what is a safe level of carbon monoxide?

carbon monoxide detector 400 image

kalashniko

i bought a new digital carbon monoxide detector...it has readings up to 400( not sure what the units of measurement are) it records a week's worth of c0 levels...i had it for a couple of days and decided to check it and it said the highest reading of c0 so far was 131....but it didnt go off....so im assuming that that is still a safe/inhabitable area.....the question is....what is a dangerous level of c0 and who do i call to service my gasboiler/ gas heater cause those are the only things in my house that are powered by gas....do i call my gas guy? or my heating/cooling guy? thanks in advance

Answer
Carbon monoxide is measured in parts per million (ppm). Any CO levels higher than 10-20 should be alarming. Especially inside of a residence. If it recorded a CO level of 131 and didn't alarm, then you might want to look into getting a new detector. If you were home at the time the level was 131, you would be dead within a few hours. The signs/symptoms of acute (new onset) CO poisoning start out as headache, reddening of face, dizziness, and progress to nausea, vomiting, trouble walking and soon thereafter, unconsciousness and death. So yes, get a hold of a professional about your furnace, washer/dryer, or whatever your think the CO source may be. Hope this helps.

Could my oven be leaking carbon monoxide or other gases?

Chelsea Wi

My boyfriend & I have lived in our apartment for about seven months now. Ever since we moved in, whenever we turn on the oven (but not necessarily the stove) which is a gas oven, the smoke alarm in the bedroom goes off. When we first moved in we had my dad's friend (who is an engineer and knows about gas ovens) take a look at it because I was worried about the fact that you can smell gas whenever the stove or the oven is on - I knew some was normal but it bothered me.

Anyway, as far as the alarm goes, at first we looked at the oven and there was a bunch of crap burned to the bottom (like bits of food), so we figured that it was just burning off and causing it to get smoky in the apartment.

But after seven months it STILL does this. And just a few minutes ago I had the oven set to 400 and was about to bake a pizza when the alarm went off AGAIN because I forgot to close the door to the bedroom, and now my entire apartment smells overwhelmingly of gas, even though I turned the oven off and everything.

We have a carbon monoxide detector in the same place as the smoke alarm, but it is always the smoke alarm that goes off, not the CO. The reason that carbon monoxide even occurred to me is because I smell gas when I turn the oven on, although I now know that you can't smell or taste carbon monoxide. But still, when the alarm goes off, I never SEE smoke. Just the smell of gas.

Again, this has been going on for ~7 months and neither of us, nor any of our pets (3 rats and a cat) are dead. However, the symptoms of CO poisoning are so typical that it would be impossible for us to distinguish if we had them, and my boyfriend had chest pains/headaches before we moved. My mom says that if I've been smelling gas for seven months and haven't died that it's probably nothing and the smoke detector is picking up the heat from the oven or smoke I can't see. Still, should I be worried about this?

Answer
Eeeeek scary stuff. Buy a new oven, or get it looked At. Asap. Now!! When there old most service techs just remove and replace, not really knowing the real problem. I would craigslist that thing, and get a new one.

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