Portable standby generators or power plants produce the toxic gas carbon monoxide (CO). CO is a colorless, odorless gas that kills without warning. Never use an electric generator indoors. One portable generator can emit the same amount of the deadly carbon monoxide gas as hundreds of midsize cars. In the same way that you wouldn’t leave a car with the engine running in a closed garage, don’t run a generator inside a garage, a home, a shed, or near open vents or windows.
Electric generators need air and distance. Place Westinghouse iGen4500 generator OUTDOOR ONLY, at least 20 feet away from your home. This portable electric generator emits less CO than others. Carbon monoxide is known as the “invisible killer.” This deadly gas has neither color nor odor. And it can quickly incapacitate and kill you and your family in a matter of minutes. A working CO alarm can detect high levels of gas in your home. If the alarm goes off, don’t ignore it. Get out of the house.
Tips to reduce the deadly consequences
In winter, accidents are common when there are no proper heating installations and stoves or kitchen burners or braziers and salamanders are lit indoors. Carbon monoxide is the complete combustion of organic material. It means that a hot water tank or an electric stove will not cause carbon monoxide poisoning. There must be combustion and there must be fire. If the combustion is incomplete (when the flame is not entirely blue as it should be), there is a combustion that is malfunctioning and it causes a gas that has no smell or color. Symptoms of possible carbon monoxide poisoning –
- Feeling dizzy,
- Some instability,
- Headache,
- Sickness,
- Vomiting,
- Loss of consciousness,
- Seizures,
People who are sleeping or who have been drinking alcoholic beverages can die from carbon monoxide poisoning before showing any symptoms. Carbon monoxide poisoning is totally preventable. Protect yourself and your family by learning about the symptoms of CO poisoning and how to prevent it.
What to do to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning?
Check that the flame of the appliances is blue. If it is a different color, the device malfunctions and produces abnormal amounts of carbon monoxide. Contact a professional right away. Always keep the rooms ventilated: with a window open at 5/10 centimeters. Avoid heating the environment with the oven or the kitchen burners. Try as much as possible not to install the water heater in the bathroom. If it is there, seek advice to relocate it.
Before going to bed, turn off the stoves and remove the braziers from your home. If they are not balanced draft devices, which are seen to have an exit to the outside, they must be turned off at night. Have a registered gas company check the exit of water heaters and stoves at least once a year. Perform all gas installations, appliance placement and repair with a licensed gas operator. Do not start combustion engines in closed places. Install carbon monoxide detectors.
Conclusion
Near about 400 people each year in the USA die from accidental CO poisoning. About 50,000 people go to the emergency room each year in the US for accidental CO poisoning. There are steps you can take to protect yourself and your home from CO poisoning. Carbon monoxide is found in gases produced by boilers, kerosene heaters, vehicles whose engines are “heated” in garages, stoves, portable lamps or lanterns, gas stoves, portable generators, or burning charcoal or wood. Carbon monoxide from these sources can accumulate in enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces. People and animals in these spaces can be poisoned and killed by inhaling CO.
