Protect Yourself!
There's more of a risk for carbon monoxide poisoning in the winter than any other time of year.
Carbon monoxide is found in fumes that can come from furnaces, heaters, generators, and other methods of producing necessary winter warmth. Fortunately, CO poisoning is completely preventable!
You should have a CO alarm on every floor of your home and near sleeping areas. There are a few steps you can take to ensure these alarms are protecting you and your family.
- Test all your CO alarms to make sure they're working properly.
- Push the Test/Reset button, which causes the alarm to go through a series of test numbers, beginning with "888" and ending with "0." (If your alarm has a digital display)
- If you alarm does not have a digital display, you will hear a series of beeps as the alarm tests.
- Ensure that your CO alarms are not in their "end of life" phase.
- Your alarm will indicate end of life seven or ten years after initial power.
- To determine if your alarm is at the end of its life, here's what to watch for: It will “chirp” every 30 seconds. The chirp will not stop until the unit is powered off.
- You’ll know that it is an end-of-life warning and not a low battery warning because replacing the batteries will not stop the chirp.
- Check out this article for more information.
If your carbon monoxide detectors aren't working for any reason, they're not protecting you!
- Shop CO Alarms
