Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Carbon Monoxide Detectors
A practical handbook for professionals, businesses, and serious hobbyists who need to understand, select, install, and maintain carbon monoxide detectors
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Carbon Monoxide Detectors
What is carbon monoxide, and why do detectors matter?
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. It is not a chemical compound that exists in nature in significant concentrations; it is purely a byproduct of burning fuel incompletely. When natural gas, propane, heating oil, wood, coal, gasoline, or kerosene burns in an environment with insufficient oxygen—or when combustion temperature is too low—carbon monoxide is produced instead of (or in addition to) carbon dioxide, the benign end product of complete combustion.
In a home or building with fuel-burning appliances, CO accumulates when combustion is incomplete. A malfunctioning furnace, a blocked chimney, a cracked heat exchanger, a water heater in an unventilated space, an improperly operating gas range, or even a portable generator running in a garage or basement can generate carbon monoxide faster than it disperses. The gas mixes with indoor air and is inhaled by occupants.
Once inhaled, carbon monoxide enters the bloodstream through the lungs and binds to hemoglobin—the protein in red blood cells that normally carries oxygen. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin with an affinity roughly 200 times higher than oxygen does. This means that even low concentrations of CO in the air can displace oxygen from hemoglobin and prevent cells from receiving the oxygen they need to function. The result is a form of poisoning that develops insidiously: a person exposed to elevated CO may feel dizzy, develop a headache, feel nauseated,