At the beginning of the year, it's a great idea to check all the smoke detectors in your home, and replace batteries as necessary. That's not the only detector you need though. Aside from a fire, carbon monoxide (CO) is something else to think about. This gas is colorless, tasteless, odorless, and is lethal in high concentrations.
CO is produced by many of your household appliances, and if they aren't working properly or aren't properly ventilated, CO can build up in the air leading to carbon monoxide poisoning. This can cause symptoms similar to the flu, including headaches, nausea, and fatigue, and prolonged exposure may result in brain damage and even death. Since it's the number one cause of accidental deaths in the US (500 a year), it's important to know if the CO levels in your home are safe.
To be sure, install carbon monoxide detectors in your home. You can get one that plugs into an outlet ($49), or they also make Combo Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors ($48). If you're only installing one, put it where the majority of you sleep. If you can afford it, put one on every level for added safety. I am curious if you have a CO detector in your home. Tell me in the comments section below.

Lepel
Patrizia Pepe
Burberry
Fit, I think you are reading my mind!
The other day I was feeling breathless as I
had drunk some red wine and your article about sulfites popped up and I've cut them out now (and feel better!!) and then yesterday I installed CO- detectors around the house.
CO- detectors have saved my life in the past. Some kids had kicked in the flue on my boiler (on the outside of the house) and carbon monoxide started leaking in. The detector turned black and I called the gas board to fix it. I would have never have known if it hadn't been for the detector.
1Where is the best place to put one in the kitchen? We've put it on the inside of the boiler cupboard (its the only place CO- might leak from).
2We definitely have one in our home. The plug in kind. We have a one level-home with a pretty open floor plan. We keep it in the kitchen.
Last month a Denver family that won a stay in a vacation home in one of the resort towns from a charity auction all passed away from CO while on their vacation. It was really sad and could have been prevented with one of these.
3We just installed one recently because we installed a woodstove in our living room and that could potentially emit higher levels of CO than we'd like. I should probably get more than one though...I put one upstairs and I should probably get another one for downstairs.
4How random that my husband just installed one in our upstairs today — great minds think alike Fit!
5when my mom did renovations on our house a couple years ago, she made sure to have these installed along with new smoke detectors. it's been something that we've heard about a lot - how it's really important to know what's in your house, so i agree, if you don't have them, then you should consider getting one put in.
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