When does a carbon monoxide detector expire?

Hamtil Construction LLC
by Hamtil Construction LLC
Did you know that carbon monoxide detectors have an expiration date? Most are good for 5-7 years on average. Over the weekend, my hardwired smoke/ CO detector went off and would not reset. We decided to call the fire depatment just to be safe and they confirmed that the alarm was failing and needs replacement. On most CO alarms, there is a tag on the back or inside the battery compartment which will have a date of manufacture or an expiration date (as shown w/ pencil in photo). Always keep the instructions in an accessable place for quick reference if an alert should sound, or to confirm when yours needs replacement. Carbon Monoxide is a real hazard and if you have a gas burning appliance in your home you definitely should have at least one CO detector.
Make sure to record your information here for later reference, and as pictured here the instructions say replace after 5 years.
The date of manufacture on my hardwired smoke/ CO detector.
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  • Mingo Mingo on Feb 01, 2016
    Just found out myself. I think I'll post the link on fb so my friends and family will know too. Thanks.
  • B. Enne B. Enne on Feb 06, 2016
    Ours died on a Sunday night when all of the stores were closed! Luckily, our 2nd one was still working so we brought it closer to the bedrooms to tide us over till the next morning. The good thing about it was, that when it did go off, we were able to determine that the displayed code and sequence of beeps meant that the alarm was due to needing a replacement, and not a CO emergency.
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