Carbon Monoxide & Smoke Detector Installations in Des Moines, IA

Carbon monoxide evenly disperses instead of rising like smoke. Our service professionals install carbon monoxide detectors between knee and chest height because this location is the level of your face when sleeping. We can install combination smoke-and-carbon-monoxide detectors at ceiling height. Carbon monoxide detectors should never be installed behind doors or curtains.

Smoke detectors should be installed outside every bedroom in your home, in the hallways, stairways, and garages. Now, new laws require hard-wired smoke detectors that connect to your electrical wiring with a battery backup. You should replace your smoke detectors every ten years and your batteries every year. The smoke detector types include the following:

• Ionization – Ionization detectors have a continuous current that runs between two electrodes. When it detects smoke, the current is interrupted and sounds the alarm. An ionization detector cannot tell the difference between smoke and steam, so you risk false alarms. The most significant benefits are these smoke alarms respond quickly to flames and alert you when the batteries are low.
• Photoelectric – When a reduction in light hits a photoelectric detector’s internal photocell, it responds. The light scatters and quickly sounds the alarm when smoke enters the detector. This type of detector works quickly during a smoldering fire but will not alert you when the batteries are low.