# Can electric space heaters kill you via carbon monoxide poisoning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717 "2016-01-10T19:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/41 "2019-02-08T13:35:00Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Is my toaster going to kill me? Perhaps, if you continue to insist on taking long showers with it. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/42 "2019-02-08T15:15:26Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Perhaps, if you continue to insist on taking long showers with it. Even short showers can be problematic if the heating elements of the toaster are incandescent. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/43 "2019-02-08T15:24:25Z")
To be fair, a lot of _people_ would probably kill you if you insisted that they shower with you. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/44 "2019-02-08T15:35:05Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Even short showers can be problematic if the heating elements of the toaster are incandescent. Shocking! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/45 "2019-02-08T16:12:15Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Interesting answer. I know that ventless gas fireplaces are becoming more prevalant and are used for some heating. I am not a huge fan not just because of CO possibilities but because of lots of additional H20 being added to the air. Potentially too much. And you shouldn’t use ceiling fan while they are on etc. Why not use a ceiling fan? And added water to the air? I’ve never seen water in the air being a problem from the gas heaters we had. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/46 "2019-02-08T16:24:35Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > The heating element is presumably interacting with the air in some way. If the room runs out of oxygen can carbon monoxide be released via some mechanism? It seems as though, if the room runs out of oxygen, then you won’t be worried about the CO. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/47 "2019-02-08T16:27:59Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It seems as though, if the room runs out of oxygen, then you won’t be worried about the CO. The whole argument is stupid, because you can’t heat space unless you use a vacuum first. Science! ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/48 "2019-02-08T17:09:12Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Is my toaster going to kill me? Ha! _ **You** _ would be the one to try to divert attention from deadly carbon-monoxide-producing _gas_ ovens to simple, virtuous, not-at-all-fatal-unless-you-shower-with-them electric toasters. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717/49 "2019-02-08T17:28:46Z")
To be fair, if the electric space heater catches the whole room on fire, there will be significant production of carbon monoxide. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-electric-space-heaters-kill-you-via-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/742717.md?page=2)