Carbon Monoxide Alarm Going Off? What to Do Right Now

When a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, the order matters. NFPA advises moving immediately to fresh air outdoors or to an open window or door, making sure everyone in the home is accounted for, and calling for help from that fresh-air location. Stay there until emergency personnel arrive.

Do not waste time trying to find the source first. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas, so the house can smell completely normal while levels are dangerous. The CDC warns that people who are asleep, have been drinking or are under the influence can die from carbon monoxide poisoning before they ever notice symptoms.

On the way out, you do not need to shut every appliance off. If a car is running in an attached garage, a generator is running nearby, or a gas oven is being used for heat, and you can turn it off in a second without delay, do so. Otherwise just leave. Bring a phone, keys and coats, because a winter night in Western Pennsylvania is cold, and wait in a car parked outside the garage or at a neighbor's house.

Most homeowners hear one of two sounds. A loud, repeating pattern of beeps, on many models four quick beeps and a pause, is the carbon monoxide alarm itself. Treat it as an emergency every time, even if it stops on its own or nobody feels sick.

A single short chirp every 30 to 60 seconds is usually a trouble signal. NFPA advises checking for a low battery first and replacing it. If the chirp continues with a fresh battery, the unit may have reached the end of its life. Many alarms have a date and a sound guide printed on the back, and the CDC advises replacing CO detectors following the manufacturer's instructions or every five years.

If you are not sure which sound you are hearing, treat it as a real alarm, go outside and call. Fire departments would much rather check a house and find nothing than arrive too late.

The CDC lists headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion as the most common symptoms, and notes they are often described as flu-like. A clue that points to CO rather than the flu: several people, or people and pets, in the same house feel ill at the same time, and they feel better after leaving the house.

Infants, older adults and people with heart disease, anemia or breathing problems are more likely to get sick from CO, according to the CDC. If anyone has symptoms, tell the 911 dispatcher so medical help comes with the fire department. Do not drive yourself to the hospital if you feel dizzy or confused.

Carbon monoxide comes from fuel that does not burn completely. NFPA lists heating and cooking equipment that burns fuel, plus vehicles or generators running in an attached garage, as household sources. In Indiana County and Westmoreland County homes, the usual suspects in November and through the winter are a gas or oil furnace or boiler starting up for the season, a gas water heater with a loose or blocked vent pipe, a fireplace or wood stove with a blocked chimney, and a car warmed up in an attached garage.

Many older homes in Indiana, Blairsville, Homer City, Greensburg, Latrobe, Jeannette, Ligonier and Mt Pleasant started with coal or gravity heat and were converted to gas or oil decades later. Those conversions often reuse old chimneys and flue liners, and a cracked liner or a vent pipe that has slipped apart can push exhaust back into the basement. The CDC also advises having chimneys checked or cleaned every year because debris can block them.

Snow and ice are a seasonal cause. NFPA advises keeping furnace, dryer, stove and fireplace vents clear of snow during and after a storm. High-efficiency furnaces that vent through a plastic pipe in the side wall are easy to bury in a drift, and the furnace may shut down or vent poorly when that happens.

Power outages bring a different risk. The CDC says to run generators only outdoors, more than 20 feet from windows, doors and vents, and never in a garage, even with the door open. Never heat the house with a gas oven, grill, camp stove or charcoal.

Firefighters or the gas utility will usually meter the air and may shut off or tag an appliance they think is the source. Peoples Natural Gas, which serves much of this area, lists carbon monoxide symptoms as an emergency alongside gas leaks on its emergency page. Its 24/7 emergency line is printed on your gas bill and on the Peoples website.

Do not restart a furnace, boiler or water heater that has been shut off or tagged until a qualified technician has inspected it. Ask the technician to check combustion, venting, the flue or chimney connection and the heat exchanger, not just to get the system running again. Keep the house warm safely in the meantime: an electric space heater plugged directly into a wall outlet and kept clear of anything that can burn is far safer than any fuel-burning heater indoors.

If the alarm sounded but no CO was found, still replace the alarm if it is past its date, and mention the event to the technician at your next heating service. The CDC advises having your heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.

Pennsylvania's Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act (Act 121 of 2013) requires sellers of homes to disclose carbon monoxide detector information on the property disclosure statement. In apartment buildings for three or more households with a fuel-burning heater or appliance, fireplace or attached garage, the owner must provide an approved alarm near the bedrooms and the fuel-burning equipment, and tenants must test it, replace batteries and report problems in writing.

For your own home, NFPA recommends CO alarms in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level, interconnected if possible so that when one sounds they all sound. Test them monthly. Choose an alarm listed by a recognized testing laboratory, and follow the manufacturer's directions for mounting height.