CO alarm “burns” residue for more accurate read

Universal Security Instruments (USI) will introduce a plug-in carbon-monoxide (CO) alarm that can sense both CO and natural gas. The company says the product’s features set it apart from the competition and Consumers Digest finds the claim credible.

Ron Lazarus, who is president of USI, says the plug-in version (the model has a backup battery) provides the unit with enough power to cause the unit’s sensor to heat up and burn off airborne particles that collect on it. These particles—for example, from household cleaners—could leave a residue on the sensor that would interfere with a reading. The residue-burn-off feature could be useful particularly in an area such as a basement, where household cleaners might be stored.

John Drengenberg, who is a manager at Underwriters Laboratories, confirms that it’s possible for particle residue from products such as ammonia and bleach to make a CO detector’s reading less accurate. However, Drengenberg couldn’t comment on the product’s effectiveness at burning off particle residue to provide a more accurate reading.

Lazarus says that even though the CO alarm can detect both CO and natural gas, the product’s price will be comparable with the price of a traditional CO alarm.

Be sure to check out Consumers Digest’s review of the latest CO alarms, smoke alarms, and combination smoke/CO alarms in our January/February 2012 issue.

– K. Fanuko