Top 5 carbon monoxide detectors to protect your home – and where you need to place one

There are certain things that we all know our home should have to help keep us safe, including secure door locks, burglar alarms to smoke detectors. But there’s one system that often gets overlooked, despite being just as essential for keeping your home and family safe; a carbon monoxide detector.

These help pick up on any potentially dangerous or harmful traces of carbon monoxide (CO) which is completely odourless, making sure you have plenty of time to get your family out of the house and to safety. If your home is missing one of these essential detectors, or you need a replacement, we’ve found five of the best ones to shop as well as where exactly you should place them in your home.

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Where to put a carbon monoxide detector

As carbon monoxide leaks are caused by improperly burned fuel, it’s important to place you CO monitor close to any fuel-burning appliances. This includes a boiler, oven or gas stove, and ideally they should be fitted between one and three metres away from the potential source. This means they’ll pick up on the leak almost instantly, rather than waiting until the CO has drifted through several other rooms. It’s also important to fit one on each floor of your house, as well as in connected areas such as garages where there may be a CO source.

5 best carbon monoxide detectors to shop

This may be the priciest detector on our list, but there’s a good reason why it’s so expensive. Not only is it fully wired into your home, so you never need to worry about the batteries dying, but it also combines both a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector in one.

It has a a split-spectrum smoke sensor which detects both fast -and slow-burning fires, tells you what the danger is and where its located, and has a 10 year CO sensor to determine where a CO leak is hiding. It also sends you alerts to your phone, and lights up when needed to guide you out in the dark.

A slightly more budget-friendly way to combine the two, this smoke and CO alarm is currently under £20 and accurately detects CO from any potential sources. If either the carbon monoxide or smoke rise to alarm levels, it gives off a loud warning to alert you to it.

It’s also easy to install, with a battery operated set up that allows you to position it anywhere in your home without calling the electrician. You can also buy it in packs of one, two and three; perfect for placing in multiple locations.

Pegged as one of Amazon’s top choices and with over 5000 of them sold in the last month, it seems this Kidde CO alarm is definitely a worthwhile investment, particularly considering its budget-friendly price tag. The alarm is battery powered and can be either wall mounted or left free-standing, which means it can be taken on holiday or when travelling to keep you safe no matter where you are. It comes with three replaceable AA batteries included, and has a 10 year alarm life.

Perfect for homes who run on smart devices, this Amazon Smart Monitor can be linked up to your Alexa and provides continuous monitoring of your air quality. This means not only does it give an accurate reading of your CO levels, but also tracks things like the VOCs index and humidity around your home.

Rather than a wall-mounted monitor, this comes in the form of a sleek box which plugs in and can be placed anywhere in your home. You can also synch it up to items like air purifiers and dehumidifiers so they switch on and off when the indoor air quality is poor.

This Honeywell CO monitor is designed for any kind of living space, whether its a home, guest house or even a caravan. It’s battery operated and can be fixed to both walls and ceilings, and has a low-power chip that ensures it lasts for 10 years when in standby mode. It also has a super slim design that’s unobtrusive in your home, and has an end of life alert that lets you know when its time to replace it.