I am a big proponent of the life safety aspect of our business. We have the ability to save lives every day and save families from tragedy every day. Have you done your part today, this week, this month?
We are in the heat of the season for carbon monoxide poisoning and we can’t forget the seriousness of the threat. You can’t see it, taste it, or smell it. No one is immune to this silent deadly killer. Do you offer carbon monoxide detectors on every job, do you offer them to customers during a service call, are you yourself educated on why a professionally installed sensor is better than one from the hardware store?
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), CO alarms “should be installed in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home and in other locations where required by applicable laws, codes or standards.” You can read more NFPA safety tips here. With the Honeywell 5800CO, we can help you adhere to NFPA guidelines. Unlike many of the hardware store brands, we do not plug into an outlet by the floor, we do not lose power during a power outage and we have one of the longest sensor lives in the industry. We detect it at 30 ppm and up and we send the signal to the central station for notification. These facts seem simply stated, but are all too often taken for granted or simply overlooked.
In my home town of Kansas City, a family nearly lost their lives in December from carbon monoxide poisoning. The threat is real and we are not immune to it. Please read the article to further educate yourself about this deadly threat. Also below is a powerful video from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And if you would like to view our video about the 5800CO, click here.
Thanks, Mike! This is often the unspoken piece of personal security and protection when customers consider their intrusion needs. It’s information like this that helps educate customers and end-users to better protect themselves and others. Thanks again for getting the word out and I look forward to future posts.
Thank you for your comment Steve. I am pleased to have your support in the effort to bring attention to this segement of our business.
I found this to be very informative, some times we are so taken up with the big threats to life often forgetting the silent killers.
I bought some battery powered cheap Co alarms for my mom and her friend also asked me to get her one for her house when she was there while I was installing them. End result her friends husband installed them and it went off the next night and saved there lives . Here there antique stove was badly leaking Co
and would have killed them the levels where over 90ppm
wired / wireless plug in or cheap battery get one and install it
Great reminder about protecting not only our customers home, but their lives.
Michael,
A very well written article explaining the hidden dangers of carbon monoxide and you also based it upon the national standards (NFPA Guidelines). I appreciate the video link attached as well, it confirms and validates. Keep us in mind at Apollo Fire Detectors, we manufacture a wireless CO detector as well and would like to keep you cost effective in your sales to the dealers, integrators and engineered system distributors. Keep sharing the knowledge!
regarding the actual installation of carbon monoxide devices to alarm system. the proceedure is a big joke,
1. most installers combine them with smoke detectors which causes the home owner to look to see what happened which wastes critical time. 2 most alarm controls don’t have a separate notification circuit which should annunciate in a voice that it is a carbon monoxide detector that sounded and the premises should be evacuated immediately.. 3 the manufacturers keep changing the style, shape, and size of a device that needs to be replaced every 6 years or so. plus the devices are dated from manufacturing date which means you can’t stock on them. 4 the placement of these devices are always in question. how about making the alarm panels more user friendly for the proper installation of these devices.
Bernard, thanks for your comments. Please see below as I hope to offer some helpful information to address your concerns. In order to optimize detection and have the most effective sensor on the market, one must utilize an electrochemical sensor. This sensing technology combines the two chemicals of platinum and acid which have half lives and expire over time rendering the sensor ineffective. This is the most current technology available to the market today. It is important to note that all CO sensing technologies on the market have a limited life. To keep the consumer informed, we notify the panel and the central station that the sensor is soon to expire. I recommend using a professionally installed sensor that is monitored by a central station.
At Honeywell, we only offer a system-connected carbon monoxide detector and it has had the same footprint since the inception of the 5800CO.
Honeywell’s VISTA line of panels and our self-contained LYNX controls are designed to help the homeowner to easily recognize the activation of the carbon monoxide detector by using the temporal 4 audible alarm signal. In addition, the LYNX voice annunciates that carbon monoxide has been detected and our VISTA line will annunciate this same information when used with a voice keypad or a 745VSD3 voice siren driver.
I hope this information is helpful and that you can use it in the field to help protect more families and loved ones from CO poisoning.