Situations When Your Carbon Monoxide Detector May Be Triggered

Carbon monoxide is a very dangerous gas. Undetectable to any of our senses, it can seep into your home and infiltrate your living spaces without you knowing it. This is where having the whole-home protection of a carbon monoxide (CO) detector comes in. As soon as an unhealthy level of CO is detected in your home, the alarm will trigger, alerting you to this. What situations lead to the triggering of your CO alarm? Here are some of the most common ones:

• Appliance malfunction – there are a number of home appliances that use combustion to operate, including clothes dryers, hot water heaters and stoves. Should any of these appliances be poorly vented or have a problem where CO is escaping, your CO alarm will trigger.
• Storing gas-using mechanical items in your attached garage – the CO fumes from your gas-using mechanical items, such as lawnmowers, can be drawn into your home because the air pressure inside your home is less than that in your garage, even if you keep the garage door open. The best way to avoid this scenario is to store gas-using appliances elsewhere.
• Poor ventilation – poor ventilation has a number of negative results, one of which is not moving the air enough to push out the small amounts of CO in your home. This allows the amount of CO gas in your house to build, and once the gas reaches a certain unhealthy level, your detector will trigger.
• Grilling with charcoal in your garage – whether you are dodging a sudden rain storm or winter the taste of grilled vegetables in January, it is never a good idea to grill with charcoal in your garage. Charcoal generates a high level of CO gas, and this gas will easily make its way into your home.

Don’t have a CO detector in your Denver home yet? Call the experts at Bell Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical today!

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