Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Why Having Just 1 Is Never Enough

Modern heating and HVAC systems are safer and more reliable than ever, but in any home, carbon monoxide remains an unseen but deadly danger. It is an invisible gas created by the process of combustion, whether in a furnace, automobile, gas stove or other fuel-burning equipment.

You can’t see, taste or smell carbon monoxide, but it can damage your health and, in the worst cases, it can kill you. Most often, deaths result when someone is exposed to carbon monoxide while they sleep.

Carbon monoxide is usually vented to the outdoors by your HVAC ventilation system. In some cases, however, it can leak back into your home’s living spaces. A cracked heat exchange in a furnace, for example, can cause a dangerous carbon monoxide leak. Blocked or damaged chimneys and vents can prevent it from being safely sent outside.

The most reliable way to be safe from the dangers of this gas is to install several carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home. A carbon monoxide detector operates much like a smoke detector (though it is not a substitute for those important devices). If the carbon monoxide detector senses a dangerous amount of the gas, it will sound a loud alarm, which will alert you and your family to the danger and allow you to get out of your house and summon emergency assistance.

One carbon monoxide detector is not enough to keep your house and its occupants safe. Place a detector on the wall or ceiling within 10 feet of the door of each bedroom in your home. Detectors must be placed where they can waken sleeping occupants. Also put a detector near or over an attached garage. It is also a good idea to install a detector at each end of every floor of your house.

Rinaldi’s Air Conditioning has been providing reliable heating and air conditioning services to customers in Orlando and central Florida for more than 42 years. Contact us today for more information on carbon monoxide dangers and for help finding the carbon monoxide detectors that will work best in your home.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about carbon monoxide detectors and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Rinaldi’s services Orlando, Florida and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!