E.W. Tompkins Plumbing Heating Cooling suggests having a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of the home when you have a fuel-burning appliance of any kind.

We would like to see more units in the home when we do hot water heater tank installations.  It is not good enough to have one just in the basement.  Especially if you have a very large home.  We suggest them when we install gas appliances, water heaters, gas lines and more.

You cannot smell carbon monoxide and it is deadly!   

When you go to purchase one, you generally fun into two types of units.  One that connects to a smoke alarm.  And those that are independent.  They may be the most inexpensive.  They are easy to install.   It is important to be sure that you have enough of them.  It might be that you need more than one.  One can purchase one that is hard-wired or requires a battery.

Some of the brand names are:

First Alert OneLink Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm.  Which goes for about $55 on Amazon.  It is a combination unit.  It takes AA batteries.  It can link to others in the home.  So, when one goes off so do the others.  This is a great choice for large homes.

Kidde has been another leader in this product market.   If you do not need a combination unit there is the Kidde Nighthawk KN-Coop-3 unit.  It just plugs right into an outlet and has a battery included that works when the power goes out.   Really check out the features because, besides reset buttons, some have power cords, a level button, and LED displays too.

Kidde also makes the Kiddo KN-COB-B-LPN unit.  This is a really affordable $20 model.  You can place it on a nail, on a table or on a wall.  It uses 3 AA batteries and does not plug in.  It’s a tad tricky to get the batteries into the unit but it is intentional so there is no way you forget to place them inside.  The unit has a low battery indicator also a reset button.  

For those who live with their cell phone attached to them, take a look at the NEST Protect Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm.  This is very expensive and so we doubt that you will place multiple units in your home.  But their unit combines smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.  And they can send the alarm to your cell phone.  It is one of the more attractive units!

Again, if you have an appliance that uses fuel, you need to have multiple carbon monoxide units in your home to keep you and your family safe.  

If you need a hot water heater installed in the Capital Region of New York, call E.W. Tompkins Plumbing Heating Cooling at 518-462-6577