Your home needs detectors for smoke, CO, and radon

A home is more than just walls, pipes, and ducts — and even more than all the prized possessions you put inside it. It’s the people you love.

That’s why it’s important to go the extra mile when it comes to home safety. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, in 2023 — the most recent year for which these figures were available — there were 1,389,000 fires in the U.S., a jump of over 9 percent since 2014. These fires caused 3,670 deaths, 13,350 injuries, and over $23 billion in property losses. And so far in 2025, there have been 948 deaths in home fires.

Smoke detectors are an important part of protecting your family and possessions, but you need more. Carbon monoxide detectors and radon detectors should be part of your home safety package as well.

Read on to learn more about what smoke, carbon monoxide, and radon detectors are, and how they could be life savers.

Smoke detectors

Most of us have had a kitchen flub that set off the piercing wail of a smoke detector. That alarm can help us to quickly assess and mitigate the danger. You should know, however, that well over half of residential fire deaths — 65 percent — occur in homes where smoke alarms aren’t present or are present but not working.

Put smoke detectors in the right places

To be effective, your home’s smoke detectors need to be carefully placed. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) recommends that smoke detectors be installed:

On the ceiling or high on a wall
Inside each bedroom
Outside each sleeping area
On every level of the home, including the basement
At least 10 feet from cooking appliances

The NFPA also advises interconnecting your smoke alarms so that if one sounds, they all sound.

A chirping smoke alarm

A chirping smoke detector can be irritating, but the sound is necessary, telling us a detector needs attention. The chirps may occur because the battery is low or because the detector is failing. You should keep the manufacturer’s instructions on hand for reference so that when your smoke alarm starts chirping or blinking, you’re not tempted to disengage it. Instead, you can diagnose the chirp and fix (or replace) the device.

The NFPA recommends smoke alarms with non-replaceable, 10-year batteries. If your smoke alarms have another type of battery, you should replace it at least once a year. To remind them to do this important chore, many people designate a particular day — their birthday or on the day they change the clocks for Daylight Saving Time — to replace their alarm’s batteries. Also, it’s a good idea to test your alarms once a month by pressing the test button.

Carbon monoxide (CO)

You can’t see, smell or taste carbon monoxide (CO). But it can kill you.

What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas. It’s a byproduct of most fuels used by engines, appliances, furnaces, and other common equipment found in garages, homes, businesses, and farms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that each year unintentional CO poisoning kills more than 400 Americans and sends another 100,000 to the emergency room, and more than 14,000 end up being hospitalized.

Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms

CO poisoning may look and feel like the flu. Common signs include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.
CO poisoning can happen in any closed space, including vehicles, garages, outbuildings, and homes.

Using a carbon monoxide detector

The CDC recommends installing a CO detector in your home to help prevent CO exposure or poisoning. The detector should be battery operated or have a battery backup. As with smoke detectors, you should check your CO detectors often and replace their battery once a year.

Prevent carbon monoxide poisoning

Replace old detectors. If your CO detector is older than five years, replace it with a new one.
Service fuel-burning appliances annually. If you have an appliance that burns fuel (e.g., gas, oil, coal, wood), have it serviced by a qualified technician every year. During servicing, make sure appliances are also properly vented. Never patch a vent pipe. The CDC recommends having your chimney inspected and cleaned once a year, too.
Inspect your vehicle. Even a small exhaust leak can lead to CO build up inside of the vehicle. Have a mechanic give your vehicle’s exhaust system a once-over every year.
Keep it outside. Never run your car or truck inside a garage that is attached to a house, even if the garage door is open. If you have a detached garage, make sure the door is open when you’re running your vehicle.
Use outdoor fuels outdoors. Use charcoal, portable gas camp stoves, and generators outdoors. When using the generator, keep it at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.

Radon

Radon is an odorless, invisible, radioactive gas that is naturally released from rocks, soil, and water. It can get trapped inside homes and buildings and build up in the air, and it often goes undetected. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and leads the pack as a cause of the disease among non-smokers. It’s responsible for more than 21,000 deaths every year, including 2,900 deaths among people who have never smoked.

The American Cancer Society says that although there are no widely available medical tests to measure whether you’ve been exposed to radon, and radon exposure is symptomless, you should still be aware of the risk. If you smoke and have been exposed to high levels of radon, your risk for lung cancer rises exponentially.

Radon testing

The EPA recommends checking radon levels as a first step to understanding the risk of radon exposure in your home and you can do that using a do-it-yourself radon detection kit available at most hardware or home supply stores. There are short-term and long-term kits, the long-term kit is the most accurate. The EPA recommends testing even “radon-resistant” homes below the third floor over a three-month period.

Radon mitigation

A qualified radon mitigation contractor should be your choice to fix your home’s radon issue. The EPA says the primary method to reduce radon in a home is a soil suction radon reduction system, which uses vent piping and a fan.

Depending on your home’s radon levels, foundation, and your budget, you and your contractor can select an appropriate radon reduction solution.

The information included here was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, SI, and its employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with any training, materials, suggestions, or information provided. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state, or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, SI, should not be used as the basis for legal advice and should be confirmed with alternative sources

5/2025