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Carbon Monoxide Detector – How It Works

by Carolyn · 3 comments

Carbon Monoxide Detector

Two years ago, the city of Denver, Colerado was struck by an unthinkable tragedy. An entire family of four had succumbed to the deadly effects of carbon monoxide poisoning over the Thanksgiving holiday. City officials assume that several components of the residence weren’t working properly, which caused the death of all four family members. Following this tragedy, many people may have asked the question, “How could this happen?”. This tragic event prompted Denver residents to push for stricter and more dedicated guidelines about installing carbon monoxide sensors in homes. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a very real threat, and you may not be able to detect it until it’s too late.

Before installing a carbon monoxide sensor in your home, it’s important that you understand how this type of detector functions. Here is a general guide to the features of a carbon monoxide detector.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is nearly undetectable to the human senses (one of the main reasons why it’s sometimes called ‘the silent killer’). It’s estimated that around 170 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning (in indoor, non-automotive environments). It can accumulate from burning a number of substances, including oil, coal, wood, propane, paraffin and natural gas. It is also a by-product of most automotive vehicles.

Alarm System of Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Some of the older types of carbon monoxide detectors only had visual cues (such as a test paper fading to a certain color) that indicated high levels of carbon monoxide. However, audible alarms have now become an industry standard.

The main difficulty with carbon monoxide detectors is that they aren’t designed simply to detect an “alert”, such as the function of smoke detectors. Carbon monoxide exists naturally in nearly every home, the main danger is when it reaches high concentrations. Most audible carbon monoxide detectors won’t sound an alert until they detect around 400 ppm (parts per million).

Four Types of Sensors

There are four main types of carbon monoxide sensors that are used in residential or commercial detectors. They are:

Biomimetic
This type of sensor operates by using a modified hemoglobin material. This special material (which is gel-like) reacts to the presence of carbon monoxide in the air. When levels of carbon monoxide are high, the gel darkens visibly. When levels return to normal (or are within normal ranges) the gel lightens. This is the least popular type of carbon monoxide detector, since it does not include an audible alarm.

Electrochemical
An electrochemical carbon monoxide sensor works with a special type of fuel cell. This fuel cell, however, isn’t designed to power the device. Instead, it produces an electric current which is directly related to the amount of carbon monoxide in the air around the device. By measuring fluctuations in this current, the device is able to detect the amount of carbon monoxide present.

Semiconductor
A semiconductor carbon monoxide detector uses a sophisticated system in order to detect the presence of carbon monoxide. The sensing element is made of a special type of material (tin dioxide) that needs to be heated in order to operate. The system runs an electric current through the sensing element, and measures its resistance. The presence of oxygen in the air increases the resistance of the tin dioxide, while carbon monoxide decreases resistance. This allows the sensor to operate within a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Opto-Chemical
This type of sensor is similar to the biomimetic carbon monoxide sensor, in that it only provides a visual indication of the presence of carbon monoxide. Since it has an even lower accuracy level than the biomimetic sensor, it is also fairly unpopular for home use.

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  • Jim Davis

    Carbon monoxide does not naturally exist in all homes. That would be Carbon dioxide, which is what we exhale.

    99% of all CO incidents go undiagnosed or more often than not – misdiagnosed.

    Some CO deaths are quick but 10′s of thousands or more are from low level exposure over time. Alzheimers Disease, Parkinson Disease, Conjestive Heart Failure etc. are highly created by CO exposure. Thousands die every year from CO exposure only a few are reported. Millions get poisoned every year without diagnosis.

    To some people CO as low as 10ppm can be dangerous. Yet it is often reported that it takes 200ppm to develop symptoms. Someone is not keeping up with the medical field’s more recent findings.

    CO Alarms that you buy at the store have to alarm at 70ppm, not 400ppm.

    70ppm exposure can cause permanent damage.

  • James

    Hi Jim,

    Excellent thoughts!

    It looks like some manufacturers are trying to keep up with the medical field’s more recent findings…and they allow customized settings for the CO alarm to sound at certain levels while the sensors can detect from 10 to 30 ppm all the way to 999 ppm.

    Their default, for quite some time, was around 400 ppm before the alarm went off and for quite a few of the more basic CO detectors out there that might still be the case. At least in my basic research that seems to be so – what do you think? Am I way off in that assumption?

    CO is definitely scary stuff and I’m with you – I definitely recommend that people buy the customizeable CO detectors/alarms set the alarm to sound if CO levels are 70ppm max.

    Again, thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!

  • http://carbonmonoxidedetectoralarms.com/ Henri Cormier

    I totally agree with you. Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be prevented, or at least the possibility of death by carbon monoxide should put enough scare in people to take precautions. Education is the key. The information in your blog may have already saved a life!

    A Carbon Monoxide Detector is the only tool available to the public that will monitor levels of CO gas sending an alert when dangerous levels of CO gas are reached. The alerts available are a visual alarm, an audible alarm or a combination of both. Some dual dectectors will monitor for smoke/fire hazards and carbon monoxide gas.

    How safe do we want to keep our families? Would we be able to accept loss from a preventable incident? Would we sleep better at night knowing we have a guard against smoke, fire and carbon monoxide hazards?

    Carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors cost much less than the regret of not being prepared. If you don’t have the detectors required, or your current detectors need to be replaced, go and get one. Get protection before it becomes an incident.