A CO alarm on every floor before the first outage night

The first cold snap is a good time to walk the house. You push the test buttons on the smoke alarms and maybe drag the generator out of the shed to check that it starts. Then think about the first night the power goes out this winter, with the generator running outside and a family asleep upstairs. Answer this before that night comes: is there a working carbon monoxide alarm on every floor and outside every bedroom area, and does it run on batteries? If not, fix it now, while the stores are open and the lights are on.

01Why every floor, and why before the outage

You can't see, smell or taste carbon monoxide. The CDC says people who are asleep, intoxicated or impaired can die before they ever notice symptoms. That is why outage nights are so dangerous: the household is asleep and the fuel-burning machines are running.

The national numbers depend on which agency you ask, because they count differently. The CDC says more than 400 Americans die each year from unintentional CO poisoning not linked to fires. More than 100,000 go to an emergency department and more than 14,000 are hospitalized. The Consumer Product Safety Commission counts more than 200 deaths a year from consumer products. More than 100 of those deaths are linked to portable generators.

Outages make the danger worse. A CDC report from Hurricane Ike found that a typical 5.5 kW generator puts out as much CO as six idling cars. Most exposures after that storm happened within two days, and most came from generators placed in the wrong spot. Heaters and stoves used for warmth are another common cause.

An alarm hung on a quiet Tuesday in October will be ready for that first night. One still in the box from the hardware store won't help.

02Where each alarm goes

The CPSC, the NFPA and the CDC all give the same basic advice: one alarm on every level of the home, and one outside each sleeping area. In practice:

• Every level, including the basement. The furnace and water heater are often in the basement, and in some homes so is a bedroom.
• Outside each separate bedroom area. If the kids sleep at one end of the house and the adults at the other, that's two sleeping areas and two alarms. The goal is an alarm loud enough to wake a sleeping person behind a closed door.
• Long hallways get two. First Alert's manuals, including the one for its CO400 battery model, say a bedroom hallway longer than 40 feet should have an alarm at each end. Check what your own model's manual says.
• Keep it out of problem spots. The same manuals say not to mount alarms in garages, kitchens, furnace rooms, or dusty, greasy areas. They also warn against places that get colder or hotter than the unit's rated range.

The law depends on where you live. Illinois requires at least one approved CO alarm within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping. The law has been in effect since 2007. In Illinois rentals, the owner supplies and installs the alarms. According to a city summary of the Act, the tenant tests and maintains them once the lease begins. Other states and cities have their own rules, so check with your local building or fire department. Treat the law as the minimum. Every level plus every sleeping area is the safer standard.

03What to buy

Placement only matters if the alarm still works with the power out. That decides the most important thing about the alarm you buy.

• Battery-operated or battery-backup. A plug-in alarm without a backup battery shuts off along with everything else in an outage. The CPSC recommends battery-operated or battery-backup models, and the CDC says to have one in the home whenever a generator is running. If your alarms are hardwired, make sure they have a battery backup and that the battery is fresh.
• Interconnected, if you can. The CPSC calls interconnected alarms best, because when one goes off, they all go off. A basement alarm that sounds only in the basement may not wake anyone two floors up.
• A digital readout. The CDC suggests a model that shows the highest CO level it has recorded. That number helps you and the fire department figure out what happened, and it can catch low readings that don't set off the alarm.
• The UL 2034 listing. CPSC materials recommend alarms that meet this standard. The listing is printed on the package and on the back of the unit.

Many households pair a combination smoke/CO alarm in the hallways with a plain CO unit in the basement. Either setup works as long as every level and every sleeping area is covered.

04Test, replace, and stock batteries

An alarm you never test is only a guess. Keep the routine simple:

• Test monthly. The NFPA says to check alarms once a month. Push the button and listen. Doing it on the first of the month makes it easy to remember.
• Change batteries when the clocks change. The CDC ties battery checks to the spring and fall time changes. Daylight saving time ends in early November, a few weeks before Thanksgiving. That's a good weekend to swap batteries before the house fills up with guests and the oven runs all day.
• Replace the whole alarm on schedule. The sensors wear out. The CDC says to replace detectors every 5 years or as the manufacturer directs. Kidde says many standalone CO alarms last 7 to 10 years, depending on the model. The best guide is the date printed on the back of your unit and its manual. Write the replace-by date on the alarm in marker.
• Know what a chirp means. Kidde says a single chirp every 30 to 60 seconds often means the alarm has reached the end of its life, not just that the battery is low. If the alarm doesn't sound when you press the test button, it may need replacing. Beep patterns differ by brand, so keep the manual, or a photo of the beep chart, with your outage papers.
• Keep spares in the outage kit. Store a pack of the right battery size next to the flashlights and lantern batteries. A low-battery chirp at 2 a.m. during a three-day ice storm is easy to fix if the spares are already on hand.

05Generator rules that go with the alarm

The alarm only warns you. Keeping CO out of the house in the first place comes down to where and how you run the generator. Here are the CPSC and CDC basics:

• Outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the house. Keep it more than 20 feet from windows, doors and vents.
• Point the exhaust away from the home and from any neighbor's home.
• Never inside the house or garage, even with the garage door up. The same goes for basements, crawl spaces, and enclosed or partly enclosed spots like porches and carports.
• Open windows and doors don't make it safe. The CPSC is clear on this. Fresh air coming in doesn't carry the CO back out fast enough.

The same goes for anything you use for heat or cooking. Never heat the house with a gas range or oven, and never bring a grill or camp stove indoors. If you heat with wood, keep the chimney clean and have the stove inspected before the season starts. Make these rules your plan, and count on the alarm only if something goes wrong.

06If the alarm sounds

Don't try to find the source and don't wait to see if it stops. **Get everyone out into fresh air, pets too, then call 911** from outside. The CPSC says to go outdoors and call right away if you suspect CO poisoning.

Watch for the symptoms the CDC lists, which are often mistaken for the flu:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Upset stomach or vomiting
• Chest pain
• Confusion

If several people in the house feel sick at once, or everyone feels better after stepping outside, assume it's CO. Don't go back in for a phone charger, a coat or the dog's leash. Wait until responders tell you the home is safe. Then check the generator setup or the appliance before running it again.

The job takes one evening: count your floors, count your bedroom areas, check the battery backup, and put spare batteries in the kit. It's best done this month, well before the first outage night.

Sources (10)

• CDC – About Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• CDC MMWR – Carbon Monoxide Exposures After Hurricane Ike
• CPSC – Carbon Monoxide Information Center
• CPSC – CO Talking Points (PDF)
• CPSC – Carbon Monoxide Safety Guidance
• NFPA – Carbon Monoxide
• Illinois Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act, 430 ILCS 135 (Justia)
• City of Taylorville – Illinois Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act
• Kidde – Time to Replace Your Alarms
• First Alert CO400 Battery-Operated CO Alarm Manual (PDF)

Photo: Triptych: Fire and Safety: CO Detector by bellemarematt, BY-SA 2.0.