Articles · Topic
Articles about Carbon Monoxide
39 articles across 6 sections
Section
Community
Faith Community Preparedness Guide
A practical guide for churches, synagogues, mosques and temples: choose a safe emergency role, write the plan, work with local partners and know when to stop.
Assess a Church for Emergency Use
How a house of worship can assess one room for one emergency service: who approves it, the path to walk, exits, power, water, capacity and a written verdict.
Cooling, Warming and Cleaner Air Sites
How a house of worship can run a daytime cooling, warming, cleaner air or charging site: what to measure first, when to call 911 and when to close for the day.
Section
Self-Reliance
Generator Guide, Portable and Standby
How to choose, size, fuel, and safely operate a portable or standby generator. Wattage math, fuel consumption, carbon monoxide safety, transfer switches, and the generator-as-bridge concept.
Heating, Fuel, and Generator Safety
Safe operation of generators, space heaters, wood stoves, and fuel storage. Carbon monoxide prevention, ventilation rules, and the safety practices that prevent the leading causes of post-disaster death.
Winter Driving Preparedness
Cold-weather vehicle readiness and the stuck-in-a-storm protocol. Pre-winter vehicle check covering battery CCA, tires, antifreeze, and wipers. Winter tires vs all-season comparison. The six-step stuck-in-a-storm survival protocol. When not to drive.
Dutch Oven Cooking
Cooking in a camp Dutch oven over charcoal: choosing a 12- or 14-inch oven and the tools to go with it, lighting coals in a chimney starter, Lodge coal counts and placement for baking, safe internal temperatures, seasoning and care, and the CPSC outdoor-only rule for charcoal.
Generator and Backup Power Safety
Portable generator carbon monoxide safety: the 20-foot placement rule, fuel storage, transfer switches, and the mistakes that kill about 100 people every year.
Ice Fishing
Getting started with ice fishing: gear, ice thickness guidelines, self-rescue if you fall through, and the carbon monoxide risk inside a heated ice shanty. Seasonal freshwater fishing with real risks worth knowing before you step onto the ice.
Outdoor Grilling
Charcoal and gas grilling done safely. The carbon monoxide and propane hazards that cause real injuries every year, and the cross-contamination habit that undoes a perfectly cooked meal.
Wood-Stove Cooking
Cooking on a wood stove's flat top or in its firebox. The clearance, chimney, and carbon monoxide rules that govern the appliance itself, and the cast-iron cookware that actually suits the heat.
Fire & Utility Safety, Shelter & Home Security
Practical fire safety, smoke alarm placement, CO detector guidance, utility shutoffs, and generator safety for your home.
Generator Safety for Medical Users
Safe generator operation when medical devices require continuous power. The three non-negotiable CO safety rules, pre-storm setup, carbon monoxide symptom recognition, and CO alarm placement.
Household Safety
The home safety system that prevents the most common injuries: smoke and CO alarm placement and maintenance, fall prevention for older adults including home modifications and medical evaluation, childproofing that evolves with the child, person-specific safety for mobility, vision, cognitive, and medical equipment needs, fire escape planning, and the twice-a-year safety walk checklist.
Poisoning Prevention and Response
How to prevent the most common household poisonings and what to do when one happens: the Poison Help number (1-800-222-1222), when to call Poison Help versus 911, what not to do (no vomiting, no activated charcoal, no home remedies), medicine and chemical storage rules, age-specific risk patterns, and the daily habits that prevent the most common exposures.
Propane Basics
Hub for propane as household backup energy: why stored propane stays usable, how it behaves in the tank, the 80% fill rule, DOT cylinders vs. ASME tanks, BTU runtime math, and core safety. Links six in-depth guides on tank sizes, runtime, NFPA 58 storage and safety, refill vs. exchange vs. delivery, regulators, and appliances.
Propane Storage and Safety: NFPA 58 Distances, Leak Detection, CO Prevention, and Transport
NFPA 58 siting distances for every tank size, safe cylinder storage, transporting propane in a vehicle, the soapy water leak test, what to do if you smell gas, and carbon monoxide prevention.
Shelter Basics: What a Home Must Do
What a home must do in an emergency: warmth, dryness, safety, information, and a calm place to think. Steps for each job, a one-evening quick start, and four guides.
Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: A Household Reference
Where smoke and CO alarms go, which smoke alarm type to buy, what each chirp means, what to do when one sounds, and the simple routine that keeps both working.
Wood Gasification
What a gasifier does and why the risk is structural: producer gas runs around 170 times the concentration at which carbon monoxide is immediately dangerous, with no odour to warn of a leak. Tar as the dominant failure mode, engine derating, and what qualified execution looks like.
