Carbon Monoxide Alarms (Whole Home)
Spot it
A home with a gas furnace, water heater, stove, dryer or fireplace, or an attached garage, and no carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms; an alarm with no battery or battery backup; an alarm past its replacement date.
Fix it
Install battery-operated or battery-backup carbon monoxide alarms near every sleeping area in your home, as CDC advises. Check their batteries when the clocks change each spring and fall, and replace each alarm on the manufacturer's schedule or every 5 years (CDC). Carbon monoxide has no smell or color, so you can't sense it yourself, and it can overcome people while they sleep; an alarm is how you find out in time. NFPA notes that some alarms combine smoke and CO sensing in one unit. The garage page covers one common source: running a car or generator in or near an attached garage.
Check your address to see what the public records say about this for your home.
Safer swaps
What actually fixes this — the category to look for, not a brand we were paid to name.
Check CO alarm batteries when the clocks change each spring and fallHabit
Free; CDC's schedule
Battery or battery-backup CO alarm near every sleeping area
CDC's placement advice; replace it per the manufacturer or every 5 years
No shopping list for this hazard — the fix is a habit, not a purchase.
Sources cited
Sources
- CDC estimates that each year more than 400 Americans die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning not linked to fires, more than 100,000 visit an emergency department and more than 14,000 are hospitalized — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (incl. WISQARS, NCHS, MMWR), 2026 (how we check this source)
Every source we cite is checked against our criteria first — see how we check our sources.
Related checks
- Carbon Monoxide: Cars, Generators & the Attached Garage — An attached garage is a common carbon monoxide source.
- Smoke Alarms — Smoke alarms go inside every bedroom; the two checks pair well.