Many dealers and users often confuse carbon monoxide gas alarms with combustible gas alarms, install gas alarms by mistake in the occasions where carbon monoxide alarms are required, and install carbon monoxide alarms in places where gas alarms should be installed. In fact, there is a big difference between carbon monoxide alarms and gas alarms. Carbon monoxide gas alarms are strictly a poisonous gas alarm. They use electrochemical sensors and flammable gas alarms use catalytic combustion sensors.
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 or coal-based gas, etc. The city pipeline gas is usually one of these three gases. The main components of these gases are alkane gases such as methane (CH4), which are mainly characterized by a pungent odor. When the concentration of these combustible gases in the air exceeds a certain standard, it will cause an explosion. It is this explosive alkane gas that the gas alarm detects and cannot be used to detect carbon monoxide gas. Coal-to-gas in urban pipelines is a special kind of gas, which contains both CO and alkane gases. If you use a coal stove for heating and burning coal, it is useless to install a gas alarm. If someone is poisoned, the gas alarm will not sound. This is quite dangerous. Therefore, if it is only to detect whether there is leakage of pipeline gas, it can be detected with a carbon monoxide alarm or a gas alarm. However, if you want to detect whether the pipeline natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas or coal gas produces excessive carbon monoxide gas during combustion, you need to use a carbon monoxide alarm to detect. In addition, heating with a coal stove, burning coal, etc. produces carbon monoxide gas (CO), not alkane gas such as methane (CH4). So carbon monoxide alarms should be used instead of gas alarms. In short, if you want to detect a toxic gas, and you are concerned about whether it will be poisoned, then you must use a carbon monoxide alarm. If you want to detect an explosive gas, you are concerned about whether there is a leak in the pipeline. Generally, a gas alarm will suffice.
Therefore, when choosing a carbon monoxide alarm and a combustible gas alarm, it is necessary to clarify the gas composition to be detected. The electrochemical sensor used in the carbon monoxide gas alarm is faster than the catalytic combustion type used in the combustible gas alarm. Gas alarms cannot be detected, which will bring great losses to people's lives and property.
