Safety Tips to Protect Your Family from the Dangers of CO Poisoning
It’s silent, deadly and lurks in the home while your family sleeps. Dubbed the “silent killer,” the colorless, odorless and poisonous gas – carbon monoxide (CO) – kills 500 people and sends 20,000 more to the hospital each year.
CO is produced and emitted by incomplete burning of fuel, such as propane, kerosene, gasoline, oil, natural gas, wood and charcoal; and because it is odorless and colorless, people can be exposed to CO without even knowing it. However, CO poisoning is avoidable and preventable if the necessary safety measures are taken. UL recommends a three-part strategy that consumers can easily employ to protect themselves and their loved ones from the poisonous gas: INSPECT, PROTECT and DETECT.
Inspect
- Don’t forget to inspect! Fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves require yearly maintenance. Over time, components can become damaged or deteriorate. Have a qualified technician inspect your fuel-burning appliances once a year as they can identify and repair problems with your fuel-burning appliances.
Protect
- Protect your family, especially while they sleep. Purchase and install UL-LISTED CO alarms outside each sleeping area, including the basement and any other locations required by applicable laws. Read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully before installing a CO alarm. The UL-LISTING on a CO alarm means the product has been found free of foreseeable hazards and is safer for your family.
- Is your CO alarm installed in the right place? Do not place a CO alarm within five feet of household chemicals. And, avoid placing your alarm directly on top of or near fuel-burning appliances as these appliances will emit some CO when initially turned-on.
- Make sure you test, so your alarm works the best! Test and replace the battery in your CO alarm at least once a year. If your alarm is wired directly into your home’s electrical system, you should test it monthly. If your unit operates off of a battery, test the alarm monthly and replace the battery at least once a year.
- Know the signs of potential CO poisoning. CO poisoning may be the cause of flu-like symptoms such as headaches, tightness of chest, dizziness, fatigue, confusion and breathing difficulties. Because CO poisoning often causes a victim’s blood pressure to rise, the victim’s skin may take on a pink or red cast.
Detect
- If your CO alarm goes off – GET OUT – quickly and safely! Practice a CO safety escape plan with your family so everyone knows how to react to a CO alarm. If your alarm sounds, evacuate the building and call the fire department. If you or your loved ones experience symptoms of CO poisoning – headache, dizziness or other flu-like symptoms – seek medical attention immediately. And, when you return home, be sure to open windows and doors for ventilation. Then, call a qualified technician to inspect your appliances.
- Be alert, don’t get hurt! Streaks of carbon or soot around the service door of your fuel-burning appliances, moisture collecting on the windows and walls of furnace rooms and fallen soot from the fireplace or small amounts of water leaking from the base of the chimney are all signs of a CO problem in your home.
GIVEAWAY!
Underwriters Laboratories is giving away 5 CO alarms to my readers! Entering is easy, just comment on this post telling me you want to be entered before midnight CST on March 7th.
Want an extra entry? Follow me on twitter & tweet about this contest. Leave the link to your tweet or your twitter name in the comments section here for 1 extra entry. You can do this one per day for the duration of the giveaway.
On March 8th, I will random.org the comments to pick the winners. Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. The winners will have 48 hours to respond before I use random.org to pick new winners. US entries only please.
Thank you so much for posting about this and the dangers! We found out we were living in extremely high levels of CO in our home for about a year and a half since we bought it because of a faulty furnace. I had all they symptoms and felt sick all the time. my dr kept blaming it on anxiety, we had 2 detectors with always new batteries because over me being an over paranoid parent. I heard an add to get it tested for $20 which is super cheap and I did it just because. I was SHOCKEd with the results. The detectors did not work. we were told if they are over 6 years old buy new ones, they may not work as well or detect it after that. After 5 days unexposed the blood work still showed 3% still in our blood. we have 5 small kids and it was very scary. we were thankful for our leaking windoes and door frames, for they saved our lives! I encourage EVERYONE to get a detector, no excuses!Following on twitter and tweeted about the giveaway, thank you!
(cthmommy)
We do not have a co detector and really need one. We had one that went off all the time for no reason. The gas company threw it away because they were tired coming to check our house every time it went off. We have not had one since.
would love to be entered to win one, have new baby at home.
I’d like to win this because our CO2 detector quit working and we really need to get a new one. I don’t want my family to be in any kind of danger. It would be peace of mind.
Please enter me, this is a great useful giveaway, thanks.
follow on twitter cdziuba and tweeted http://twitter.com/cdziuba/status/9684567202
I would love a chance to win. Thank you.
What a very useful prize. I’d love to win one of these for our home. Thanks so much.
I would love to win one of these. I haven’t had the money to buy and install one in my home.
We need one for our home, thank you for the chance to win!
these are VERY important to have!
Thanks for the chance to win.
I want to be entered. Thanks
We do not have a co detector , and we really need to get one.
If I win this I will take it to the PO I work at. We are part of the firedepartment building and when they run their trucks the way they set the intake and all – the fumes come straight into us. It got so bad we had to go outside to get fresh air. It would sure help to have an alarm go off so we did not continually feel bad when we know it is happening. I doubt the city will fix it – they own the building
i want to be entered
MY HOUSE COULD USE THIS
I want to be entered.
I want to be entered.
I would love to win a CO detector. We already have one near the bedrooms, but I want to get another one for downstairs.
please enter me!
I’d like to win – thanks!
Thanks for the great giveaway! I’d love to win!
I follow through twitter and tweeted
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/9769853477
Our community just lost a very fine man to carbon monoxide poisoning. I would really like to win.
I would love to win this, piece of mind can be a great thing.