Wood Heat Safety and Maintenance
The three stages of creosote, what to do during a chimney fire, carbon monoxide safety with CPSC data, NFPA 211 clearances, ash disposal, and the complete annual maintenance schedule.
Working Safely on Your Vehicle, Automotive Basics
Safety essentials before any hands-on vehicle work. Protective equipment, safe work areas, jack stands versus jacks, wheel chocks, chemical hazards, ventilation, fire prevention, and knowing when to g
Section
Preparedness
The 90-Day Household Preparedness Guide
A printable 90-day household preparedness guide in 22 short modules with worksheets and a one-page master checklist: the first 72 hours, what each layer costs, a household profile, water storage, sources and treatment with CDC bleach measurements, meal-based food planning and rotation, energy priorities, generator and carbon monoxide safety, cooking and heating without grid power, heat and cold warning signs, medicine and medical devices, sanitation, alerts, staying or evacuating, documents and cash, children, older adults and pets, a daily routine, and a 13-week build schedule and tracker. Opens with the October 2026 Pentagon 90-day base planning news and what official household guidance actually says.
First 24 Hours
The first day of a power outage, in order. What to do in the first ten minutes, how long the refrigerator and freezer hold, keeping warm or cool without power, and the carbon monoxide mistake that kills people every year. Hands off at the 24-hour mark, where the Power Outage Action Plan takes over.
Grid Down: What to Do When You Have Done Nothing to Prepare
Running a household when the power will be out for days or weeks: generator carbon monoxide safety, food safety timelines, emergency water treatment, heat and light, with no preparation. A complete action plan for an extended grid-down.
New Hampshire Local Risk Guide: Ice Storms, Floods, Outages and Household Readiness
Household disruption guide for New Hampshire by region: ice storm and windstorm outages in forested service areas, flash and river flooding in valley towns, Seacoast coastal flooding, drought and dry private wells, extreme cold, and heating systems that need electricity. Covers NWS Gray, NH Alerts, town-level emergency management, cascading failures, seasonal calendar, and a ten-action checklist.
Shared-Building Risks You Cannot Control
The biggest apartment risks often start in someone else's unit. Cooking fires, space heaters, burst pipes, blocked hallways, and building system failu
Staying Warm During an Outage
Maintaining safe temperatures during a winter outage. Room consolidation, safe supplemental heating, layering, carbon monoxide prevention, recognizing hypothermia, and when to leave.
Tier One: Emergency Lighting, Alarms, and First-Night Basics
The first ten preparedness purchases in order: headlamps, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, a power bank, a weather radio, and cash. What to get first and why detection comes before anything that burns.
Winter Power Outage Kit: Stay Warm, Safe, and Fed When the Heat Goes Off
A winter power outage kit built around heating, carbon monoxide safety, pipe protection, lighting, and three days of no-cook food. Real products, honest prices, and every safety rule sourced from CPSC
Winter Storm: What to Do Right Now
What to do in a dangerous winter storm: staying warm without carbon monoxide risk, surviving a stranded vehicle, and the hypothermia and frostbite signs that mean call 911. Immediate action during a blizzard or winter storm.
Section
Gear and Buying Guides
Backup Power for Medical Devices: The Buyer's Handbook
A calm, sourced buyer's handbook for keeping a CPAP, oxygen concentrator, or other plug-in medical device running through a power outage. What FDA, CDC, and the device makers say, how long batteries really last, and what to buy.
Best Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)
The CPSC recommends a CO alarm in every hallway near sleeping areas. Which models meet UL 2034, where to install them, and what most households miss.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors: The Complete Buyer's Handbook
A sourced buyer's handbook for household carbon monoxide alarms: what UL 2034 requires, where to place an alarm under NFPA 72 and CPSC guidance, sensor technology explained, and how long an alarm really lasts.
Mr. Heater Big Buddy Indoor-Safe Propane Heater Review
The Mr. Heater Big Buddy is the default backup heat source for a household without power. Why its oxygen depletion sensor matters, what CPSC says about indoor use, and the one thing to check before you buy.
Portable Generators: The Complete Buyer's Handbook
A sourced buyer's handbook for portable generators: running watts against starting watts, why a generator must never run indoors, what PGMA G300 and UL 2201 certifications mean, fuel types compared, and how to size one for your household.
Space Heaters: The Buyer's Handbook
A calm, sourced buyer's handbook for choosing and safely using a space heater: every electric type compared, vented and unvented fuel heaters, the three-foot rule, cords and outlets, and what still works in a power outage.