Service Experts Heating and Air Conditioning surveyed 1,000 homeowners in the U.S. and Canada on their familiarity of carbon monoxide (CO). According to The Centers for Disease Control, carbon monoxide poisoning is a leading cause of unintentional poisoning deaths – causing about 15,000 emergency room visits and about 500 deaths annually in the United States1. There are surprising gaps in what homeowners do and don’t know about remaining safe.
A lot of common household appliances release carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that may build to harmful levels in your home when fuel-burning devices are not appropriately vented, operated or maintained. Inhalation of CO may cause carbon monoxide poisoning which attacks the nervous system, heart and could be fatal. It’s crucial to have your home checked for carbon monoxide regularly to help ensure safe air quality.
Common sources of CO in homes include certain:
- Furnaces
- Stoves
- Space heaters
- Fireplaces
- Water heaters
- Clothes dryers
What do you know about CO?
Our survey results show the surprising lack of information homeowners have about the dangers of carbon monoxide:
- 66% don’t know if they would know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning (headache, nausea, dizziness, or confusion).
- 94% of homeowners know that the furnace can give off deadly carbon monoxide gas, but more than half (54%) don’t get an annual furnace tune-up, a simple step that can help ensure correct furnace operation and venting.
- 54% don’t know the preferred place in the home to install a carbon monoxide detector (the Consumer Product Safety Commission says a detector outside of each separate sleeping area).
- More than half of homeowners (54%) don’t know that the clothes dryer can be a source of carbon monoxide; 25% don’t know that that fireplace also can be a source. Other potential sources include gas water heaters, gas ranges, charcoal grills, gas space heaters and wood burning stoves.
- Over one third of homeowners (34%) don’t have or can’t be sure if they have a carbon monoxide detector in their home; 41% say they never swap out their carbon monoxide detector, or they aren’t sure how often it is switched.
Determine your home’s CO risk
With a basic home comfort analysis, Norrell Service Experts in Birmingham is happy to help keep your family safe this winter. Visit ServiceExperts.com/CO-Safety, call 205-267-0023 or use our online scheduler to set up an analysis of CO and other dangerous indoor air pollutant levels.
1http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5650a1.htm