Best idea I've seen on this topic! So no problems with CO 'false alarms' due to sensitivity?
Atmospheric CO is 0.2 ppm. Alarms are required to activate between 70 to 400 ppm depending on duration.
Yes, there is a potential for a false alarm to go off but there are a few workarounds for that. One thing you definitely don’t want to do is idle the car for more than a second after the car is in the garage but that’s only common sense. If winds are the right way, there is still a possibility it could go off but the odds are small. When leaving, I always make sure to get the car backed up right away after it is started. One other thing that is important to do is make sure you place the alarm in a location which is not subject to immediate impact from the car exhaust. This typically means mounting it near the door into the house so that if there ever was an alarm, it can be investigated right away. That location naturally is on the opposite side of an exhaust pipe.
I’m a bit nuts about carbon monoxide as I nearly lost a brother to it. One thing I always do is carry my own portable CO detector wherever I travel….. it’s seems that every year there is a report somewhere that a pool heater in a hotel malfunctioned. Years ago I found this unit and what I liked about it, it gives a readout in ppm and is so small that it fits on a keychain. https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-CO-72-9021-Monoxide-Detector/dp/B001G0STBK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526256908&sr=8-3&keywords=Pocket+CO In fact, I liked it so much I’ve bought one for all my family members and for my employees and also given away some as prizes. I have no connection to the company but I do highly recommend that travellers have something like this when they travel. If you do any flying in small planes, a small unit like this is a must./p>