Best gas & carbon monoxide detectors according to redditors

Just want to throw this out there, for $50 you can get an explosive gas alarm. As easy to install as a night light.

Home Depot

Amazon

It’s different than a carbon monoxide alarm, that detects a byproduct of burning the natural gas that can kill you. Many smoke detectors will also detect carbon monoxide. The explosive gas sensor is a metal oxide sensor designed to detect natural gas (methane) or propane.

They are pretty cheap though. I bought a house in Firestone last year and you can get a portable explosive gas detector for inside of fifty bucks - no experience with this one but it's on Amazon for $37 they also sell one that plugs into the wall and also detects carbon monoxide

Biggest problem with the gas straight out of the well is that it has no detectable odors - after it's processed the refinery adds methyl mercaptan to make it stink like sulphur. So you would know if your natural gas line to your furnace or water heater were leaking, but without a detector you probably wouldn't know about something odorless silently seeping into your basement.

I personally have to wonder if the "problems" that were being repaired by installing a new water heater were directly caused by excess heavier gas displacing air enough to cause problems with the pilot light on the water heater.

Just buy a Propane/Natural gas detector and plug it in near the kitchen area. It will help you avoid any situation like this in the future. Something such as this may work https://www.amazon.com/Nighthawk-Monoxide-Explosive-Model-KN-COEG-3/dp/B0002EVNJ6/

It's very unlikely that anything goes wrong. But if it does, your tapestry would go up in flames, or you'd just pass in your sleep due to lack of oxygen.

Plenty of people do it, its still a gamble. Personally I'd get a nice carbon monoxide and gas alarm alarm if running a propane heater all night.

> wanted to be able to run fridge and laptop for a week at least before on solar before I have to turn on the engine and drive to my next spot

A normal laptop (10-90W), a small fridge (100-400W), and a room heater (900-1500W+) are orders of magnitude apart. The only time I've heard of anyone using an electric heater when camping was when he had an over-abundance of gasoline-electrical generator output, but one probably wouldn't want to run a generator at night due to noise.

> do you think these buddy heaters are save enough for children to be in the same room

A lot of people use propane heaters in RVs. Of course having a CO (Carbon Monoxide) detector and a fire extinguisher on hand is a must, even if burning a single candle. That aside, the most important thing is to assure adequate ventilation. Extra super-safety measure: set an alarm every 2 hours the first night to walk around the room and make sure the air is fine, nothing is overheating, etc.

When it comes to the possibility of leaks, propane is generally safer than natural gas, because: (1) You can smell it. (2) Propane vapors are heavier than air, so being higher off the floor is an added safety benefit (in addition to being more heat-efficient). (3) Buddy Heaters self-ignite automatically, so there's no chance of turning on the gas and forgetting to light the flame. You can get a propane leak detector as well (a separate function from CO detection, but possible to have both in one device).

I don't know anything about kids, but I don't think they are inclined to touch things that are very obviously very hot. I guess using some sort of a cage (around the heater, I mean, not the kids) would add an extra level of safety...

Could get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002EVNJ6/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_60_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YF6H53CQS681TN95DC88&dpPl=1&dpID=81tK5mgXK7L

That sensor will trip at 25% of the LEL (lower explosive limit) for methane, which should be plenty of warning.

Since the primary concern with natural gas is explosions, here are some things to keep in mind when placing the sensor:

1. You want it to be placed as close to the gas source as possible. This is because higher concentrations will be near the source of gas before it gets diluted into the rest of the room.
   
2. You want to place the sensor low to the ground. This is because natural gas is heavier than air, so it will tend to collect and travel near the ground.

Has anyone used an alarm like this one to detect gas? Won't help with the argon, but it would work for propane. I wonder if there is one that would send a text?

Looks great! Careful with propane in an enclosed space. Perhaps consider getting a CO and flammable gas detector maybe.

Any thoughts on this one vs the other one you recommended? Same company and slightly cheaper...

Carbon Monoxide CO Meter by FORENSICS & BOSEAN | Professional Precision Series | Water, Dust & Explosion Proof | USB Recharge | Sound, Light and Vibration Alarms | 0-1000 ppm | https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMG69XQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_IsU-BbYEVGGQN

Hey sorry, was building a fence today.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0002EVNJ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_StskDbB6HG5J3

It seems like all combined monoxide / gas alarms give lots of false alarms for gas. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-KN-COEG-3-Nighthawk-Monoxide-Explosive/product-reviews/B0002EVNJ6

Try this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kidde-408-900-0113-02-amp-Explosive-Alarm-9V/dp/B0002EVNJ6/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449526651&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=explosive+gas+detector

You should also be able to get the First Alert locally.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/FIRST-ALERT-EXPLOSIVE-GAS-CARBON/dp/B000H2651Y/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1449526651&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=explosive+gas+detector

> Kidde-KN-COEG-3-Nighthawk-Monoxide-Explosive

http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-KN-COEG-3-Nighthawk-Monoxide-Explosive/dp/B0002EVNJ6

You need the /dp/# at the end, you can put what ever you want beforehand actually.

http://www.amazon.com/this-will-still-take-you-to-the-alarm-thingi/dp/B0002EVNJ6

I think you may find some takers for your solution, especially with people who aren't familiar or comfortable with natural gas. However, how is your idea different from what's already available on the market? What does your idea bring to the table the current products on Amazon don't?

https://www.amazon.com/Topvico-Z-Wave-Water-Shutoff-Automation/dp/B0731B14B2

https://www.amazon.com/Nighthawk-Monoxide-Explosive-Model-KN-COEG-3/dp/B0002EVNJ6

Thanks for all of the comments! Very helpful overall, I really appreciate it. One small point, though:

>Not positive on this point, but I think you must wait for the smoke to clear. I think the design idea is not not be tolerant of false alarms. If the Kidde SD detects smoke/CO, it is not wrong, shit's on fire.

We have a Kidde Nighthawk plugged in outside our master bedroom ... and invariably, whenever we host a party at our house and have 30-40 people over, the thing starts going off ... it's ridiculous. Fortunately, that one is easy enough to rip out of the outlet and pull it's battery out without going into the garage to retrieve a ladder ... so ... I'm naturally a bit cautious on how false alarms could be cancelled. This seems to be a known issue for Kidde - check out the number of false alarm reports on Amazon reviews, although it's on the GAS side (not CO).

It actually even false-alarmed once while we were away, traveling internationally (the Dropcam picked it up as an audio alarm).

>They have good ecosystem partners - the products I want/have in my house already anyway (Schlage, Lutron, GE, Chamberlain, etc.)

I love my Chamberlain MyQ - even without the GE Wink integration yet. The implementation just works well.