Why is my Carbon Monoxide Detector Beeping?

Before you press the silence button or remove the power from your beeping carbon monoxide detector, you may want to consider the following.

I know it is annoying, let’s see how I can help.

For this article I did not rely on my own experiences only, but I skimmed through the leading carbon monoxide detectors manufacturers to give justice to my research.

Don’t worry, I won’t bother you with a history of carbon monoxide gas and its properties which you must be knowing very well – (that is why you got a carbon monoxide detector – right?)

The main important concept to note is that your co detector does not have another way of communicating with you apart from lighting LEDs and producing sound.

Because you may not always be in a position to see this life saving device at all times to interpret the meaning of the LED lights, it is necessary to have another form of reporting that appeals to a different sense – and that is sound.

The sound is deliberately loud and inconvenient that you have no choice of ignoring.

I can bet most people (apart from those with hearing impairment) will hear the beep even if you were in another room or your attention was drawn to something different. 

So then, why does my carbon monoxide detector beep? Or rather, what is my co detector telling me?

Similar to humans who have different words to communicate different ideas, your device is also configured to communicate different things.

It does this by varying the number of beeps in a given time. For example, it could beep once, then stop for some time before repeating. 

the number of beeps could be two or four, followed by a long pause before repeating.

Hence, the first thing you need to know is the pattern your device is producing / generating the chirping.

Once you get this important piece of information, I can then get to the next step of interpreting the beeps and giving them meaning.

The caveat here is this – it is misleading to have a common interpretation that all CO beeping should be interpreted like two peas in a pod.

Different manufacturers have different rhythms for CO detectors beeping . For example, first alert and Kidde have different configured chirps recurrences. 

Beeping Once Every Minute: Low Batteries

This is to notify you of a low battery. You will hear a chirp every 60 seconds. 

For some of us, keeping track of how many seconds have passed may be difficult, but if you need to use your stopwatch to correctly judge the situation, then go ahead. 

This alarm is common for CO detectors that use a battery to operate or as a backup

You simply need to replace the battery.

Saving for the fact that the use of lithium batteries have eliminated the need for battery replacement within the lifetime of the CO device. Actually, you are strongly advised to purchase a CO alarm with ‘sealed for life’ batteries.

But if your CO monitoring device is still on the AA or AAA batteries, it is likely you are going to get this beep maybe once per year.

The above observation applies to both first alert and Kidde carbon monoxide alarms. 

A large number of carbon monoxide detectors beeping is attributed to drained or depleted batteries. 

Beeping Four Times: Dangerous CO Gas Detected

Hopefully, you do not get to hear this in your home! This means that dangerous levels of carbon monoxide gas have been detected in the house.

Therefore, this is an emergency situation and you and all occupants need to evacuate quickly to a safe place. 

For a place to be considered safe, there must be plenty of fresh air and must not be in the same building where CO was detected.

It is advised you should engage the local fire fighters services and only go back to the house once it has been verified to be safe to do so.

Beeping Five Times: Expired Carbon Monoxide Sensor

This is a message to warn you that the carbon monoxide sensor has reached its end of life. 

No CO sensor is built to last forever. Its monitoring ability deteriorates with time. When proper functionality cannot be guaranteed, then it is time to retire – but not without a ceremony. 

Hence, to inform you that a replacement and new installation is necessary, the smoke detector beeps five times.

This beeping sequence is true for the First Alert but do not expect it from Kidde. Kidde is expected to chirp every 30 seconds. This Kidde pattern is also used to mean that the CO alarm has a malfunction or error condition that may include a low battery.

The carbon monoxide gas sensor can have a life between 5 years and a maximum of 7 years. Most detectors will have the date of manufacture labeled at the back. Therefore, you can confirm if your CO monitor has expired or not.

Avoid these Causes of CO Detector Beeping

I would assume that your carbon monoxide detector was certified by a credible standard, for example, the UL 2034 in the United States or against British Standard EN 50291 in the UK.

If not, it is possible that the monitoring sensor of your device may be below acceptable performance (either due to temperature, humidity) and hence keeps triggering falsely. This is more than annoying as it would be very difficult to know what is causing the beeping or chirping in your smoke detector.

Avoid buying cheap products. Always buy certified quality products and especially from leading manufacturers who have a proper research and development function.

Otherwise you will not sleep or have peace in your own house! Furthermore, you may end up buying the quality product you were avoiding the first time because now you have confirmed that having peace of mind is worth more than the difference of bucks you were trying to save!

Furthermore, there is a high likelihood that the location where your CO detector is positioned may also be a factor that contributes to beeping.

For example, if your device is near the source of carbon fuel burning appliances such as gas boilers or gas cookers in the kitchen or even gas heaters in the living room.

You may want to reconsider if the location of your CO detector is the most suitable for your home.

You can read this article and find out what you need to know about the location of your carbon monoxide detector.

How Do I Stop the Nuisance Noise

Okay, let us face it. I know I have a faulty  CO alarm or low battery or even require to change the CO detector.

Do I need to endure the chirping that can afford to keep me awake the whole night? 

No, you don’t have to.

Majority of the carbon monoxide detectors have a hush or silence button. You can press this button and you will not be hearing from the detector at least for now. 

You may have a lee way of 7 days or 30 days depending on your model before the chirping begins again. At least in the meantime, your little human or pet would also not be terrified by the unnecessary noise.

With online purchases and next day delivery, you do not need to exert too much on this issue. Keep it to mind, that during this period, the device cannot warn you if there is a carbon monoxide gas hazard. Hence, you are prone to carbon monoxide poisoning.

In cases where the hush feature is not present, you can remove power to your device for the sake of mental wellbeing, but promise yourself to resolve the issue as soon as practicable. 

Conclusion

Either of the above described beeping, carries an important message that should not be ignored.

Please act accordingly as it is to the best of your interests.

Each set of beeping could either mean that you need to evacuate the house and find a safe place with fresh air, or it could be that your device may not work properly unless an issue is addressed.

All of which are important – you agree?

Taking everything into consideration, see to it that you are aware about what your product manual says for each of the beeping scenarios.