Best Places To Put a Carbon Monoxide Detector

Best Places To Put a Carbon Monoxide Detector

Posted by William Kimmell on 3rd Mar 2022

Carbon monoxide (CO) is difficult to detect since it lacks odor, taste, and color. When you inhale CO, it displaces oxygen in the blood, depriving the heart, brain, and other organs of oxygen. Thus, it's vital to be aware of the many locations where you can usually find CO so that you know to install carbon monoxide detectors that can alert you to its presence in them. Look below to explore the best places to put a carbon monoxide detector.

Parking Garages

Vehicles are significant generators of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Since so many automobiles move in and out of parking garages, CO can quickly build inside them. As a result, parking structures need adequate ventilation that allows lingering CO to disperse safely.

The better the ventilation, the better the airflow, and the safer it will be inside. You should also integrate a CO parking garage gas detection system with the ventilation system. The ventilation system will remove carbon monoxide and allow fresh air into the parking garage once the CO levels inside the garage reach the gas detection system's alert threshold.

Industrial Business Facilities

Internal combustion engines are the primary cause of carbon monoxide exposure in industrial workplaces. Most furnaces and ovens create massive volumes of gas, especially when they don’t undergo proper maintenance. Anyone operating near such equipment, including truck drivers and forklift operators, is at risk.

Personnel working in or within confined spaces are especially vulnerable. Some examples of these spaces include maintenance holes, splicing cars, garages, tunnels, loading bays, warehouses, and auto body shops. You should place a carbon monoxide detector within any environment that has gas-powered machines or vehicles. Additionally, you should place detectors in any room or section of a workplace adjacent to a mechanical room or closet or any space with poor ventilation.

Homes

Carbon monoxide hazards are more prevalent in households with fuel-burning appliances or connected garages. Typical sources of CO in the home include:

  • Dryers
  • Gas ovens
  • Woodstoves
  • Both gas and wood-burning fireplaces
  • Boilers or furnaces
  • Grills, generators, power tools, and lawnmowers
  • Water heaters
  • Cigarettes and tobacco pipes

Ideally, there should be a CO detector in every room. However, if that's not practical, you need to place at least one on every floor. Put them near all sleeping areas and in the attached garage so that they can alert everyone as soon as possible.

Knowing where the best places to put a carbon monoxide detector are will help keep you and others safe. TG Technical Services offers a comprehensive selection of gas detectors for homes, workplaces, and parking garages. Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products.