Carbon Monoxide Readings... deadly? Please read!?

KaDy

Hi, My carbon monoxide detector said 11 about an hour ago, The pilot light went out on the gas fireplace. Is 11 bad? I have animals in my house and I want to make sure they are going to be okay. The detector says 0 now.

Answer
The carbon monoxide seems to be coming from the gas fireplace since carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning(combustion) of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels.If you smoke a couple of cigarettes, or someone had been smoking a cigar in the last hour, you could hit 11ppm CO in your home. Cigarette smokers exhale between 4 and 9 ppm CO all the time. And, if you're in a city, it's possible that the background CO rises to that level during the day. The mechanic's meter might hit 12-15 ppm standing in the middle of your back yard!
Besides, 11-12ppm CO may be ambient conditions and nothing to really worry about. It could also be "left over" output from cooking or some other activity. To make it even more complicated, the cheap CO meters and many residential CO detectors are cross-sensitive to other gasses, like methane, butane, alcohol, aerosols, etc. I've seen "Pam" cooking spray put a CO detector into alarm.
Besides, if you had been cooking, using the oven, heating water on the stove, or had a door or window open that could cause your flue(any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like) to down draft, you might see 5-20ppm in the house for a period of time. An oven will produce anywhere from 20 to 600 ppm when operating. Most run in the 30-100ppm range.

You should still check with the local firedepartment or call the company that made The detector your using.

How do carbon monoxide detectors work?

kyorge6293

I am trying to create a detector to see how much carbon monoxide is in a room. I am looking to find an specific average throughout a day, not just if the carbon monoxide level is too high.
By the way, I am doing a project on Indoor Air Pollution.
Thanks in Advance.

Answer
Most Carbon Monoxide detectors determine the amount of CO present in the air by using an electrolytic sensor. If the value is high, the alarm sounds.

There are digital CO detectors available which will read you the level on an LED number display. You can write down the numbers on the display at predetermined intervals and average them after 24 hours has passed. Most houses should read 0 all of the time. I've only seen mine say something other than 0 when I was working on the car in the garage and had it running for a couple minutes (with the garage door open although still allowed enough into the house to cause it to display, but not alarm). Take a look just past halfway down this page and you will see a couple models with a digital readout on them:

http://www.firstalert.com/CarbonMonoxideAlarmsCatalog.aspx

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Do air filled balloons float on Carbon Monoxide?

carbon monoxide detector says 0 image

abear

It is interesting to me that our air filled balloons are floating towards the ceiling. Is it possible that there is something wrong in the room. Could it be carbon monoxide?

Answer
NOOOO! because only helium can make the latex balloons fly because helium is very light unlike carbon monoxide. CO (carbon monoxide).
another is Although the molecular weights of these gases differ, convection and not
density differences dominate the distribution of CO, methane etc. The
release of gases associated with combustion tend to rise because they are
hotter than ambient. For this reason smoke detectors and CO detectors are
usually placed high on the walls of hallways etc.

High or low in a room; It makes no difference where you put the detector
-- but not because carbon monoxide and air have approximately the same
density. Both are gases and as a result, diffusion alone and the entropy
effect will take care of mixing them. Any convection currents and/or
forced-air turbulence present will also enable the gases to mix and affect
the detector.

It is popularly misconceived that light (low-density) gases will somehow
float atop heavy (higher density) gases. Indeed, if the higher density gas
was admitted low in the room, and done so in a manner that would not cause
much mixing, it would take a while for the gases to become thoroughly
mixed by the mechanisms mentioned above. Even so, they would eventually mix.

That said, since time to detection may be of the essence, and in
circumstances where the contaminant gas (such as radon -- a gas of very
high density) gets into the room through entry points more or less at
floor level, where one puts the detector can become important.

Air is 1/4 oxygen O2, (weight 16) and mainly nitrogen N2 (weight 14).

CO is weight 12+8 = 20, so heavier than "air"
Methane (natural gas) is CH4 = 12 + 4(1) = 16, so mixes with air fairly
well, hard to say.

