms of CO poisoning. Even then the initial symptoms might be disregarded because they are the same as those of the flu — headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, and nausea, with the only real difference the lack of a fever. Symptoms become more severe with higher levels of poisoning, and will then include confusion, vomiting, loss of coordination, and finally loss of consciousness and even death.
Make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm rated to the UL 2034 safety standard, installed in the hallway near the sleeping areas of the home and not covered by any furniture or draperies.
The alarm, of course, is no substitute for the proper use of equipment that produces carbon monoxide, so make sure any CO-creating apparatus in the home is in good repair and used safely and correctly.
For more information on carbon monoxide safety, read this article.
For the additional peace of mind of having your own home checked for maximum carbon monoxide safety, give Family Danz a call today at .