Efficiency & Conventional Procedures

There are simple ways to either maintain healthy levels of carbon monoxide in a building or to eliminate an already existing problem:

• Purchase, use, and regularly check carbon monoxide detectors.
• Replace open heating units (such as space heaters) with direct vent sealed units.
• Never operate unvented fuel-burning appliances in rooms with closed doors or windows.
• Keep gas appliances properly adjusted.
• Have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune-up central heating system annually and repair any leaks promptly.
• Make sure a professional you hire uses a calibrated combustion analyzer to prove CO levels to you with a printout.

Since carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, it’s difficult to discover CO without the use of special equipment such as infrared and/or electrochemical instruments. If carbon monoxide poisoning is present it will be determined whether it is acute exposure or chronic exposure. Acute exposure is when a person has been exposed to high levels of CO in a concentrated time frame. Chronic exposure is when somebody has been exposed to low levels of carbon monoxide over an extended period of time.