I would put the CO and methane detectors near the furnace.


Air is 1/4 oxygen O2, (weight 16) and mainly nitrogen N2 (weight 14).

CO is weight 12+8 = 20, so heavier than "air"
Methane (natural gas) is CH4 = 12 + 4(1) = 16, so mixes with air fairly
well, hard to say.

I would put the CO and methane detectors near the furnace.

Neither, for the most part.
Carbon monoxide has nearly the same density as air.
You'll notice that the manufacturer's instructions that come with the
detector don't say high or low either.

The density of a gas is proportional to the weight of a single molecule of
that gas.

So you figure relative buoyancy for yourself if you start learning a few
atomic weights:
H=1, He=4, C=12, N=14, O=16.

Add them up for the molecular weights of pure gasses:
H2 = (1+1) = 2, very light
He = (4) = 4, very light
N2 = (14+14 ) = 28, about neutral
O2 = (16+16) = 32, slightly heavy
CO2= (12+16+16)= 44, heavy
CO = (12+16) = 28, about neutral
CH4= (12+4*1) = 18, light (majority part of natural gas)
H2O= (2*1+16) = 18, light (steam)
C2H6=(2*12+6*1)= 30, about neutral (minority part of natural gas)
C3H8=(8 + 3*12)= 42, heavy (propane)
C4H10=(10+4*12)= 58, (butane)
C5H12=(12+5*12)= 70, pentane, lightest part of gasoline

For mixed gasses just take a proportionate average:
Air is 80% N2 + 20% O2 .
air = 0.8(28) + 0.2(32) = 29 (exactly neutral, by definition)

So pure carbon monoxide is actually about 3% lighter than air.
But usually it is made in modest concentrations, mixed in with the normal
combustion products: CO2, H2O.
Which are always mixed with the 80% Nitrogen that never participates in
burning.
Then that mixes with room air, making an even smaller concentration...

And there are uncertainties...
Some fuels make light exhaust (more H2O), some make heavy (more CO2).
Then when the exhaust cools the light part, H20 (steam), may condense and
drop out.
Not to mention that the exhaust gas was expanded when hot, and it
contracts as it cools.
No rule can predict which way it is going to go in most circumstances.

Because it travels in whatever directions your air normally
circulates, which varies,
it is difficult in most homes to find an advantageous position where CO
will enter or concentrate.
So we settle for any convenient position, or one associated with that
which we wish to protect,
namely us, breathing in air at medium heights.

My CO detector is at about waist-level in a hallway, partly because there
was a convenient power socket there.
Also the only air-intake to the house heater is there, so virtually all
the air in the house will pass that position regularly.

Doing a really good job needs more than one detector, but they are not
cheap enough for that yet.
One for each potential source of monoxide, plus one for each
protectee. Maybe someday.
Meanwhile, if I had a wall heater, I wouldd definitely place my one
detector near there, probably high up.

Where is the best place for a Carbon Monoxide detector?

D_Icon

I say near the floor where ever there are gas burning appliances since the gas is heavier than air. My uncle says up high...

Answer
Carbon monoxide is not heavier than air. It's specific gravity is 0.9657, with air being one. It will mix freely with the air in the home. In fact, if carbon monoxide is being produced from combustion appliances (like gas furnaces), it will rise with the heated air. Most detectors come with instructions as to where they should be placed. First Alert recommends their battery operated detectors be placed on the ceiling. Plug-in models, of course, will be placed lower because that's generally where receptacles are located. If only one detector is being installed, it should be placed close to bedroom areas. The more detectors the better.

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How do carbon monoxide detectors work?

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kyorge6293

I am trying to create a detector to see how much carbon monoxide is in a room. I am looking to find an specific average throughout a day, not just if the carbon monoxide level is too high.
By the way, I am doing a project on Indoor Air Pollution.
Thanks in Advance.

