How to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (page 2 of 2)

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Be Prepared

What Should I Do If an Alarm Goes Off?

Here are general guidelines taken from the more detailed instructions that come with your alarm.

Push the test/reset button. (This is easier with a wall-mounted CO alarm.)
Call an emergency number, 911 or your fire department in most areas.
Go outside or move to a well-ventilated area like next to an open window or door. Make sure all family members are accounted for. Wait for emergency services to arrive; they’ll make sure your house is well aired out.
If the alarm goes off again within 24 hours, follow steps 1 – 3 above and call in a qualified technician to test your fuel-burning equipment and find the problem. Be aware that furnace start-ups can set off the alarm under some conditions, as can starting cars in an attached garage.

Warning: If an alarm sounds, you have a potentially lethal amount of CO in your home! Take the alarm seriously. Make every effort to find an explanation. You don’t want any level of CO in your home, much less a lethal level. Unfortunately, CO sources can be difficult to pinpoint. Don’t hesitate to call in a heating and ventilating technician experienced in CO issues to search out the probable causes and recommend corrections.

Also be aware of the symptoms of CO poisoning: slight headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue (all flu-like symptoms) from mild exposures, and throbbing headache, drowsiness, confusion, fast heart rate or unconsciousness from heavier exposures.

2. Ask a Heating Service Technician to Conduct a Complete Backdrafting Test at Your Annual Heating Equipment Checkup.

Backdrafting
Backdrafting is a condition in which air flows down a flue or chimney rather than up, and combustion fumes can’t flow out. The fumes spill into your living spaces.

Backdrafting occurs when the combustion gases can’t go up and out flues and chimneys because outdoor air is already flowing down them. This often occurs when you run a clothes dryer, powerful range fan or any combination of venting fans. All suck air out of your home. If your house can’t get enough makeup air leaking in around windows doors and through cracks and gaps in walls, the makeup air may come down the flues or chimney. Then your furnace, water heater or wood-burning fireplace may not vent properly, and combustion gases, including CO, will spill into your living space. (Studies have shown that backdrafting is common even in homes that are not energy efficient or airtight, so this test is worthwhile regardless of any energy-efficiency improvements you’ve made.)

A complete backdraft test only takes about 10 minutes. The service technician should close all doors and windows and turn on your ventilating fans, creating a worst-case situation. The technician will then turn on your water heater and test it for combustion gas spillage, and test the furnace as well.

If you have significant spillage, the technician should inspect your venting system and recommend solutions.

Buyer's Guide
CO alarms are available at hardware stores, home centers and discount stores. Two brands are First Alert (800-323-9005) and Nighthawk (800-880-6788).