What People Should Know about CO Detectors

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This video is brought to you by Yellowjacket yellowjack has just Released a brand new y Jack Mano dual Port manometer Wireless probe that goes With all of your other y Jack probes Find out more at yellowjacket.com Since we're coming up into heating Season everyone knows how dangerous Co Can be especially our Northern friends Who work on a lot of gas furnaces and Other types of fuel burning furnaces you Know how dangerous Co can be it's very Important for customers and anybody out There to have a CO detector in your home You need to have that first line of Defense is going to beep and Flash to Let you know when to get out of the House so you don't become sick or worse But how good is the CO detector you get From the store In this segment I'm going to talk about CO detectors you might see online and do They do the job they need to do because Many times we slap something on the wall And say it's good We're done they're completely protected When they're not completely protected And this will actually come back to Using a combustion analyzer as well We're not going to talk about that in This video but in an upcoming video we Can talk about Should you be using a combustion Analyzer on 100 of your fuel burning

Appliance calls I'm starting to come around to the yes Category but some of you might disagree Which is fine that's why we have a Comment section for spirited debate what I'm going to do in this video is I'm Going to go to Amazon because I don't Know why Amazon's what we've been using But it's uh Website that almost every single person In our country is familiar with We're going to take a look at a CO Detector that pops up right at the top Of the charts and we're going to see how Good it actually is at protecting people From the dangers of carbon monoxide this Is a what I call Kitty carbon monoxide Detector says battery power with LED Lights Co alarm this is a Black Friday Deal today is actually Black Friday when I'm recording this and for one of these You can get it for 15.90 so incredibly affordable thus Being very appealing out there to people Who want to be protected have something Up but not spend a whole lot of money so Here it is so this Kitty carbon monoxide Detector does it actually do the job That you need it to do well first let's Go to a chart that's going to show us What the effects of carbon monoxide are So let's go to the Chart here this is Out of A university paper preventing carbon

Monoxide poisoning and the university is Florida Atlantic University I'm not very Familiar with them but they're using a Chart that we all can recognize here Health effects of carbon monoxide Poisoning There is an air concentration reading on The left side of this chart Health effects on the center of the Chart and on the right side it tells you What action you need to take For zero to two parts per million that's A normal outdoor ambient level so no Action is needed if we go one more line Down it says less than 10 parts per Million health effects none no action Needed great we're all good to go but Wait a second When we get to 10 to 20 parts per Million fatigue in healthy people so Healthy people are having effects chest Pain in people with heart disease now if You are a person with heart disease or Have a family or loved one with heart Disease and they're having chest pain That's going to pretty much ruin your Day you're going to want to take them Into the hospital immediately Now in the actions category it says Investigate possible source of Co the Repair when located so it's saying that Between 10 and 20 parts per million you Need to get on this okay keep that in Mind so 10 to 20 is when we start having

To take action At 20 to 75 parts per million it says Impaired vision and concentration Headaches dizziness confusion nausea Symptoms can mimic the flu but clear up After leaving home And the action category investigate Possible source of Co repair when Located move all residents to fresh air So now that we're at 20 to 75 parts per Million people are being evacuated out Of the area that's going to be affected By this Co 75 to 200 parts per million in China Chest pain Impaired Vision reduced brain function Read that one again reduced brain Function Get out of the house immediately this is Our action category call 9-1-1 from Outside of the house that's 75 to 200 Parts per million Greater than 400 parts per million Health effects says can be fatal so when You get to 400 you're in a very Dangerous category It says evacuate immediately call 9-1-1 From outside the house So it's also telling you that although You need to call 9-1-1 on these you have To be outside so it's more important for You to evacuate immediately than stop to Even call 9-1-1 that's very telling at The bottom of this page it says any

Reading over 10 PPM indicates that there Is an unusual source of Co that needs to Be investigated and you guys might have A chart that looks similar to this might Be broken up a little bit more than this One but this is a general chart it's Actually pretty good because it's more Condensed in some of the charts that I've seen but still highlights the very Severe risk that Co poses so now that We've seen this chart let's go back and Let's read about the kitty smoke alarm Which I think the page said if I Remember correctly let me go back over Here to Amazon I think it said like one Of the most popular ones on Amazon Says Kitty number one most installed Fire safety brand in North America so That's a broad category fire safety Brand Very nice literature here tells you About carbon monoxide product placement Guide so it really has this whole air of Safety now I read through here real Quickly in the product description I did Not see the thresholds For this device as far as Co but I Decided to go to the website And here's what I found on the website I'm going to highlight this area for you Guys I've highlighted this area and it Says per Ul2034 requirements that's Ul2034 the co sensor will not alarm at

