Mine came with explicit instructions NOT to breathe on it, or hold it up to a car exhaust to “test” it. If I remember correctly, it could damage the detector somehow.
I think the point of this thread has been realized and I hope this slight hijack isn’t out of line.
Can someone tell me how a CO detector detects CO? I tried googling and what not and I just get the standard answer of “when CO levels rise, an alarm is triggered”.
What actually triggers the alarm? I get smoke detectors, the either sense heat or they sense smoke. The smoke actually blocks light from a sensor and the alarm sounds.
CO is just like air. It has the same temp as the surounding air. It’s colorless and odorless. What is different about it that can be picked by a dector?
I’m pretty savvy in the ways of physics and chemistry, so if you know the full on technical version, lay it on me. I’ll let you know if it goes over my head.
There are a couple of methods that I know of.
You can have a chemical that is photosensitive to the amount of carbon monoxide in the chemical, in the same way that blood changes color based on the amount of oxygen in it. This can be use directly as a visual indicator or can be used by shining a light through it and detecting the resulting light with a photodetector (the same way they measure blood oxygen with that thing that clamps on your finger).
You can also have a semiconductor type of detector. In this type of detector, the particular type of semiconductor used is left exposed to the air. When carbon monoxide is present, it changes the resistance of the semiconductor, and this change of resistance triggers the alarm. I haven’t opened up any CO detectors, but I think this is how the common ones you buy at Home Depot and such work.
I think I found the answer to your question and my earlier one about the lifespan of a plug-in model.
A Guide to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
There are three types and non typically last more than 10 years.
Biometric CO Detector has an internal gel cell that is made of synthetic hemoglobin that works to absorb the CO.
A little more on this type: “The gel-type detector simulates the accumulation of carbon monoxide in the blood. Concentrations approaching 10% in the blood will sound an alarm.”
Semiconductor CO Detectoris a plug-in unit that is equipped with an electronic sensor. No further details yet.
Electrochemical CO Detector works by responding differently to the varying levels of CO exposure.
Jim (I need to buy a new one, thanks for bringing this up Zsofia)
Sound advice, and good on you for keeping after your parents to get one.
I’m paranoid – I actually have one (AC) on every floor. Mine keep a history of the highest reading, and I was surprised to find the one in the lower level (next to the garage) had recorded what seemed to me at the time to be a scary high number. I don’t remember what the number was – not high enough to trip the alarm, but high enough to make me open all the garage windows before I try to start the old jalopy.
Nope I don’t. In Spain they’re not required by law and extremely rare outside of some industrial environments.
At Mom’s the only thing that burns is the occasional candle. Everything is electric. The heater (also electric) is in the basement, 10 floors away. No camping-gas, nobody smokes.
At my house, the heater uses gasoil and I only switch it on to shower. Everything else is electric. I want to change the heater to electric… but I haven’t really spent any length of time in the place for the last 14 months. Haven’t had a chance to be calling the electric company to do that.