Carbon monoxide alarms and gas alarms are very different, many dealers and users are often confused with the two. In fact, the two are very different, a careless, will need to use the carbon monoxide alarm occasions wrongly installed gas alarms, gas alarms should be installed on the occasion of the installation of carbon monoxide alarms, will give people's lives and property will bring great losses.
Carbon monoxide alarms are used to detect carbon monoxide gas (CO). It cannot be used to detect alkane gases such as methane (CH4).
Gas alarms on the market can usually be used to detect natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or coal gas, etc. City pipeline gases are usually one of these three gases. The main components of these gases are alkane gases such as methane (C4H4), which are mainly characterized by a pungent odor. When the air concentration of these combustible gases exceeds a certain standard it can cause an explosion. Gas alarms detect this explosive alkane gas, and can not be used to detect carbon monoxide gas.
City pipeline coal gas is a special gas, which contains both CO components and alkane gases. Therefore, if you just detect whether the pipeline gas leakage, you can use both carbon monoxide alarm detection and gas alarm detection. However, if you want to detect whether piped natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas or coal gas produces excessive carbon monoxide gas when it is burned, then you need to use a carbon monoxide alarm to detect it. In addition, heating with a coal stove, burning coal, etc. produces carbon monoxide gas (CO), not alkane gas such as methane (CH4). So you should use a carbon monoxide alarm rather than a gas alarm. If you install a gas alarm in a place where you use a coal stove to heat your home and burn coal, it is useless, and the gas alarm will not go off even if you are poisoned. This is quite dangerous.
In short, if you want to detect the poisonous gases, concerned about whether it will be poisoned, then be sure to choose the carbon monoxide alarm. If you want to detect explosive gases, the concern
is that the pipeline is not leaking, the general use of gas alarms can be. Commonly used gas alarms use semiconductor sensors and therefore cost less.