I would love this for my new house. Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net
I definitely want to be entered. My daughter and her family are moving into a different house (current one is all electric, so CO has not been much of a concern) and that one has gas heat. There are no CO monitors in that house at present.
I’d love a chance to win, the dtector would give me a peace of mind.
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/9842721444
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
3/1 daily tweet
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/9847918054
Please enter me. This is such an important product
I have a really old furnace that has had problems in the past, so I’ve been thinking about getting a CO alarm. I’d love to win one, so please enter me.
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/9899882352
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
Please enter me. This is a safey tool that everyone should have.
3/3 daily tweet
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/9919476504
Please enter me.
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/9958818014
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
enter me!
I want to be entered before midnight CST on March 7.
3/4 daily tweet
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/10006183182
I’d like to be entered in the giveaway. Thanks!
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/10008675955
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
Please enter me we really need to get us a CO dector
I follow on twitter @sgrant2005 and tweet:
http://twitter.com/sgrant2005/status/10039129718
i want to be entered before midnight CST on March 7th! (yeah lame joke)
I’d like to be entered. Thanks for this very useful and life saving giveaway.
I would love to win this. We currently only have one co detector in our home and could use another. Thanks.
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/10051225255
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
3/5 daily tweet
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/10054294834
I want to be entered
*Thanks* for the giveaway!
I would like to be entered (and to win).
God bless you.
This is a great thing to spread knowledge about. I’d love to win, thanks!
Please enter me!
I want to win one of these too!
would love to win.i dont have one.thanks
amy16323(at)gmail(dot)Com
I’d like to be entered to win, please. We installed new gas furnace, clothes dryer, and water heater last year and I’d like to make sure they’re all functioning properly since my little baby is going to save the world someday (don’t know from what yet though :p )
Enter me please!
I would love to be entered — thanks for having such a great contest!
Tweet
http://twitter.com/KariLeee/status/10084878650
Would love to win this!
I’d love to be entered. This is something we need.
This is a great contest. Carbon monoxide kills many people every year for no reason. With a detector you take away the chance of dieing from this silent killer.
I would love to be entered. Thank you.
I’m following you on twitter and I tweeted: http://twitter.com/kathyluman/status/10093369308
(@kathyluman)
Please enter me.
Thanks for this great giveaway!
3/6 daily tweet
http://twitter.com/jjak2003/statuses/10095578092
please enter me.
THIS IS A GREAT GIVEAWAY IT IS A TRUE LIFESAVER TO HAVE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE DONT REALIZE UNTIL IT MAY BE TOO LATE THAT THIS PROBLEM CAN KILL
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/10099885002
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
i’d like to be entered into the giveaway
You can never make your family too safe.
I would like to win this
I would love to win this, I keep thinking about how we need to go to Lowes and pick one up. But it would be awesome if I could win one here.
Please enter me in this contest. I live in NY and it was just in the newspaper that new and existing homes are required to have a detector on each floor where there is a bedroom. I’m glad that this has become law, because it’s better to be safe than sorry!
I would love to win one of these. We currently have one that is very old, but I have a 2 story house with an additional basement, and would feel more comfortable with one on each level. Thanks.
I need one of these as we gave ours to our son when he bought his house, as their gas heater was in the middle of the house. and we wanted to make sure he and the grandkids were safe.
I want to be entered and this is surely something everyone can use and needs so hoping to win.
I would like to win. Thank you!
http://twitter.com/mail4rosey/status/10121544547
Follow and Tweet
i need one upstairs would like to win this
Our new house doesn’t have one of these detector and I’ve been meaning to get one. Enter me to win please.
What an important message. Thanks for reminding me that I need one of these.
I really love and need one and I want to be entered before midnight CST on March 7th.
We could use this for our house.
I would love to win this for our new house!
I would love to win! We currently do not have a Carbon detectors in our house! We really need one!
I certainly would love to win this as we don’t have a Co alarm-just a smoke detector.
I follow and tweet!~http://twitter.com/dresdenrain/status/10138074954
dresdenrain.
Would love to win !!!
I have a smoke detector, but not CO ome. I will put this up immediately. Thanks for the contest.
follow on twitter: slehan and tweeted: http://twitter.com/slehan/status/10145797694
I need this, my CO2 detector is not working right.
I want to be entered, I have wanted one of these for a long time now!
I’m following you via twitter and I tweeted
http://twitter.com/ShesAnAngel417/status/10146967526
tweet
http://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/10149250821
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
I would like my family to be safe from the Silent Killer!
wendym at cableone dot net
I would love to be entered, thanks for the chance!
Thanks for the giveaway…every home should have one !!!
Following via Twitter: @brianpiero
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/brianpiero/status/10152171424
Please enter me!
I have wanted a carbon monoxide detector for a long time, but they’re much more expensive than smoke alarms. I’d like one because of the old gas furnace we rely on for heat. I’d also feel safer if we had one for hurricane season; we have a gas generator and though we’re very careful, it would be one less thing to worry about if we had a CO detector.
I don’t have a CO Detector and I really think it is an important thing to have.
I follow you on twitter and I tweeted.
http://twitter.com/ncschools/status/10156409372
I want to be entered to win one of these alarms. CO is the silent killer for sure. Untold thousands are killed annually by this toxic odorless gas
follow you on twitter and tweeted
http://twitter.com/Ardy22/status/10157706016
I would love to win a CO alarm,this has always
been one of my worries about our house.Thanks
for the giveaway
Following and Tweet:Swtlilchick
http://twitter.com/Swtlilchick/status/10158115025
Would love to have one of these to put by our bedrooms to protect us from CO. Thanks for the chance.
I really need one. Please enter me.
Please enter me