Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology for Home Use

Respiro Brings Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology to the Home

Respiro’s CO/Pro is designed to bring Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology to home use with direct shutoff of furnaces and water heaters when CO levels reach 25 ppm in the ambient air.

By Attorney Gordon Johnson

I want to congratulate WGN TV, Daytime Chicago and Respiro, LLC for an excellent segment they did recently on carbon monoxide poisoning and the introduction of carbon monoxide shut-off technology for in home applications. https://wgntv.com/daytime-chicago/daytime-chicago-sponsored/protect-your-home-from-carbon-monoxide-with-co-pro/

First, to Daytime Chicago. This segment did an excellent job of highlighting the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. The segment lead off with questions to  Chicago, Assistant Fire Chief, Matthew Haerter, about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Chief Haerter nailed it when he explained:

“By the time you have an alarm, if you hear the alarm, a lot of people don’t, by the time you do, you are quite sick and you won’t even be able to make your family safe.”

Second, to Respiro for the development of the shutoff product for home furnaces and hot water heaters.

Respiro’s CO/PRO is designed to bring Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology to home use with direct shutoff of furnaces and water heaters when CO levels reach 25 ppm in the ambient air.

As explained by Frank Czekajlo of Respiro LLC, this product senses that dangerous levels of CO at the source, the furnace, the hot water heater and shuts it down before it starts spreading throughout the home. He explained that this is better technology than just relying on alarms. He explained that Respiro’s product is not dependent on replacing batteries as it is wired directly into the electrical system of the appliance.

Respiro’s CO/PRO is a product that is designed shutoff fuel-burning appliances in case of a harmful emission.  The advantage of the shutoff device versus an alarm is that production of carbon monoxide is stopped by putting out the fire at the source. While automatic shutoff technology has been around for about a decade, this is one of the first applications I have seen of it in residential furnaces and hot water heaters. The CO/Pro has two detectors, one in the supply duct for the furnace, and one in the ambient air. If either detector senses 25 ppm of CO, it automatically shuts the appliance down.

Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology much Safer than Alarms Alone

The advantages over a strictly alarm based system is clear. First, the shutoff level is far below current UL 2034 alarming thresholds, which have complicated alarming thresholds which in some cases will not alarm before someone is seriously poisoned. The lowest threshold for alarming in the UL 2034 is 70 ppm, more than twice the 25 ppm of this new product.

Second, making the difference more dramatic is that the 70 ppm, like all of the other alarming thresholds in the UL 2034 is duration pegged. The alarm can “resist alarming” for up to 3 hours and 59 minutes. This time duration is also reset when levels fluctuate below the alarming threshold numbers, which will happen with a furnace is cycling on and off, in response to the thermostat.

Carbon Monoxide Shutoff Technology No Duration Requirement

This new product is designed to shutoff when the levels gets to 25 ppm. It does not appear to have a duration component. The device can be added to an existing furnace or hot water heater but must be professionally installed.

I have been familiar with the concept of shutoff’s for CO prevention since 2017, when I testified in favor of the CPSC’s proposed rule for portable electric generators. The CPSC had proposed a major cleanup of emissions from generators, involving electronic fuel injection and catalytic converters. The industry response from the Portable Generators Manufacturers Association (PGMA)  was to propose a shutoff device when levels reach 450 ppm. The shutoff technology was apparently developed as part of the PGMA efforts to avoid these necessary safety changes from the CPSC. I testified at those hearings and was seated right next to the leader of PGMA at the hearing as can be seen here.

Great Improvement over Much Higher Generator Shutoff Levels

Respiro’s new device is a major improvement over what was proposed for generators. 25 ppm versus 400 ppm. 400 ppm can kill you. 25 ppm is probably below any significant risk of poisoning. See https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/SupplementalNoticeofProposedRulemakingSNPRSafetyStandardforPortableGenerators.pdf

I want to stress that this product does not eliminate the need for carbon monoxide alarms but should be a major step in the direction of eliminating the carbon monoxide poisonings in the home. Broad based implementation will probably take a generation but applause to Respiro for bringing this product to the market.