Levels of Co below 30 parts per million And will alarm in the following time Range when exposed to the corresponding Levels of Co 70 parts per million Co concentration 60 To 240 minutes 240 minutes is A long time Now let's go back to the Chart again 60 240 minutes for 70 parts per million if We go back to the chart and we go down To 70 parts per million what is it going To tell us it's going to tell us that It's 75 to 200 parts per million in China impaired Vision reduced brain Function may result When you have reduced brain function you May not be in the best condition to Execute an emergency plan I think that's One of the major concerns that once this Thing alarms you might be impaired to The degree that you won't be able to Properly respond to the emergency that Would be a concern of mine just from Reading this I'm gonna continue here it says 150 Parts per million Co concentration 10 to 50 minutes 400 parts per million Co Concentration 4 to 15 minutes And remember 400 says could be fatal How long does it take for that to become Fatal let's take a look at one more Chart that breaks down a little bit more But just remember four to fifteen

Minutes let's say it's 15 minutes let's Max it out 400 parts per million and 50 Minutes almost one hour at 150 parts per Million so just keep that in your mind This is a chart at gaslab.com Goes from zero parts for me and all the Way up to 12 800 so it goes a little bit Farther and this one can be downloaded It says here it says download a copy of The chart so gaslab.com forward slash Blog slash article slash carbon monoxide Levels chart is where you can find this It's pretty easy to find these things by Google searching though So if we go to 400 parts from eating Here it's a UL format an alarm is what It says and you have physical symptoms Within one to two hours life threatening In three hours so it becomes Life-threatening within 180 minutes for 150 to 399 parts per million is a UL 10 To 15 minute alarm 200 parts per million physical symptoms After two to three hours To me if you're not alarming As soon as possible you're going to find Yourself into one of these areas and I'm Just going to assume and I'm not saying Anything negative about the kitty carbon Monoxide detector it is what it is and It doesn't say it's something different But what I'm saying is the lower you get With that detection the better off You're going to be because as a lot of

You guys know Things tend to not work as good as they First work as time goes by So as the sensor that reads Co Especially if you're reading a low level Constantly I would assume and maybe That's just an assumption I shouldn't Make but it's an assumption I think is Perfectly logical that over time that Sensor is going to wear out so if you Were to have a constant source of Low-level Co that maybe didn't cause Much damage in your body maybe it's 10 Parts per million or less where you can Live with it and don't notice it much But what if Over time your sensor Starts to wear out and all of a sudden It goes up to 40 or 50 parts per million It doesn't notice the difference it Doesn't Trigger or alarm or anything Like that I would just be concerned I'd Want the most Sensitive CO detector Whereas you might assume that the ones Sold online are but they're not very Sensitive in the grand scheme of things If you look at what happens Physical symptoms after six to eight Hours 35 parts per million these things Aren't even triggering at 35 parts per Million so when you go to purchase The CO detector make sure you're Purchasing one that triggers as low as

Possible now let's see if I can find an Example of one that triggered very low And I'm gonna say right now that this is Nothing where a particular CEO detector Company has said For hey Zach you want to make a video About the CO detector I'm just finding What I can find on the internet that's Readily available because I figure That's what people will do this is the Defender Ll6170 low-level carbon monoxide monitor Slash alarm And as you can see this one cost a whole Lot more than the kitty and there's a Reason for that as you can see if you Can see the picture podcast people you Can't see it but that's okay because I'm Going to tell you it has a part per Million readout on the actual device and I'm going to scroll down here and for Those of you who can't see it's 199 Dollars a set of fifteen dollars it says Ultra low level display time five parts Per million within one minute Nine parts for me within 10 minutes 25 Parts per million within two minutes So this thing is displaying a very low Level of carbon monoxide Right off the bat And it's going to keep you more safe in My opinion than something that doesn't Trigger until 70 parts per million and Just make a logic comparison you guys

If something costs 200 you would like to Think that it has a lot of quality it's Going to last longer And when it's talking about safety when We're talking about health and Well-being of you and your other family Members or people dwelling in your home Squatters whatever I would trust a higher level of product Than a lower level of product Lower level is going to cut Features and Corners potentially that's Not an indictment of kitty that's just My opinion of lower level products are Going to save money somehow they cost Less for a reason there's either Features missing or quality missing So in this particular instance it might Be worthwhile to think about having a Higher quality Often with higher cost unfortunately Product that's going to be more useful What I think a lot of low-level CO Detectors are are just things people put On the wall contractors put on a wall to Satisfy a code requirement Or people just see stuff online and say I'm looking for X this says X without Investigating further about what it Actually does That's how these things end up on the Wall For Better or For Worse so as a consumer I think the responsibility is on you to

Take a look at it and say does this do What I need it to do it's pretty easy to Find these charts there is an overall Understanding I think of Co in general People understand it's bad and it can Kill them I think we should take this Seriously I think hopefully I've Illuminated a little bit of how you Should choose a CO detector and what They're capable of And I hope you guys take this to heart This winter

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