Central Square (WSYR-TV) -- If you don’t have a carbon monoxide detector in your home already, you’re supposed to. Wednesday marks the second anniversary of Amanda’s Law, which mandates that carbon monoxide detectors be inside your house. The law is named after a Buffalo teen who lost her life to CO poisoning from a defective boiler.
It's really as easy as running down to your favorite home improvement store and picking one up. You can probably get a pretty decent one for about $30 or $35, and you may need a few around the house.
Herb Smith, with Breathe Easy of CNY, says if you have CO levels they can vary greatly in different parts of the house. He says it’s best to have a professional check your furnace, but also to look at other appliances in your house, like the stove. He says that way you can make sure everything is venting the way it’s supposed to.
“I would say get one that has a digital readout and put them in the bedrooms that are the most vulnerable area. I'm not saying it's a complete safe thing to just have them in the bedrooms, but it’s your most vulnerable area," Smith told NewsChannel 9.
A typical detector should last about five to seven years. Smith says they’re as important as smoke detectors.
"It’s more prevalent than you think. If you look at the national average they say 400 people die a year. I don't know if there's anything about how many people get sick,” Smith said.
If your detector is going off it means one of a few things. Either you've got a problem with carbon monoxide in your house, or it’s out of batteries or it’s gotten old and you need to replace it. Either way, don't ignore it.
