ADT CO2 sensors reliable? Where to place?

Let the alarm company provide the solution, that's what they're paid for.

I feel sorry for the installer coming to your place == you're gonna second guess him every step of the way and follow him around like a puppy dog, aren't ya?

any real answers?

You could use a Weegie Board or a magic 8-ball.

Doncha hate that? Seems it's always the customer that ate garlic for breakfast, lunch and dinner that wants to look over my shoulder while I'm programming his panel.

Years ago CO detectors were a major source of false alarms. Modern detectors are nowhere near as much of a problem.

Place a CO detector on a wall outside the sleeping area (but not *in* the bedroom) at a height of 5' from the floor. You may also wish to install a unit near the possible source of CO, such as in the furnace room.

Placement of CO detectors really depend on what you are mainly concerned with monitoring. If you are more worried about CO fumes from the fact that you start your car in the attached garage to let it warm up, then I'd place it near there but not directly in the garage. If your mostly worried about a crack in the heat exchanger of your furnace then place it near the closest vent to the furnace. If you have a propane fireplace and that is your biggiest concern then place it near there but not directly above the unit. The thing you have to remember is that a CO dectector is exactly that. Carbon Monoxide is created from a fuel that is partially burnt. A fuel that burns extremely efficient puts off very little CO. Most furnaces now-a-days burn at like 92 and 93 percent efficient, but it is the mishap of something going wrong and throwing off the efficiency ie: a couple of your spark plugs on your car starting to foul-out which makes it run poorly. It runs poorly brcause it is not burning the fuel correctly. Hope this helps!

thanks for the replies guys. i think i will place one outside my bedroom, one and only one. my primary fear is a bad heat exchanger that incapacitates you while you sleep.

I had that happen to my furnace in a home I bought in CT some years ago. The heat exchanger was cracked, allowing CO gas into the house. It gave us all headaches but fortunately there was no permanent damage.

A more common danger of CO infusion is a blocked or faulty damper. This can happen to a gas furnace or a water heater.

Another problem sometimes occurs when the home is nearly air tight and there's a fire in the fireplace. The fireplace is like a bonfire with lots of convective airflow up the chimney. The furnace fire, by comparison, is a very small flame with much less convective flow. The fireplace sends so much heat up the chimney that it causes a negative pressure in the house. Outside pressure tries to replace the lost air, pushing straight down the furnace flue. Note that in modern homes there are actually two separate flues -- one for the furnace and another for the fireplace. The incoming air draws the furnace gas, together with lots of CO, back into the house.

There are other possible sources of CO, including a car engine left running (a friend of my father died that way), improperly vented gas heaters, stoves, etc.

If you're only going to install one CO detector, the location outside the bedroom is the best choice. Best of luck.

I'm not so sure about that.

BTW.. Did you just watch the Discovery Atlas show about Brazil? Pretty neat.

Yep. The segment on Bahia depicted an area known as Nordeste da Amaralina. I've driven through there once. It's a tough neighborhood. They presented Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, which is the most famous carnaval. Unfortunately, they didn't show anything about Salvador's Carnaval. The two are radically different.

any particular reason you are suggest OUTSIDE the bedroom as opposed to in it? the reason i ask is my master bedroom is on the 2nd floor and the hallway outside is exposed on each end to a 2 story entrance foyer and 2 story family room... ie. a large mix of a huge volume of air. it also doesn't have any vent in the hallway. i am concerned the heating vents in the bedroom itself could actually pump in CO2 faster and fill the room (with closed door) faster than the hallway would hit the same level since it is exposed to such a huge volume of air on each side. any harm in putting it in the bedroom?

thanks again...

code here is outside and inside bedrooms, plus other stuff too.

Aerosol propellants (hair spray) can set them off.

CO mixes readily with *all* of the air coming through the HVAC system. You could back it up with a unit inside the bedroom as long as it's not close to your wife's dresser. :^)

No problem.