A carbon monoxide detector is a device that detects the presence of carbon monoxide gas to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. It is a device that is specially made to alert its users anytime it detects the presence of carbon monoxide gas in the house.
Having a carbon monoxide detector in some strategic places in your home is one of the best decisions a homeowner can make, to save yourself and the whole family from a silent killer called carbon monoxide. However, during installation, how far should carbon monoxide detector be from furnace?
A carbon monoxide detector should be installed 15 to 20 feet from the furnace. It should be installed far away from the furnace to avoid giving false detection as placing the carbon monoxide detector too close to the furnace can lead to false carbon monoxide detection and false alarm.
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Should Carbon Monoxide Detectors be too Close to the Furnace?
No, a carbon monoxide detector should not be placed too close to the furnace to avoid giving a false alarm. If you install a carbon monoxide detector to be too close to the furnace, it will pick up small particles of carbon monoxide that are harmless from the furnace and gives you a false detection.
How Far Should Carbon Monoxide Detector be from Furnace?
A carbon monoxide detector should be 15 to 20 feet far from the furnace to avoid giving a false detection. Placing a carbon monoxide detector too close to the furnace can trigger the detector to give an alarm anytime the furnace produces a small amount of carbon monoxide that is not harmful.
If the detector continues doing that, it means it is giving you a false detection, hence giving you a false alarm which can be very annoying.
Imagine the detector’s alarm ringing in the middle of the night and after evacuation everyone outside, opening the windows and doors, just to find out it was a false alarm coming from the fact that the detector is too close to the furnace. Trust me, it can be very annoying.
It is not about having a furnace in the house. It’s about making sure you and your households are protected from any menace the furnace may try to bring. Some furnaces are made in a way that they contained most of the carbon monoxide within the heat exchanger until it passes through a flue pipe that is vented outside the house.
Irrespective of how secure your house may be from these vented furnaces, a carbon monoxide detector is still important. Considering how dangerous carbon monoxide is and how fast it reacts to the human body when exposed to it without enough ventilation, it’s still wise to install the detectors to be on the safer side.
One of the importance of the carbon monoxide detector is that, even if you’re asleep during the winter while the house heating system is on, the carbon monoxide detector will wake you from sleep to tell you that something needs urgent fixing.
Imagine having a carbon monoxide leak from the furnace in the middle of the night while everyone is fast asleep, how will you or anyone in the home know if you don’t have a carbon monoxide detector?
What prompted me to start creating awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide is after it killed three people I know. This man and his three friends traveled to his house in the village. While the three of them were fast asleep in the night, there were carbon monoxide leaks from the generator set entering into the room where they lay.
Because he does not have a carbon monoxide detector installed in his gigantic house, nothing could alert them of the danger. That is how three of them died in their sleep. These were there able-bodied men with wives and children.
That is why I encourage everybody to purchase as many carbon monoxide detectors as they can and install them in different important strategic places in the house to be on the safer side.
Importance of Installing the Carbon Monoxide Detector in the Right Place
Since carbon monoxide is a gas that is odorless gas that kills silently. it is important that the detector is installed in the right place.
If you install a carbon monoxide detector in a place too far from where it’s supposed to be installed, it may not detect a carbon monoxide gas leak and even if it does detect it, it may detect it when it has become too obvious and dangerous.
However, if you decide to install a carbon monoxide detector too close, for example, if you install the carbon monoxide detector too close to the furnace or heater, it will definitely give off false detection and false alarm anytime the heater is turned on.
If this false detection continues happening day by day, a day will come when it will detect the real carbon monoxide leak and you may ignore it thinking that it’s one of those false detections again. It can be very dangerous. So, be mindful of where to install the carbon monoxide detector to avoid false alarms.
What to do Before Installing Carbon Monoxide Detector Far From Furnace
Here are what to do before installing carbon monoxide detector far from furnace:
1. Buy a Good Carbon Monoxide Detector
The first thing to do before installing any carbon monoxide detector 15 to 20 feet from the furnace is to purchase a good carbon monoxide detector that works efficiently.
There are different types of carbon monoxide detectors, choose the best. There are battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors and electric and battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors. Choose the one that will be suitable for your home and you are good to go.
2. Read the Manufacturer’s Manual
Once you purchase the carbon monoxide detector, the next thing to do is to read the manufacturer’s manual. This is very important as you will find tons of helpful information on the manual such as how to install the detector, places to install them, how many feet apart, and how to maintain the detector.
3. Follow the Manufacturer’s Manual
Do not follow your guts, rather, follow the instructions from the manufacture’s manual. If you purchase carbon monoxide detectors from different brands, ensure to read all the manuals and follow the instructions on them.
4. Install and Test the Detector
Install the carbon monoxide detector 15 to 20 feet away from the furnace and test run the detector. The idea of testing the carbon monoxide detector is to ensure it is working. If you don’t test it, you won’t know whether it’s working on not. And, if it’s not working, it will not alert you to the presence of carbon monoxide in the house.
How to Prevent your Furnace from Having Carbon Monoxide Leaks
- The best way to prevent your furnace from having carbon monoxide leaks is by maintaining the furnace regularly. Without being told, the maintenance of the furnace is important to help it be in good condition.
- As long as the furnace is in good condition, it may not produce carbon monoxide leaks that can kill someone.
- Ensure that the people that installed the carbon monoxide detectors for you are professionals. Don’t just ask anyhow body to install it for you.
- The work carbon monoxide detectors are doing in the house is too crucial to allow someone that doesn’t know much carbon monoxide detector installation to do the installation for you.
Final Thoughts
Buy a good carbon monoxide detector for your house and when installing it for your furnace, install it 15 to 20 feet from the furnace to prevent the detector from giving a false detection.
