jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Someone passed this along to me. A health expert has been working with the schools in VT to keep the kids healthy. Aside from good masks, he uses a portable CO2 detector. If the reading is over 700 (or whatever), it means there is poor air circulation, and Covid could be lingering in the air. He went into a store with a reading of 1200, and he left immediately.

I like gadgets, and I like the idea of something that can detect bad air. If any of you know anything about portable CO2 detectors, I'd like to hear it. Looking on Amazon, they aren't cheap.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I won't get/use one.......

Ollieboy

A reading of 1200 ppm is deadly and Emergency response is needed immediately. I used to do Co investigations for our gas company. Every house should have multiple Co and smoke detectors. Protecting you and your families lives is NEVER too expensive. Smoke inhalation is usually the cause of death from a fire, not the fire itself. Translates to if you have a working detector, you probably would have survived.

cschonwalder

This thread is mixing up carbon dioxide (CO2) detection with carbon monoxide (CO) detection. Detecting CO2 in buildings will indicate the amount of human exhaled air being refreshed and is a measure of if Covid-19 virus is in the air how efficiently and quickly it will be removed. CO detection is another thing as CO can kill. It comes from incomplete/inefficient combustion of fuel in furnaces or gas-fired space heaters. So in these Covid-19 times, both are important but they are very different things.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I ordered this one, and it will arrive on Monday.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QOGMAG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

We have a CO detector in the family room. But I won't carry a portable.....
(House has gas heat and a wood stove.)

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

SonyBug

A CO detector saved my life in a Fl house I had 15 years ago. I was taking an afternoon nap when it went off. It woke me up and I ventilated, and found out the hot water heater had back-drafted and the fumes came under the door to the garage and filled the house. So, while they are expensive, I have one in my living room right now. Would not be without it.

wireloose

That’s a CO detector, not CO2. Carbon monoxide vs carbon dioxide.

wireloose

Here’s one. https://smile.amazon.com/KKmoon-Dioxide-Detector-Generate-Function/dp/B08GWV99HV/ref=sr_1_29?crid=2IL98N9DXR452&dchild=1&keywords=carbon%2Bdioxide%2Bdetector&qid=1607695663&s=hi&sprefix=Carbon%2Bdio%2Ctools%2C177&sr=1-29&th=1

Amazon search for carbon dioxide detector turns up mostly CO detectors.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Fantastic!

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

I taught classes to tradesmen and lectured to commercial property managers and maintenance staff lessons in "Mitigating Indoor Air Quality". Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is used as a 'tracer gas' due to it being a common compound.

The basis is that fresh outdoor air contains about 400 ppm of Carbon Dioxide. If the measured value indoors is excessively higher an assumption can be made that there is insufficient purging and dilution of the "stale" air and the importance to that IS NOT that the elevated level of carbon dioxide is harmful...it is that there is a possibility that volatile organic compounds that are harmful are not being removed from the 'breathing zone'.

The International Code Council Mechanical Building Code requires 20 cfm of fresh air per person based on seven people per 100 square foot (office type use of space) other uses of space can be much, much more such as areas of assembly (classrooms, churches, auditoriums, etc.). It also requires various uses of space to be exhausted and maintained at a negative pressure. The minimum amount of fresh air brought in to a building must exceed that of the air being exhausted.

If you are going to use your own carbon dioxide measuring meter you must establish the baseline outdoor of building to compare it to that of the air indoor of the building. Also, readings will vary from one spot in the building to that of another due to natural air currents and density of people in those immediate areas.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

CO2 is a byproduct of breathing and burning. It is not harmful per se as long as there is enough oxygen in the air. However, as pointed out above it could be an indicator of insufficient air circulation. Too much CO2 could initiate hyperventilation.

CO is a byproduct of burning in air with reduced oxygen. It is very harmful. If you breathe air with CO, the CO reacts with your hemoglobin and ties it up so it will not carry oxygen. Ventilation helps but is is not enough. The only way to counteract that is to apply increased oxygen so that whatever unpoisoned hemoglobin is left in your blood can carry oxygen around, since there is no way to get the CO out of the hemoglobin. You have to wait for your body to produce more hemoglobin so it can carry oxygen around (I don't know how long that takes but it probably varies widely between different people). The hemoglobin with CO has a very bright red color and your face will be very red, one of the symptoms of CO poisoning.

OleMe Loc: Montgomery Co., MD

As others have pointed out, you bought a carbon monoxide detector. Guide fort protecting against poisonous has from incomplete combustion. Probably worthless for protection from Covid-19. Your quality may perfect chemically but deadly if a Covid-19 sneeze has taken place. Or in a crowded room. They best protection is social distancing followed by masks and sanitation.