Carbon Monoxide – The Silent Killer

It is that time of year again–the time when we fire up our furnaces, space heaters, and other indoor heat sources.  Indoor heating systems that burn fuel create carbon monoxide (CO) as a by-product of the fuel combustion that generates heat.  Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless so it can be a silent killer as it is often undetected until exposure to it results in injury or death.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “…non-fire related CO poisoning is responsible for approximately 15,000 emergency room visits and almost 500 deaths annually in the United States.”

The frustrating part for us is that all of these emergency room visits and deaths could be avoided if proper CO detection systems are used.  CO detectors from companies like System Sensor can be added to residential alarm systems and commercial fire alarm systems.  These detectors are fairly inexpensive and can notify building occupants as well as a central monitoring center when levels of carbon monoxide become too high.

System Sensor CO Detector

If you do not have carbon monoxide detection devices in your home or business, you should check into what it would take to add this valuable protection to your security or fire alarm system.  A little investment now can save lives later.

-Scott Hightower, Verified Security