Harry K wrote:
"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message ...

m Ransley wrote:

George, Heating equipment does not "tell" you when Co is being released
because of a cracked exchanger, poor draft or racoon in the chimney, I
had a racoon in my chimney.

Co detectors do. They save enough lives in Chicago that they are
mandatory in apartment buildings. The proved thenselves to me when the
exaust blower motor on my 117000 btu water heater failed. They should
be mandatory, Co does not smell and burnt NG can be decieving


I agree that multifamily and commercial buildings should
have CO detection. They couldn't have saved many lives
though if only 150 per year in the U.S. died of CO.

Shouldn't a failed exhaust blower shut down the water
heater? Sounds like a failure of the safety features.


Considering the minimal cost of a CO detector, why are you argueing
against having one? I just got two for about $20 each. Very cheap
insurance and if it is your family even one death from co is too much.

Harry K

Glad you asked. Cheap? not on a nation wide basis. Even
one death, yes if it is your family, but no if it is someone
elses family.
Here are the numbers for home injuries: 20,000 deaths and
21 million hospital visits per year. Every family should
have a CO detector right? over 200 million in the U.S.
about 2.5 people per family. So if every family spends 25
bucks that is still $2 billion for the nation. And this is
to prevent 150 deaths per year and ?? 3000 hospital visits?
The U.S. doesn't spend $2 billion per year on the
prevention of much of any kind of death regardless of the
numbers.

You want to protect your family? for get the CO detector
and spend $70 on a good ladder. Spend $20 on a good GFI. I
could keep going, but after you spend about $100,000 on
safety devices, then spend your $20 for a CO meter. And
don't forget, you need to do that every 4-5 years.

I don't have any argument on an individual basis for buying
and using a CO detector, but to advocate that purchase for
all families is downright wasteful. Spending that kind of
money on preventative medicine would be far more valuable to
the nation. In fact, just a small fraction of that kind of
money could save hundred or thousand of lives in each state
by just making inoculations available for free.