Answer
Most Carbon Monoxide detectors determine the amount of CO present in the air by using an electrolytic sensor. If the value is high, the alarm sounds.

There are digital CO detectors available which will read you the level on an LED number display. You can write down the numbers on the display at predetermined intervals and average them after 24 hours has passed. Most houses should read 0 all of the time. I've only seen mine say something other than 0 when I was working on the car in the garage and had it running for a couple minutes (with the garage door open although still allowed enough into the house to cause it to display, but not alarm). Take a look just past halfway down this page and you will see a couple models with a digital readout on them:

http://www.firstalert.com/CarbonMonoxideAlarmsCatalog.aspx

What does it mean when my carbon monoxide alarm says the "Peak Level" is 26? Is this cause for concern?

newjediord

It never actually sounded, but the Peak Level went from 0, to 15, to 21, to 26. (There's a button you can push called Peak Level) So, does anyone know what this means? Do I have a slow-leaking source of carbon monoxide, or is my alarm just detecting other similar chemicals? As a side note, the alarm is in the kitchen, not in the ceiling, but on a counter.

Answer
The highest level it has detected is 26 parts per million, most will not alarm till 50 ppm. Get it out of the kitchen, simply cooking could cause the reading. I recommend you put detectors where you sleep.
Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer because most become victims while they are
are sleeping. Candles, burnt food, gas stoves, auto exhaust, gas water heaters and gas furnaces are examples of things to look for. Exposure to over 5ppm is not recommended for any length of time. It is also possible your detector is faulty, I would not bet on that. Take the time to sort this one out.

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What is a high number on a carbon monoxide detector?

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LINK

I have a Nighthawk carbon monoxide detector and what is a number to know so that i know it's dangerous and should get out? I know it goes off when theres carbon monoxide in the air but i wanna know the number just incase. And I just tested it to and it said 214 is that bad?

Answer
The nice thing about Nighthawk is that they have a digital readout of the CO level so that you can monitor it even if the CO level isn't high enough to trigger the alarm. Under normal circumstances, the display should always read 0. Now, there are things that could cause the reading to temporarily rise, like cooking with a gas stove or oven. But, after you are done cooking, the level should drop. If your detector is reading anything but 0 all the time, you need to find the source and have the problem corrected. I would normally red flag anything over 9 or 10 ppm. Although that is no where near lethal levels, it still indicates a problem. Long term exposure to low levels of CO is not good for you.

At what level does carbon monoxide become dangerous?

The Mrs.

After cooking on our new gas stove last night for approximately 30-45 minutes, my husband said that the carbon monoxide detector in our bedroom read a level of 15ppm. This is the highest we have seen it, generally speaking it doesn't go over 10ppm. At what point (in ppm) should we be concerned?

Answer
Any level of carbon monoxide is dangerous, it inhibits hemoglobin, myoglobin, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (which are all VERY important!).

But typically, a concentration of as little as 0.04% (400 parts per million) carbon monoxide in the air can be fatal.

Below is a chart to help elaborate on the toxicity levels of CO and its symptoms:
* 35 ppm (0.0035%) Headache and dizziness within six to eight hours of constant exposure
* 100 ppm (0.01%) Slight headache in two to three hours
* 200 ppm (0.02%) Slight headache within two to three hours
* 400 ppm (0.04%) Frontal headache within one to two hours
* 800 ppm (0.08%) Dizziness, nausea, and convulsions within 45 minutes. Insensible within two hours.
* 1,600 ppm (0.16%) Headache, dizziness, and nausea within 20 minutes. Death in less than two hours.
* 3,200 ppm (0.32%) Headache, dizziness and nausea in five to ten minutes. Death within 30 minutes.
* 6,400 ppm (0.64%) Headache and dizziness in one to two minutes. Death in less than 20 minutes.
* 12,800 ppm (1.28%) Unconsciousness after 2-3 breaths. Death in less than three minutes.

In addition, a recent report concludes that carbon monoxide exposure can lead to significant loss of lifespan after exposure due to damage to the heart muscle.

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